Elusive Dreams

A flavored rum, infused with pineapple, but not as commonly used as one may expect. Planteray's "Stiggins' Fancy" is a popular example.

Often referred to as silver or white, these rums are actually lightly aged (1-3 years), but have had any color filtered out. They are typically molasses based (as opposed to the cane juice-based rhum agricole, clairin, or cachaça). Flavors range from light (Bacardi, Caña Brava, Plantation 3 Star, El Dorado 3) to more flavorful blended options (Probitas, Ten-To-One).

A tropical fruit, used in many tropical cocktails for its sweet flavor and yellow color. You can either juice a real pineapple, buy pineapple canned in juice (not syrup) or buy pineapple juice in a container.

The second most common juice used in cocktails. This citrus juice is about 6% acid; 4% from citric and 2% from malic, with small amounts of succinic acid (this is what gives it a little bloody taste). Lime juice should be used the day it is squeezed, some like it freshly squeezed and others like it a few hours old.

A concentrated syrup made from sugar water and cinnamon bark. You can make this yourself by adding a few cinnamon sticks to your simple syrup making process. We always use 1:1 syrup unless otherwise noted in the recipe itself.

A sweet and rich banana flavored liqueur. You can make it yourself! Here is a recipe from Serious Eats: Combine 2 peeled and sliced bananas with 1 1/2 cups rum in a sealable glass jar. Let steep for 3 days. Strain the fruit out and filter through cheesecloth. Press the bananas down to extract liquid. Heat 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar until the sugar dissolves, add the syrup to the mixture. Seal and shake, then let rest for 1 day. Enjoy!

A tropical plant with a tart yellow fruit. Most often used in tiki cocktails and fizzes.

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