Continuing on my tiki theme, this week I have made a cocktail which is well known in the world of tiki. This is quite different from many other tiki cocktails, especially in that it uses gin and brandy as the base spirits. When I think of tiki drinks, I think there are generally two types of cocktails, one of them is more fruit-forward and the other is more spice-forward. So, when we decide on which cocktail to make, I usually start by thinking of what kind of flavours I want. Sometimes it is spices, then a spicy tiki drink is appropriate, sometimes I want something fruitier, then a different tiki drink may be appropriate. This cocktail really is spice-forward, hence my association with tiki. If you want something with a kick that might not necessarily be because of the alcohol this one is an alternative for you.

As one of the main ingredients is ginger beer, there are two things that you need to consider. Firstly, it will be very gingery, if you don’t like ginger or the gingery spice kick, then this is not a cocktail for you. Secondly, as there is so much of the ginger beer in this cocktail, the ginger beer you choose should ideally be as good as possible, this is not the time to select a lower quality ginger beer. Another thing I was quite surprised by is how muted the rest of the cocktail was in comparison to the ginger beer. For me the other ingredients, while they were very subtle, were supporting and bringing the ginger beer to another level. I would describe this cocktail as tasting like an enhanced version of ginger beer. I would recommend the cocktail, but it would be interesting to see how experimenting a bit more with the cocktail and ratios would change the characteristics of the cocktail.

My Recipe:

  • 1 oz (3 cl) Gin
  • 1 oz (3 cl) Cognac
  • 0.5 oz (1.5 cl) Lime Juice
  • 0.25 oz (0.75 cl) Demerara Syrup
  • 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
  • 4 oz (12 cl) Ginger Beer

Add all ingredients except the ginger beer to a shaker with ice. Shake to chill and dilute. Strain into a Collins glass with ice. Top up with 4 oz (12 cl) ginger beer.