Ulaulekeahi, Strike Down My Foes!

What is the secret to a good cocktail battle? Fear. Fear sharpens the senses. Fear hones our judgement. Fear pushes everything else into the background, and puts survival front and center.

I don't think you could say that any of us are specialists in Tiki drinks. In fact, I'm not sure that all of us had even had a Tiki drink before. And what were we afraid of? Drinks that were too fruity. Drinks that were too sweet. Drinks that we wouldn't even recognize as cocktails. And I think that we came out ok. In fact, I think we stepped up our collective games, and did some of our finest work.

First, a traditional delight, the Nui Nui. I can't say I've done enough research to figure out just how traditional it is, but light Googling suggests it has an older history than the "Sexy Nipple on the Beach," or whatever the kids are drinking these days. It appealed to me because it didn't rely on exotic juices, which I knew I would only be able to get in highly adulterated forms. As interesting as the juicier drinks sound, I still live in The Middle, and it's not exactly Mango country.

I adapted the recipe from Webtender to fit the available ingredients:

Nui Nui

• 1/2 oz Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Orange Juice
• 1/2 oz Combined Allspice Syrup, Cinnamon Syrup, and Vanilla
• 2 oz Dark Rum (Barbancourt Reserve Speciale)
• Dash Angostura
• No, I couldn't bring myself to add crushed ice

I think that "nui" translates as "much," and so "nui nui" translates as "very much."As you might guess, the active ingredient in this cocktail is the spice syrups. I burned... way too much time trying to get this right. I ran into a suggestion that one could achieve the effect of these syrups by microwaving the raw spices and simple syrup for a few seconds. This is, to put it politely, false. And it leaves some totally sweet grit in your drink!

I settled on three tablespoons of freshly ground allspice, 1 cup sugar, and two cups water. Bring just to a boil, then set on warm for about an hour. Then, try to strain it through a coffee filter. When it won't run through the filter, add water (1/2 cup at a time), heat till the sugar dissolves, and try again. The result is pretty tasty! As a bonus, you can mix it with soda water and make a nice drink for your pregnant wife. For example.

Cinnamon syrup is more of a pain. I tried following the plan above, grating (microplaning) three cassia sticks into a pan in place of the three tbsp of allspice. I think there's something about the cassia, maybe the cellulose, that turns into glue while the syrup cooks. It took a lot of extra water to get the syrup down to a consistency that would go through the coffee filter, resulting in a syrup that wasn't very strong. I'm working on a cinnamon infusion right now that maybe, just maybe, will get the flavor right. We'll see.

For my modern cocktail, I tried to come up with a super partner for the Nui Nui. I was also trying to think of something that would fit with the MxMo challenge of the week, "Dizzy Dairy." Hopefully this explains the name and the flavors:

Nuinuino

• 3/4 oz Dark Rum (Pyrat or Barbancourt)
• 1/2 oz Coconut Water
• 1/4 oz Creme de Violette
• 1/4 oz Lime Juice

I can't say that the color evokes a tropical sunset, or anything else particularly attractive, but I think it tastes pretty good. The coconut water gives it a nice nose, and a light funk that combines well with the violette. The lime juice helps to blend the flavors more than anything else. I tried this both with the Pyrat rum and the Barbancourt. If you like a sweeter drink, go with the Pyrat. It's really nice with the Barbancourt too!

Now, I don't know if this will make it on to MxMo or not. On reading the challenge, my first thought was "coconut milk is amazing!" Then I found out that the clear fluid that comes out of a coconut is actually coconut water, not coconut milk. And that it takes "more work" to make coconut milk. So I went with my original idea, which really doesn't have anything to do with dairy, but neither do eggs, right?

A new dawn, a new battle

And as I prepare to enter tomorrow's guerre de pommes, I want to be aware of all the scars of battles past. There is a saying in kendo, Japanese fencing, along the lines of "There are three outcomes of any duel: you die, your opponent dies, or you both die. In two of the three, you die, so fight as if it were your last act." While the reasoning does not stand up to scrutiny and cocktail battles pretty much just end with everyone happily tipsy, the conviction is nonetheless a worthy approach.

As such, I want to get the synesthesia recipes out into the world, as they are some of my favorite original drinks. The theme — originally posed as creating the cocktail representation of favorite songs — was a tricky one, and more subjective than I realized at first glance. In fact, my two drinks interpret the theme quite differently. One is a punning exploration of a snapshot in time well framed by a particular song, the other is closer to the synesthesiac ideal originally intended.

Let's Make Out

This was a collaborative effort for Plenty and me, referencing a late night drunken subway station last summer. This was a time characterized by bitterness and whiskey, but it was also the turning point into something pretty damn good. It's a variant on an Old Fashioned, trying to use as many bitters as possible, but ending with a little love — Parfait amour, an orange liqueur with some floral notes to it.

• 2 oz. bourbon (Buffalo Trace)
• 1/8 T. Campari
• 1/2 T. Marie Brizard Parfait Amour
• 2 dashes Fee Brothers whiskey aged bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 dashes Regan's orange bitters

Brother Sport

The songs on Merriweather Post Pavilion have a tendency to somehow float lightly above one's consciousness, never staying in one place long enough to be pinned down. It's a bit sweet and the Creme de Violette makes the color a horrid gray, but the mix of flowers and vanilla held together by gin is a fine, fine drink.

• 3 parts gin (Boodles)
• 2 parts lemon (I used one lemon for 3 oz gin)
• 2 parts Lillet Blanc
• 1 part Creme de Violette (Lavender would be fascinating here or as an addition, I think)
• 1 part Elderflower Syrup (Perhaps St. Germain liqueur would work here, but I used an old bottle from a trip to Austria)
• The slightest dash vanilla extract

The last ingredient is totally the secret that brings it all together. While Animal Collective's music is bright and elusive, it is also rich. The vanilla cuts through the dancing flavors that come before it and pulls them along into a cohesive drink.