Tiki max?

Chief Lapu Lapu.

If there’s one drink that is represents the Tiki genre better than any other I believe it’s this one. Yes, Mai Tais, Zombies and Navy Grogs are better known these days but the Chief was a staple that almost ever Tiki bar worth its salt made during the late Tikizoic era (c.1950 – c.1970). While there are endless variations this one sticks close to the one Jeff “Beachbum” Berry calls the “standard mid-century recipe” in Remixed! (which is essentially the Tiki Bible). Endless variation can be the death of a cocktail and while the Mai Tai and Zombie managed to – just barely – survive intact the Chief was not so lucky. Indeed Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan didn’t survive his encounter with the real Chief Lapu Lapu (Mactan, modern-day Phillipines, 1521) and thus the first true world tour was brought to an end on the wrong end of a bamboo spear – although some of the crew did later manage to complete the first circumnavigation of the planet. Where were we? Oh, yes. The liquid Lapu is a lovely citrus-heavy cooler with an excellent sweet/sour balance and full-on tropical hit courtesy of the passion fruit syrup. Assuming you’ve got (or have made) some PF syrup this is one of the simpler Tiki drinks to assemble and trust me when I tell you that it’s a real crowd-pleaser. It’s a rather large drink – which is a plus on a hot day – but is also suitable for splitting into two smaller ones or serving as a shared drink with two straws. But if you want the other half of my Lapu you’d better come more heavily armed than Magellan did.

Chief Lapu Lapu.

1.5oz / 45ml Dark Jamaican rum (Myers’s works well in this).

1.5oz / 45ml white rum.

1oz / 30ml fresh lemon juice*.

1oz / 30ml fresh lime juice*.

1oz / 30ml simple syrup (1:1 preferably demerara).

1oz / 30ml passion fruit syrup.

3oz / 90ml orange juice (good carton juice is fine here**).

Shake with ice and pour, unstrained, into a Tiki mug*** or tall glass. Add more ice to fill.

Toast Chief Lapu Lapu and Magellan. Pity they couldn’t have sorted out their differences over a drink or two.

*I’ve tweaked it just slightly by splitting the original 2oz of lemon juice into one each of lemon and lime. You can also use 2oz of lime. They all work but taste slightly different – the choice is yours.

**I prefer to use a good quality carton orange juice in this drink as it gives it a creamier texture than using freshly squeezed.

***I tend to use transparent Tikiware in my pictures to show the colour of the drinks but would normally use a ceramic novelty mug for a drink like this. The Lapu is a big drink so be sure to select a decent sized receptacle.