Three Dots and a Dash ...-V

Now that Summer is upon us, many are contemplating having or will be attending backyard parties and barbecues. Food is one thing to think about but knowing what cocktails that could work well are aren't to difficult to make is the question!

One of my favorite Tiki cocktails that makes my mouth jump for joy is Three Dots and a Dash ...-V.  It' was created by Don Beach of Don the Beachcombers during world war II and is Morse code for "Victory".  I've had this drink several times at Caña rum bar in Downtown Los Angeles or at home sweet home and the problem with this tasty concoction is that you'll want another because it's so well balanced with flavor. Give it a try and one word of advise don't skimp on the ingredients, quality is always best.    

John Apodaca

john@daddyosmartinis.com

Three Dots and a Dash (...-V)


1/2 oz of fresh lime juice
1/2 oz of fresh orange juice
1/2 oz of honey mix (see below)
1 1/2 oz of amber Martinique rum
1/2 oz of Demerara rum
Dash of Angostura bitters
1/4 oz falernum (fee brothers)
1/4 oz pimento liqueur (allspice dram)
6 oz of crushed ice.
Pineapple slice cut rectangular and marasca cherries for garnish.

Place all ingredients in a large cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds and serve in a Collins glass with crushed ice and a straw. Garnish with a piece of pineapple cut rectangular and three marasca cherries.

DR. Funk

Here's a drink which can be served any time of the day or evening, when something refreshing is in order. " This drink and the sunrise in the morning are the only things they count on in Tahiti". Trader Vic said, "I think it was invented to cure the cafard" ( loss of one's mind from the heat).

DR. Funk


1/2 oz of Pernod or Herbsaint
1/2 oz of fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz of pomegranate syrup
Juice of one lime
1/4 tsp of sugar
Club soda

Add the liquid ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice, squeeze in lime juice and include the shells of the lime, add sugar. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds and pore into a Collins glass and fill the rest with club soda.

Don The Beachcomber

Whenever I drive down Pacific Coast Highway to go surfing, I pass Don the Beach Combers restaurant. Don's is not really new like most would think, the history of the Don's goes back to the 1930s. The Founder  was born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt in Limestone County Texas in 1907 and left home in 1926 and traveled around the word including the islands of the Caribbean and the South Pacific. He was a former bootlegger during prohibition  and in 1934 opened up Don's Beachcomber cafe in Hollywood and a later changed the name to Don the Beachcomber along with his name to Don Beach. Don's gained popularity due to it's tropical decorated theme and wonderful tiki drinks made from various rums and Don's own secret recipe.

Don had several exotic drinks that patrons loved such as the Zombie, Navy Grog, Tahitian Rum Punch and many other cocktails along with what customers considered wonderful cuisines but were nothing more than standard Cantonese dishes served with flair. There were several chains of Don's across the country with the help of his wife in the 1940's and 1950's but his competitor Trader Vic's ( another Tiki themed restaurant) had more locations then Don's and both of them claimed they invented the Mai Tai.

Gantt Divorced his wife and business partner in the 1950s and because she had control over the restaurants he wasn't allowed to open any more locations in the United States so moved to Hawaii before Statehood to continue his operation. He settled in Waikiki and opened up his Polynesian Village and International Marketplace in Honolulu and had his office up in the center of a giant Banyan tree. He also built an elaborate houseboat in hopes it would catch on as floating housing in Hawaii but it never did and he lived and retired in it Moorea. It was destroyed  later after several hurricanes and Don died later in Honolulu.

There's been a revival of the restaurant since the early 2000s starting in Disney's California Adventure but no alcohol was served along with the newer Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach, CA. Unfortunately I've been to Don's in Huntington Beach and tried the Mai Tia and Zombie and  they seem to be missing correct ingredients. I've used recipes from vintage cocktail books that are more flavorful. On the other hand, Don used a "secrete recipe" that he would change from time to time so no one may really know what his original recipe for his drinks are. I have one recipe for a Zombie I use which I find is very tasty and after serving it to a friend of mine a few days ago he now realizes why they call it a Zombie, because he felt like one afterwards.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Cheers,

John Apodaca
john@daddyosmartinis.com

Don the Beachcombers Zombie 


1 Tsp brown sugar
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum
1 oz 151 - proof Demerar Rum from Guyana
1 oz White Puerto Rican Rum
1 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz passion fruit juice
1 dash angostura bitters

Dissolve the brown sugar in the lemon juice and combine it with the other ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and serve it in a collins glass over ice.

Will the Real Mai Tai please Stand up!

The Mai Tai has a Polynesian name but was invented by Victor Bergeron (Trader Vic) in Emeryville, California in 1944.  According to documented accounts Vic was manning the bar at his restaurant (Hinky Dink's when two of his Tahitian friends asked him to make them something unusual. Vic did so and after tasting the drink they raised their glasses shouted "Mai tai Roa ae" which loosely translated, means the best damn thing we've ever drunk.

The cocktail has some complex flavors that are both sweet and sharp, I've tried the recipe and have made it for friends and they love it. Unfortunately over the years like a lot of cocktails, lazy bartenders have used shortcuts to make the drink and it has been degraded to nothing more than spiked fruit punch. If your serious about quality bartending using ingredients that were intended for this cocktail use the following recipe and let me know how it comes out.

Cheers,

John Apodaca

john@daddyosmartinis.com

Mai Tai


1 oz light Rum
1 oz dark Rum
Juice of one lime
1/2 oz orange Curacao
1 1/2 oz simple syrup
1 1/2 tsp orgeat (almond syrup)
Lime peel
Mint sprig

Place rums, curacao and syrups in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice. Shake and strain into a chilled old fashioned glass with ice and garnish with lime and mint. Serve with a straw.