A traditional Barbadian cocktail which might or might not fit into this series I am doing on tiki. One of the reasons is the use of rum and velvet falernum. The reason why it might not be a tiki cocktail is that it doesn’t have many more ingredients than that. Now that we have concluded that it might not, strictly speaking, be a tiki cocktail though it does have all the flavours of tiki. For me the what is nice about this cocktail is how nice and complex it tastes given how simple it is.

For me when I made this cocktail, I can see why you would use crushed ice, as it dilutes and chills the cocktail quickly. For me, however, I prefer cocktails to either be served with larger pieces of ice or straight up, i.e. without ice. The issue I feel the crushed ice gives is that it is always in the way and it is difficult to drink if you don’t have a straw. If I had to do this cocktail again and change it to my liking a bit more, I would stir it with ice and then Serve it over whole ice cubes. In all this is a nice complex and flavourful cocktail that is very smooth as well. I would highly recommend this cocktail for anyone who has access to velvet falernum.

My Recipe:

• 2 oz (6 cl) Aged Rum
• 0.5 oz (1.5 cl) Velvet Falernum
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Add the ingredients to a double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Stir to chill and dilute. Serve with a straw.