{ "collection": "posts", "count": 14, "description": "Long-form writing on tiki culture, rum, and cocktail technique.", "includesBody": true, "items": [ { "api": "/posts/garnish-with-intent/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2026-03-12T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Mint, spent shells, and flame. What the decoration on top of an exotic cocktail is actually for.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Patno", "date": "2026-03-12T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Mint, spent shells, and flame. What the decoration on top of an exotic cocktail is actually for.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2026-03-12T09:00:00-07:00", "publishdate": "2026-03-12T09:00:00-07:00", "tags": [ "technique", "garnish", "service" ], "title": "Garnish With Intent" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eExotic cocktails get mocked for their garnishes more than any other category,\nand some of that is earned — there\u0026rsquo;s a version of this where the drink\ndisappears under a hedge of fruit and plastic.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut the good garnishes aren\u0026rsquo;t decoration. They\u0026rsquo;re doing work, and it\u0026rsquo;s worth\nknowing which is which.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"aroma\"\u003eAroma\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou smell a drink before you taste it, and in a tall drink over crushed ice with\na straw, the nose is doing a lot.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA mint sprig is the clearest example. Slapped once to release oil and planted\nnext to the straw, it means every sip arrives through a cloud of mint. Remove it\nand the same liquid tastes flatter. Freshly grated nutmeg on a punch works the\nsame way — it\u0026rsquo;s an aromatic layer sitting on the surface, not a flavor mixed in.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"signal\"\u003eSignal\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA garnish tells the guest what they\u0026rsquo;re holding. A spent lime shell in a Mai Tai\nsays citrus and rum. An umbrella and a pineapple wedge say something long,\ncold, and tropical. This sounds trivial and isn\u0026rsquo;t — expectation shapes taste,\nand a drink that looks like what it is tastes more like itself.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"theater\"\u003eTheater\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire, obviously. A lime shell filled with overproof rum and lit is pure\nspectacle and adds essentially nothing to the flavor, and that\u0026rsquo;s fine — the\ncategory has always been part performance. Do it safely, do it deliberately, and\ndon\u0026rsquo;t do it on every drink or it stops meaning anything.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-discipline\"\u003eThe discipline\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree rules that keep it from becoming clutter:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEvery element earns its place.\u003c/strong\u003e If you can\u0026rsquo;t say what it\u0026rsquo;s for, take it\noff.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDon\u0026rsquo;t block the drink.\u003c/strong\u003e The guest has to be able to reach the straw\nwithout dismantling a fruit salad.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFresh or don\u0026rsquo;t bother.\u003c/strong\u003e Tired mint and dry fruit look worse than nothing.\nA single perfect sprig beats a wilted bouquet.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe garnish is the last thing you do and the first thing the guest experiences.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s a good reason not to treat it as an afterthought.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/garnish-with-intent", "lastmod": "2026-03-12T09:00:00-07:00", "markdown": "\nExotic cocktails get mocked for their garnishes more than any other category,\nand some of that is earned — there's a version of this where the drink\ndisappears under a hedge of fruit and plastic.\n\nBut the good garnishes aren't decoration. They're doing work, and it's worth\nknowing which is which.\n\n## Aroma\n\nYou smell a drink before you taste it, and in a tall drink over crushed ice with\na straw, the nose is doing a lot.\n\nA mint sprig is the clearest example. Slapped once to release oil and planted\nnext to the straw, it means every sip arrives through a cloud of mint. Remove it\nand the same liquid tastes flatter. Freshly grated nutmeg on a punch works the\nsame way — it's an aromatic layer sitting on the surface, not a flavor mixed in.\n\n## Signal\n\nA garnish tells the guest what they're holding. A spent lime shell in a Mai Tai\nsays citrus and rum. An umbrella and a pineapple wedge say something long,\ncold, and tropical. This sounds trivial and isn't — expectation shapes taste,\nand a drink that looks like what it is tastes more like itself.\n\n## Theater\n\nFire, obviously. A lime shell filled with overproof rum and lit is pure\nspectacle and adds essentially nothing to the flavor, and that's fine — the\ncategory has always been part performance. Do it safely, do it deliberately, and\ndon't do it on every drink or it stops meaning anything.\n\n## The discipline\n\nThree rules that keep it from becoming clutter:\n\n1. **Every element earns its place.** If you can't say what it's for, take it\n off.\n2. **Don't block the drink.** The guest has to be able to reach the straw\n without dismantling a fruit salad.\n3. **Fresh or don't bother.** Tired mint and dry fruit look worse than nothing.\n A single perfect sprig beats a wilted bouquet.\n\nThe garnish is the last thing you do and the first thing the guest experiences.\nThat's a good reason not to treat it as an afterthought.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "garnish-with-intent", "summary": "Exotic cocktails get mocked for their garnishes more than any other category, and some of that is earned — there’s a version of this where the drink disappears under a hedge of fruit and plastic.\nBut the good garnishes aren’t decoration. They’re doing work, and it’s worth knowing which is which.\nAroma You smell a drink before you taste it, and in a tall drink over crushed ice with a straw, the nose is doing a lot.", "title": "Garnish With Intent", "url": "/posts/garnish-with-intent/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 334 }, { "api": "/posts/stocking-a-rum-shelf-from-scratch/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2025-11-06T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Eight bottles that cover nearly every classic exotic cocktail, chosen by style rather than by brand.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2025-11-06T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Eight bottles that cover nearly every classic exotic cocktail, chosen by style rather than by brand.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2026-01-22T13:05:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2025-11-06T09:00:00-08:00", "tags": [ "rum", "home-bar", "buying" ], "title": "Stocking a Rum Shelf From Scratch" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eThe question I get most often is which rum to buy. The honest answer is that\nit\u0026rsquo;s the wrong question — you want to buy \u003cem\u003estyles\u003c/em\u003e, and the specific bottle\nmatters much less than covering the range.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere\u0026rsquo;s a shelf that will make almost any classic exotic cocktail, in rough\npriority order.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-first-four\"\u003eThe first four\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlended lightly aged.\u003c/strong\u003e The workhorse. Daiquiris, most highballs, anything\nthat needs rum without a strong point of view.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlended aged.\u003c/strong\u003e Richer, more oak. The base of a Mai Tai and a hundred other\ndrinks.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJamaican pot still, unaged or lightly aged.\u003c/strong\u003e Your funk source. You\u0026rsquo;ll use\nit half an ounce at a time and it will transform drinks.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlack blended.\u003c/strong\u003e Molasses-heavy and dark. Essential for a whole family of\ndrinks, and unmatched as a float.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFour bottles gets you most of the way. If you stop here you can still make a\ngreat Daiquiri, a proper Mai Tai, and a credible Zombie.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-next-four\"\u003eThe next four\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003col start=\"5\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDemerara, aged.\u003c/strong\u003e Guyanese, distinctive, smoky-sweet. Several classics\nspecifically want it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColumn still aged.\u003c/strong\u003e Softer and cleaner — for drinks where you want the\nrum present but polite.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRhum agricole blanc.\u003c/strong\u003e Grassy and vegetal. Opens up Ti\u0026rsquo; Punch and gives you\nan entirely different register to work in.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOverproof.\u003c/strong\u003e For floats, for flaming, and for drinks that genuinely call\nfor it. A little goes a very long way.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-to-skip-early\"\u003eWhat to skip early\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpiced rum, unless you have a specific drink in mind — most of it is sweetened\nand flavored to cover for a mediocre base spirit, and you can add your own\nspices with far more control.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery long aged, expensive bottlings. They\u0026rsquo;re wonderful and they\u0026rsquo;re for drinking\nneat. Putting a twenty-five-year rum in a drink with lime and orgeat wastes\nboth.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"on-price\"\u003eOn price\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRum remains the best value in spirits, by some distance. There\u0026rsquo;s no prestige tax\nthe way there is with Scotch or Cognac, and the bottles that do the most work\nbehind the bar are frequently the cheap ones. Spend the money on covering more\nstyles, not on going further up any single one.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/stocking-a-rum-shelf-from-scratch", "lastmod": "2026-01-22T13:05:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nThe question I get most often is which rum to buy. The honest answer is that\nit's the wrong question — you want to buy *styles*, and the specific bottle\nmatters much less than covering the range.\n\nHere's a shelf that will make almost any classic exotic cocktail, in rough\npriority order.\n\n## The first four\n\n1. **Blended lightly aged.** The workhorse. Daiquiris, most highballs, anything\n that needs rum without a strong point of view.\n2. **Blended aged.** Richer, more oak. The base of a Mai Tai and a hundred other\n drinks.\n3. **Jamaican pot still, unaged or lightly aged.** Your funk source. You'll use\n it half an ounce at a time and it will transform drinks.\n4. **Black blended.** Molasses-heavy and dark. Essential for a whole family of\n drinks, and unmatched as a float.\n\nFour bottles gets you most of the way. If you stop here you can still make a\ngreat Daiquiri, a proper Mai Tai, and a credible Zombie.\n\n## The next four\n\n5. **Demerara, aged.** Guyanese, distinctive, smoky-sweet. Several classics\n specifically want it.\n6. **Column still aged.** Softer and cleaner — for drinks where you want the\n rum present but polite.\n7. **Rhum agricole blanc.** Grassy and vegetal. Opens up Ti' Punch and gives you\n an entirely different register to work in.\n8. **Overproof.** For floats, for flaming, and for drinks that genuinely call\n for it. A little goes a very long way.\n\n## What to skip early\n\nSpiced rum, unless you have a specific drink in mind — most of it is sweetened\nand flavored to cover for a mediocre base spirit, and you can add your own\nspices with far more control.\n\nVery long aged, expensive bottlings. They're wonderful and they're for drinking\nneat. Putting a twenty-five-year rum in a drink with lime and orgeat wastes\nboth.\n\n## On price\n\nRum remains the best value in spirits, by some distance. There's no prestige tax\nthe way there is with Scotch or Cognac, and the bottles that do the most work\nbehind the bar are frequently the cheap ones. Spend the money on covering more\nstyles, not on going further up any single one.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "stocking-a-rum-shelf-from-scratch", "summary": "The question I get most often is which rum to buy. The honest answer is that it’s the wrong question — you want to buy styles, and the specific bottle matters much less than covering the range.\nHere’s a shelf that will make almost any classic exotic cocktail, in rough priority order.\nThe first four Blended lightly aged. The workhorse. Daiquiris, most highballs, anything that needs rum without a strong point of view. Blended aged. Richer, more oak. The base of a Mai Tai and a hundred other drinks. Jamaican pot still, unaged or lightly aged. Your funk source. You’ll use it half an ounce at a time and it will transform drinks. Black blended. Molasses-heavy and dark. Essential for a whole family of drinks, and unmatched as a float. Four bottles gets you most of the way. If you stop here you can still make a great Daiquiri, a proper Mai Tai, and a credible Zombie.", "title": "Stocking a Rum Shelf From Scratch", "url": "/posts/stocking-a-rum-shelf-from-scratch/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 347 }, { "api": "/posts/the-golden-era-and-what-came-after/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2025-07-30T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Postwar boom, seventies collapse, and the long slow revival that brought the drinks back.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2025-07-30T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Postwar boom, seventies collapse, and the long slow revival that brought the drinks back.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-07-30T09:00:00-07:00", "publishdate": "2025-07-30T09:00:00-07:00", "tags": [ "history", "golden-era", "revival" ], "title": "The Golden Era and What Came After" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eTiki\u0026rsquo;s peak wasn\u0026rsquo;t the thirties. It was the two decades after the Second World\nWar, when several million Americans came home from the Pacific and the country\ndeveloped an appetite for a romanticized version of where they\u0026rsquo;d been.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-boom\"\u003eThe boom\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the fifties and sixties there were Polynesian restaurants in every major\nAmerican city, and chains — Kon-Tiki, Trader Vic\u0026rsquo;s, the Mai-Kai — operating at a\nscale that\u0026rsquo;s hard to picture now. Hotels built them. Bowling alleys had them.\nApartment complexes were designed with A-frames and lava rock.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was mainstream in a way that no cocktail movement has been since.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-collapse\"\u003eThe collapse\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the mid-seventies it was over, and the reasons are not mysterious.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCosts went up and quality went down. Fresh juice became bottled mix, real rum\nbecame well rum, and drinks that had been carefully built became sweet and\nuniform. The category ate its own reputation — the phrase \u0026ldquo;tiki drink\u0026rdquo; came to\nmean \u0026ldquo;sugary and cheap,\u0026rdquo; which by then it usually was.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTaste moved on. The generation that had found it exotic aged out, and the one\nfollowing it found it embarrassing. Then came a broader reckoning with the\nappropriation baked into the whole aesthetic, which was overdue and correct.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuildings were demolished or remodeled. Enormous quantities of carved work went\ninto dumpsters.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-revival\"\u003eThe revival\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat brought it back was research. Beachbum Berry\u0026rsquo;s recipe archaeology in the\nnineties and 2000s made the original drinks knowable again, and it turned out\nthey were genuinely good — dry, complex, technically demanding. That was a\nsurprise to almost everyone.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe revival that followed is different from what it revived. It\u0026rsquo;s rum-literate\nin a way the Golden Era mostly wasn\u0026rsquo;t. It\u0026rsquo;s more careful about the imagery. It\ntreats the drinks as craft cocktails that happen to be tropical rather than as\nnovelties.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"whats-worth-keeping\"\u003eWhat\u0026rsquo;s worth keeping\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe escapism, the theatricality, and the hospitality. The idea that a bar can be\na destination rather than a room with alcohol in it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat isn\u0026rsquo;t worth keeping is the pseudo-anthropology and the sugar. Neither was\never the point.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/the-golden-era-and-what-came-after", "lastmod": "2025-07-30T09:00:00-07:00", "markdown": "\nTiki's peak wasn't the thirties. It was the two decades after the Second World\nWar, when several million Americans came home from the Pacific and the country\ndeveloped an appetite for a romanticized version of where they'd been.\n\n## The boom\n\nBy the fifties and sixties there were Polynesian restaurants in every major\nAmerican city, and chains — Kon-Tiki, Trader Vic's, the Mai-Kai — operating at a\nscale that's hard to picture now. Hotels built them. Bowling alleys had them.\nApartment complexes were designed with A-frames and lava rock.\n\nIt was mainstream in a way that no cocktail movement has been since.\n\n## The collapse\n\nBy the mid-seventies it was over, and the reasons are not mysterious.\n\nCosts went up and quality went down. Fresh juice became bottled mix, real rum\nbecame well rum, and drinks that had been carefully built became sweet and\nuniform. The category ate its own reputation — the phrase \"tiki drink\" came to\nmean \"sugary and cheap,\" which by then it usually was.\n\nTaste moved on. The generation that had found it exotic aged out, and the one\nfollowing it found it embarrassing. Then came a broader reckoning with the\nappropriation baked into the whole aesthetic, which was overdue and correct.\n\nBuildings were demolished or remodeled. Enormous quantities of carved work went\ninto dumpsters.\n\n## The revival\n\nWhat brought it back was research. Beachbum Berry's recipe archaeology in the\nnineties and 2000s made the original drinks knowable again, and it turned out\nthey were genuinely good — dry, complex, technically demanding. That was a\nsurprise to almost everyone.\n\nThe revival that followed is different from what it revived. It's rum-literate\nin a way the Golden Era mostly wasn't. It's more careful about the imagery. It\ntreats the drinks as craft cocktails that happen to be tropical rather than as\nnovelties.\n\n## What's worth keeping\n\nThe escapism, the theatricality, and the hospitality. The idea that a bar can be\na destination rather than a room with alcohol in it.\n\nWhat isn't worth keeping is the pseudo-anthropology and the sugar. Neither was\never the point.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "the-golden-era-and-what-came-after", "summary": "Tiki’s peak wasn’t the thirties. It was the two decades after the Second World War, when several million Americans came home from the Pacific and the country developed an appetite for a romanticized version of where they’d been.\nThe boom By the fifties and sixties there were Polynesian restaurants in every major American city, and chains — Kon-Tiki, Trader Vic’s, the Mai-Kai — operating at a scale that’s hard to picture now. Hotels built them. Bowling alleys had them. Apartment complexes were designed with A-frames and lava rock.", "title": "The Golden Era and What Came After", "url": "/posts/the-golden-era-and-what-came-after/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 344 }, { "api": "/posts/throwing-a-tiki-party-that-works/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2025-04-17T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Batch, punch, and prep. How to host without spending the whole night behind the blender.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2025-04-17T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Batch, punch, and prep. How to host without spending the whole night behind the blender.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-04-17T09:00:00-07:00", "publishdate": "2025-04-17T09:00:00-07:00", "tags": [ "hosting", "party", "batching" ], "title": "Throwing a Tiki Party That Works" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eThe failure mode of a tiki party is predictable: the host disappears behind the\nbar at seven and reappears at midnight, exhausted, having spoken to nobody.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExotic cocktails are labor-intensive by nature. Five to eight ingredients, fresh\ncitrus, crushed ice, individual flash blending. Making twenty of those to order\nis a shift, not a party.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"batch-what-you-can\"\u003eBatch what you can\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEverything in a drink except citrus, ice, and carbonation can be premixed days\nahead. Combine the rums, syrups, and spice elements in a bottle, label it, and\nrefrigerate. At the party you\u0026rsquo;re adding fresh lime and ice to a single pour —\nthirty seconds instead of three minutes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBatch by the drink, not by the ingredient. One bottle labeled \u0026ldquo;Mai Tai base, 2.5\noz per drink\u0026rdquo; beats six bottles you have to reassemble each time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"make-a-punch-the-centerpiece\"\u003eMake a punch the centerpiece\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePunch is the older tradition and the better party format. One large bowl,\nassembled once, that guests serve themselves from. It removes you from the\ncritical path entirely.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA block of ice rather than cubes is the key detail — a large frozen block melts\nslowly enough that the punch stays drinkable for hours instead of turning to\nwater in forty minutes. Freeze water in a Bundt pan or a plastic container the\nday before.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"prep-list-working-backward\"\u003ePrep list, working backward\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree days out:\u003c/strong\u003e make syrups. Orgeat, cinnamon, whatever the menu needs.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTwo days out:\u003c/strong\u003e batch the drink bases. Freeze the punch ice block.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDay of, morning:\u003c/strong\u003e juice the citrus. Fresh matters, but same-day is fine —\nit does not need to be à la minute.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDay of, afternoon:\u003c/strong\u003e buy ice. More than you think. Then buy more.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn hour before:\u003c/strong\u003e garnishes prepped and in the fridge. Mint in water.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"two-or-three-drinks-not-twelve\"\u003eTwo or three drinks, not twelve\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA short menu is a better menu. Pick one long tropical drink, one punch, and one\nshort spirit-forward option for the person who doesn\u0026rsquo;t want anything sweet.\nFewer ingredients to buy, fewer things to prep, less that can go wrong.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNobody has ever left a party disappointed that the cocktail list wasn\u0026rsquo;t longer.\nThey leave disappointed because the host was busy.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/throwing-a-tiki-party-that-works", "lastmod": "2025-04-17T09:00:00-07:00", "markdown": "\nThe failure mode of a tiki party is predictable: the host disappears behind the\nbar at seven and reappears at midnight, exhausted, having spoken to nobody.\n\nExotic cocktails are labor-intensive by nature. Five to eight ingredients, fresh\ncitrus, crushed ice, individual flash blending. Making twenty of those to order\nis a shift, not a party.\n\n## Batch what you can\n\nEverything in a drink except citrus, ice, and carbonation can be premixed days\nahead. Combine the rums, syrups, and spice elements in a bottle, label it, and\nrefrigerate. At the party you're adding fresh lime and ice to a single pour —\nthirty seconds instead of three minutes.\n\nBatch by the drink, not by the ingredient. One bottle labeled \"Mai Tai base, 2.5\noz per drink\" beats six bottles you have to reassemble each time.\n\n## Make a punch the centerpiece\n\nPunch is the older tradition and the better party format. One large bowl,\nassembled once, that guests serve themselves from. It removes you from the\ncritical path entirely.\n\nA block of ice rather than cubes is the key detail — a large frozen block melts\nslowly enough that the punch stays drinkable for hours instead of turning to\nwater in forty minutes. Freeze water in a Bundt pan or a plastic container the\nday before.\n\n## Prep list, working backward\n\n- **Three days out:** make syrups. Orgeat, cinnamon, whatever the menu needs.\n- **Two days out:** batch the drink bases. Freeze the punch ice block.\n- **Day of, morning:** juice the citrus. Fresh matters, but same-day is fine —\n it does not need to be à la minute.\n- **Day of, afternoon:** buy ice. More than you think. Then buy more.\n- **An hour before:** garnishes prepped and in the fridge. Mint in water.\n\n## Two or three drinks, not twelve\n\nA short menu is a better menu. Pick one long tropical drink, one punch, and one\nshort spirit-forward option for the person who doesn't want anything sweet.\nFewer ingredients to buy, fewer things to prep, less that can go wrong.\n\nNobody has ever left a party disappointed that the cocktail list wasn't longer.\nThey leave disappointed because the host was busy.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "throwing-a-tiki-party-that-works", "summary": "The failure mode of a tiki party is predictable: the host disappears behind the bar at seven and reappears at midnight, exhausted, having spoken to nobody.\nExotic cocktails are labor-intensive by nature. Five to eight ingredients, fresh citrus, crushed ice, individual flash blending. Making twenty of those to order is a shift, not a party.\nBatch what you can Everything in a drink except citrus, ice, and carbonation can be premixed days ahead. Combine the rums, syrups, and spice elements in a bottle, label it, and refrigerate. At the party you’re adding fresh lime and ice to a single pour — thirty seconds instead of three minutes.", "title": "Throwing a Tiki Party That Works", "url": "/posts/throwing-a-tiki-party-that-works/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 354 }, { "api": "/posts/the-zombie-and-the-lost-recipes/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2025-02-26T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "How a drink limited to two per customer became unrecoverable, and the detective work that brought it back.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2025-02-26T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "How a drink limited to two per customer became unrecoverable, and the detective work that brought it back.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-02-26T09:00:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2025-02-26T09:00:00-08:00", "tags": [ "cocktails", "history", "zombie" ], "title": "The Zombie and the Lost Recipes" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eThe Zombie is Donn Beach\u0026rsquo;s most famous creation and, for about sixty years, one\nof the least understood drinks in the world.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of that is by design. Donn ran his bars on a system of numbered and\nlettered bottles — Don\u0026rsquo;s Mix, Spices #4, Mix #2 — assembled by bartenders who\noften had no idea what they were pouring. The specs lived in Donn\u0026rsquo;s head and in\ncoded notebooks. When bars closed and staff scattered, the recipes went with\nthem.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat survived was the reputation and the legend of the two-drink limit, plus\ndecades of imitations that got progressively further from the original. By the\n1970s a \u0026ldquo;Zombie\u0026rdquo; at most bars meant every fruit juice behind the well plus as\nmuch rum as would fit.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-reconstruction\"\u003eThe reconstruction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe recovery is largely the work of Jeff \u0026ldquo;Beachbum\u0026rdquo; Berry, who spent years\ntracking down surviving Beachcomber bartenders, buying their notebooks, and\ndecoding the shorthand. The 1934 Zombie that came out of that work is nothing\nlike the imitations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s three rums — Puerto Rican gold, Jamaican dark, and 151 demerara — with lime,\nfalernum, a grapefruit-and-cinnamon mixture, grenadine, Pernod, and Angostura.\nFlash blended with crushed ice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is dry, spiced, and layered. It is emphatically not a fruit punch. It\nis also genuinely strong, which is where the two-drink limit came from.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"why-the-coding-mattered\"\u003eWhy the coding mattered\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s tempting to read the secrecy as pure showmanship, and some of it was. But\nDonn was operating in an era with no meaningful recipe protection, in a business\nwhere a competitor could walk in, order a drink, and open a copy of your bar\nacross the street six months later. Trader Vic more or less did exactly that.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe obfuscation was a trade secret strategy. It worked, and it nearly cost us\nthe drinks entirely.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-lesson-for-anyone-writing-specs-down\"\u003eThe lesson for anyone writing specs down\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocument what you make. Write the actual ingredients, in actual measurements,\nsomewhere that isn\u0026rsquo;t only your own memory. The history of this category is\nfull of extraordinary drinks that vanished because someone assumed they\u0026rsquo;d\nalways be around to make them.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/the-zombie-and-the-lost-recipes", "lastmod": "2025-02-26T09:00:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nThe Zombie is Donn Beach's most famous creation and, for about sixty years, one\nof the least understood drinks in the world.\n\nPart of that is by design. Donn ran his bars on a system of numbered and\nlettered bottles — Don's Mix, Spices #4, Mix #2 — assembled by bartenders who\noften had no idea what they were pouring. The specs lived in Donn's head and in\ncoded notebooks. When bars closed and staff scattered, the recipes went with\nthem.\n\nWhat survived was the reputation and the legend of the two-drink limit, plus\ndecades of imitations that got progressively further from the original. By the\n1970s a \"Zombie\" at most bars meant every fruit juice behind the well plus as\nmuch rum as would fit.\n\n## The reconstruction\n\nThe recovery is largely the work of Jeff \"Beachbum\" Berry, who spent years\ntracking down surviving Beachcomber bartenders, buying their notebooks, and\ndecoding the shorthand. The 1934 Zombie that came out of that work is nothing\nlike the imitations.\n\nIt's three rums — Puerto Rican gold, Jamaican dark, and 151 demerara — with lime,\nfalernum, a grapefruit-and-cinnamon mixture, grenadine, Pernod, and Angostura.\nFlash blended with crushed ice.\n\nThe result is dry, spiced, and layered. It is emphatically not a fruit punch. It\nis also genuinely strong, which is where the two-drink limit came from.\n\n## Why the coding mattered\n\nIt's tempting to read the secrecy as pure showmanship, and some of it was. But\nDonn was operating in an era with no meaningful recipe protection, in a business\nwhere a competitor could walk in, order a drink, and open a copy of your bar\nacross the street six months later. Trader Vic more or less did exactly that.\n\nThe obfuscation was a trade secret strategy. It worked, and it nearly cost us\nthe drinks entirely.\n\n## The lesson for anyone writing specs down\n\nDocument what you make. Write the actual ingredients, in actual measurements,\nsomewhere that isn't only your own memory. The history of this category is\nfull of extraordinary drinks that vanished because someone assumed they'd\nalways be around to make them.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "the-zombie-and-the-lost-recipes", "summary": "The Zombie is Donn Beach’s most famous creation and, for about sixty years, one of the least understood drinks in the world.\nPart of that is by design. Donn ran his bars on a system of numbered and lettered bottles — Don’s Mix, Spices #4, Mix #2 — assembled by bartenders who often had no idea what they were pouring. The specs lived in Donn’s head and in coded notebooks. When bars closed and staff scattered, the recipes went with them.", "title": "The Zombie and the Lost Recipes", "url": "/posts/the-zombie-and-the-lost-recipes/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 349 }, { "api": "/posts/hogo-and-the-case-for-funk/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2025-01-09T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Esters, dunder, and why the most divisive rums on the shelf are the most useful ones behind the bar.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2025-01-09T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Esters, dunder, and why the most divisive rums on the shelf are the most useful ones behind the bar.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-01-09T09:00:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2025-01-09T09:00:00-08:00", "tags": [ "rum", "jamaica", "education" ], "title": "Hogo and the Case for Funk" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003ePour a high-ester Jamaican rum for someone who\u0026rsquo;s only had column still rum and\nwatch their face. Overripe banana, glue, olive brine, something almost medicinal\nunderneath. The first reaction is rarely pleasure.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat quality has a name — \u003cem\u003ehogo\u003c/em\u003e, an English corruption of the French \u003cem\u003ehaut\ngoût\u003c/em\u003e, \u0026ldquo;high taste.\u0026rdquo; It\u0026rsquo;s produced by long fermentation, pot distillation, and\nin some Jamaican distilleries the deliberate use of \u003cem\u003edunder\u003c/em\u003e: the acidic residue\nleft in the still from the previous run, added back to the next fermentation to\ndrive ester production.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt sounds like a description of a mistake. It\u0026rsquo;s a centuries-old technique\npracticed on purpose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"why-bother\"\u003eWhy bother\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause in a cocktail, funk is structure.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exotic cocktail typically has a lot going on — two or three rums, citrus, one\nor two syrups, a spice element, bitters. A clean rum in that context gets buried.\nYou\u0026rsquo;ve added alcohol and taken away nothing else. A high-ester rum survives the\ncrowd. It gives the drink a spine and a finish, and it\u0026rsquo;s the reason a great\nJamaica-forward drink tastes like something rather than like sweet cold liquid.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe classic move is proportion. Half an ounce of an aggressive pot still rum\nalongside an ounce and a half of something rounder does more for a drink than\ntwo ounces of either alone.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"learning-to-read-it\"\u003eLearning to read it\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStart by tasting the loud ones neat, in small amounts, next to something mild.\nYou\u0026rsquo;re not trying to enjoy them yet — you\u0026rsquo;re building a vocabulary. Once you can\nidentify the banana-and-varnish register, you start noticing trace amounts of it\nin blends, and you start understanding what a producer was reaching for.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"not-a-virtue-in-itself\"\u003eNot a virtue in itself\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFunk is a tool, not a scoreboard. There\u0026rsquo;s a strain of rum enthusiasm that treats\nmaximum ester count as maximum quality, which is how you end up with drinks that\nare unbalanced in an unusual direction rather than balanced.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe skill isn\u0026rsquo;t loving hogo. It\u0026rsquo;s knowing how much a given drink can carry.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/hogo-and-the-case-for-funk", "lastmod": "2025-01-09T09:00:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nPour a high-ester Jamaican rum for someone who's only had column still rum and\nwatch their face. Overripe banana, glue, olive brine, something almost medicinal\nunderneath. The first reaction is rarely pleasure.\n\nThat quality has a name — *hogo*, an English corruption of the French *haut\ngoût*, \"high taste.\" It's produced by long fermentation, pot distillation, and\nin some Jamaican distilleries the deliberate use of *dunder*: the acidic residue\nleft in the still from the previous run, added back to the next fermentation to\ndrive ester production.\n\nIt sounds like a description of a mistake. It's a centuries-old technique\npracticed on purpose.\n\n## Why bother\n\nBecause in a cocktail, funk is structure.\n\nAn exotic cocktail typically has a lot going on — two or three rums, citrus, one\nor two syrups, a spice element, bitters. A clean rum in that context gets buried.\nYou've added alcohol and taken away nothing else. A high-ester rum survives the\ncrowd. It gives the drink a spine and a finish, and it's the reason a great\nJamaica-forward drink tastes like something rather than like sweet cold liquid.\n\nThe classic move is proportion. Half an ounce of an aggressive pot still rum\nalongside an ounce and a half of something rounder does more for a drink than\ntwo ounces of either alone.\n\n## Learning to read it\n\nStart by tasting the loud ones neat, in small amounts, next to something mild.\nYou're not trying to enjoy them yet — you're building a vocabulary. Once you can\nidentify the banana-and-varnish register, you start noticing trace amounts of it\nin blends, and you start understanding what a producer was reaching for.\n\n## Not a virtue in itself\n\nFunk is a tool, not a scoreboard. There's a strain of rum enthusiasm that treats\nmaximum ester count as maximum quality, which is how you end up with drinks that\nare unbalanced in an unusual direction rather than balanced.\n\nThe skill isn't loving hogo. It's knowing how much a given drink can carry.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "hogo-and-the-case-for-funk", "summary": "Pour a high-ester Jamaican rum for someone who’s only had column still rum and watch their face. Overripe banana, glue, olive brine, something almost medicinal underneath. The first reaction is rarely pleasure.\nThat quality has a name — hogo, an English corruption of the French haut goût, “high taste.” It’s produced by long fermentation, pot distillation, and in some Jamaican distilleries the deliberate use of dunder: the acidic residue left in the still from the previous run, added back to the next fermentation to drive ester production.", "title": "Hogo and the Case for Funk", "url": "/posts/hogo-and-the-case-for-funk/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 330 }, { "api": "/posts/building-a-home-tiki-bar/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-11-15T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Layer, don't decorate. Notes on making a room feel like somewhere else without buying a single carved idol.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-11-15T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Layer, don't decorate. Notes on making a room feel like somewhere else without buying a single carved idol.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-02-19T14:30:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2024-11-15T09:00:00-08:00", "tags": [ "decor", "home-bar", "creating-the-space" ], "title": "Building a Home Tiki Bar" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eThe mistake almost everyone makes is treating a tiki bar as a shopping list.\nBuy some bamboo, hang a puffer fish lamp, put up a few masks, done. The result\nusually reads as a themed corner of a normal room, which is exactly what it is.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes these spaces work is not the objects. It\u0026rsquo;s density and light.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"cover-the-edges\"\u003eCover the edges\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe single highest-impact move is eliminating the visual reminders that you\u0026rsquo;re\nin a rectangular room in an ordinary building. Corners, ceiling lines, window\nframes, outlets, thermostats. Bamboo poles, matting, netting, and lauhala cloth\nexist to break up those lines.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou don\u0026rsquo;t need to cover every surface — you need to cover the ones that give\nthe game away. A ceiling treatment alone will do more than a wall of\nmerchandise.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"light-low-light-warm\"\u003eLight low, light warm\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverhead lighting kills the effect instantly. What you want is many small warm\nsources at or below eye level: pufferfish lamps, float lamps, string lights\nbehind matting, a glow from under the bar.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGet everything on dimmers. The room should be able to go from \u0026ldquo;we\u0026rsquo;re having\npeople over\u0026rdquo; to \u0026ldquo;it\u0026rsquo;s midnight somewhere\u0026rdquo; without rearranging anything.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"layer-over-time\"\u003eLayer over time\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe best home bars look accumulated because they were. A room assembled in one\nweekend from one catalog looks like it. A room built over three years out of\nestate sales, trades with other collectors, a commissioned carving, and things\nbrought back from trips looks like a life.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is also the honest financial advice. Good carved work is expensive and\nworth it; the filler around it doesn\u0026rsquo;t need to be.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"sound\"\u003eSound\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChronically underrated. Exotica — Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman — plus\nthe modern acts keeping the genre alive. A bird call and a distant vibraphone\ndo more for the atmosphere than another mask on the wall.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"a-note-on-what-you-hang\"\u003eA note on what you hang\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlenty of vintage tiki décor reproduces sacred Polynesian imagery as\ndecoration. Some of it is thoughtless, some of it is worse. You can build a\ngorgeous room out of mid-century modern shapes, natural materials, warm light,\nand commissioned work by contemporary carvers who are open about what they\u0026rsquo;re\nmaking and why.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe goal was always transportation, not authenticity. Leaning into the\nmid-century American fantasy — which is what this actually is — gets you a\nbetter room and a clearer conscience.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/building-a-home-tiki-bar", "lastmod": "2025-02-19T14:30:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nThe mistake almost everyone makes is treating a tiki bar as a shopping list.\nBuy some bamboo, hang a puffer fish lamp, put up a few masks, done. The result\nusually reads as a themed corner of a normal room, which is exactly what it is.\n\nWhat makes these spaces work is not the objects. It's density and light.\n\n## Cover the edges\n\nThe single highest-impact move is eliminating the visual reminders that you're\nin a rectangular room in an ordinary building. Corners, ceiling lines, window\nframes, outlets, thermostats. Bamboo poles, matting, netting, and lauhala cloth\nexist to break up those lines.\n\nYou don't need to cover every surface — you need to cover the ones that give\nthe game away. A ceiling treatment alone will do more than a wall of\nmerchandise.\n\n## Light low, light warm\n\nOverhead lighting kills the effect instantly. What you want is many small warm\nsources at or below eye level: pufferfish lamps, float lamps, string lights\nbehind matting, a glow from under the bar.\n\nGet everything on dimmers. The room should be able to go from \"we're having\npeople over\" to \"it's midnight somewhere\" without rearranging anything.\n\n## Layer over time\n\nThe best home bars look accumulated because they were. A room assembled in one\nweekend from one catalog looks like it. A room built over three years out of\nestate sales, trades with other collectors, a commissioned carving, and things\nbrought back from trips looks like a life.\n\nThis is also the honest financial advice. Good carved work is expensive and\nworth it; the filler around it doesn't need to be.\n\n## Sound\n\nChronically underrated. Exotica — Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman — plus\nthe modern acts keeping the genre alive. A bird call and a distant vibraphone\ndo more for the atmosphere than another mask on the wall.\n\n## A note on what you hang\n\nPlenty of vintage tiki décor reproduces sacred Polynesian imagery as\ndecoration. Some of it is thoughtless, some of it is worse. You can build a\ngorgeous room out of mid-century modern shapes, natural materials, warm light,\nand commissioned work by contemporary carvers who are open about what they're\nmaking and why.\n\nThe goal was always transportation, not authenticity. Leaning into the\nmid-century American fantasy — which is what this actually is — gets you a\nbetter room and a clearer conscience.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "building-a-home-tiki-bar", "summary": "The mistake almost everyone makes is treating a tiki bar as a shopping list. Buy some bamboo, hang a puffer fish lamp, put up a few masks, done. The result usually reads as a themed corner of a normal room, which is exactly what it is.\nWhat makes these spaces work is not the objects. It’s density and light.\nCover the edges The single highest-impact move is eliminating the visual reminders that you’re in a rectangular room in an ordinary building. Corners, ceiling lines, window frames, outlets, thermostats. Bamboo poles, matting, netting, and lauhala cloth exist to break up those lines.", "title": "Building a Home Tiki Bar", "url": "/posts/building-a-home-tiki-bar/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 391 }, { "api": "/posts/rhum-agricole-and-the-aoc/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-10-03T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Fresh cane juice instead of molasses, and the one corner of rum with real rules.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-10-03T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Fresh cane juice instead of molasses, and the one corner of rum with real rules.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2024-10-03T09:00:00-07:00", "publishdate": "2024-10-03T09:00:00-07:00", "tags": [ "rum", "agricole", "martinique" ], "title": "Rhum Agricole and the AOC" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eNearly all rum is made from molasses — the byproduct left after sugar is\ncrystallized out of cane juice. It\u0026rsquo;s cheap, it\u0026rsquo;s stable, it ships well, and it\nhas been the default for centuries.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRhum agricole is made from fresh sugarcane juice instead, pressed and fermented\nwithin hours of harvest. The difference is not subtle. Where molasses rum tends\ntoward caramel, vanilla, and dried fruit, agricole is grassy, vegetal, olive-\nbrined, and alive in a way that surprises people the first time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-aoc\"\u003eThe AOC\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMartinique is the one place in rum with a genuine appellation. AOC Martinique\nRhum Agricole, granted in 1996, regulates cane varieties, harvest windows,\nfermentation, distillation proof, and aging — the same apparatus that governs\nCognac or Champagne.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat matters in a category where almost nothing else is regulated. When a\nbottle says AOC Martinique, a large number of production questions are already\nanswered.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vocabulary is worth knowing:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlanc\u003c/strong\u003e — unaged, or rested briefly in steel. The purest expression of the\ncane.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eÉlevé sous bois\u003c/strong\u003e — rested in wood, at least a year.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVieux\u003c/strong\u003e — aged at least three years in oak.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVSOP, XO, Hors d\u0026rsquo;Âge\u003c/strong\u003e — progressively longer aging, borrowed from Cognac.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"where-else\"\u003eWhere else\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMartinique has the appellation, but not a monopoly on the technique. Guadeloupe\nand Marie-Galante produce excellent cane juice rhum outside the AOC. Haiti\u0026rsquo;s\nclairin is unaged, wildly variable, often fermented with native yeasts, and\nsome of the most exciting spirit being made anywhere. Cachaça is Brazil\u0026rsquo;s\ncane-juice spirit, with its own traditions and its own wood.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"using-it\"\u003eUsing it\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAgricole blanc in a Ti\u0026rsquo; Punch — rhum, cane syrup, a lime coin, no ice or very\nlittle — is the whole argument in three ingredients. It\u0026rsquo;s also superb in\ndaiquiri-shaped drinks where you want the rum to actually be present.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere it gets difficult is substitution. An agricole will not quietly stand in\nfor a molasses rum. Drop one into a recipe built around aged blended rum and it\nwill take the drink somewhere else entirely. Sometimes that\u0026rsquo;s a happy accident.\nUsually it\u0026rsquo;s just wrong. Treat agricole as its own family and build for it\nrather than swapping it in.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/rhum-agricole-and-the-aoc", "lastmod": "2024-10-03T09:00:00-07:00", "markdown": "\nNearly all rum is made from molasses — the byproduct left after sugar is\ncrystallized out of cane juice. It's cheap, it's stable, it ships well, and it\nhas been the default for centuries.\n\nRhum agricole is made from fresh sugarcane juice instead, pressed and fermented\nwithin hours of harvest. The difference is not subtle. Where molasses rum tends\ntoward caramel, vanilla, and dried fruit, agricole is grassy, vegetal, olive-\nbrined, and alive in a way that surprises people the first time.\n\n## The AOC\n\nMartinique is the one place in rum with a genuine appellation. AOC Martinique\nRhum Agricole, granted in 1996, regulates cane varieties, harvest windows,\nfermentation, distillation proof, and aging — the same apparatus that governs\nCognac or Champagne.\n\nThat matters in a category where almost nothing else is regulated. When a\nbottle says AOC Martinique, a large number of production questions are already\nanswered.\n\nThe vocabulary is worth knowing:\n\n- **Blanc** — unaged, or rested briefly in steel. The purest expression of the\n cane.\n- **Élevé sous bois** — rested in wood, at least a year.\n- **Vieux** — aged at least three years in oak.\n- **VSOP, XO, Hors d'Âge** — progressively longer aging, borrowed from Cognac.\n\n## Where else\n\nMartinique has the appellation, but not a monopoly on the technique. Guadeloupe\nand Marie-Galante produce excellent cane juice rhum outside the AOC. Haiti's\nclairin is unaged, wildly variable, often fermented with native yeasts, and\nsome of the most exciting spirit being made anywhere. Cachaça is Brazil's\ncane-juice spirit, with its own traditions and its own wood.\n\n## Using it\n\nAgricole blanc in a Ti' Punch — rhum, cane syrup, a lime coin, no ice or very\nlittle — is the whole argument in three ingredients. It's also superb in\ndaiquiri-shaped drinks where you want the rum to actually be present.\n\nWhere it gets difficult is substitution. An agricole will not quietly stand in\nfor a molasses rum. Drop one into a recipe built around aged blended rum and it\nwill take the drink somewhere else entirely. Sometimes that's a happy accident.\nUsually it's just wrong. Treat agricole as its own family and build for it\nrather than swapping it in.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "rhum-agricole-and-the-aoc", "summary": "Nearly all rum is made from molasses — the byproduct left after sugar is crystallized out of cane juice. It’s cheap, it’s stable, it ships well, and it has been the default for centuries.\nRhum agricole is made from fresh sugarcane juice instead, pressed and fermented within hours of harvest. The difference is not subtle. Where molasses rum tends toward caramel, vanilla, and dried fruit, agricole is grassy, vegetal, olive- brined, and alive in a way that surprises people the first time.", "title": "Rhum Agricole and the AOC", "url": "/posts/rhum-agricole-and-the-aoc/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 358 }, { "api": "/posts/the-mai-tai-is-not-a-fruit-punch/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-08-22T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Five ingredients, no pineapple juice, and a decades-long argument about who invented it.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-08-22T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "Five ingredients, no pineapple juice, and a decades-long argument about who invented it.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-06-04T10:15:00-07:00", "publishdate": "2024-08-22T09:00:00-07:00", "tags": [ "cocktails", "mai-tai", "history" ], "title": "The Mai Tai Is Not a Fruit Punch" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eOrder a Mai Tai in most of the world and you\u0026rsquo;ll get something red, sweet, and\nfull of pineapple and orange juice, usually with a float of dark rum on top for\ndrama. That drink has a right to exist. It is not a Mai Tai.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-actual-drink\"\u003eThe actual drink\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrader Vic\u0026rsquo;s 1944 original is a rum sour with almond and orange:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAged rum — originally a 17-year Jamaican that no longer exists\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFresh lime juice\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOrange curaçao\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOrgeat\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA small amount of rock candy syrup\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat\u0026rsquo;s it. No fruit juice beyond the lime. Served over crushed ice with a spent\nlime shell and a mint sprig.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat you get is dry, complex, and rum-forward — the almond and orange sitting\nunderneath rather than on top. People who think they don\u0026rsquo;t like Mai Tais have\nusually never had one.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-rum-problem\"\u003eThe rum problem\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVic\u0026rsquo;s original called for J. Wray \u0026amp; Nephew 17 Year, which was gone within a few\nyears of the drink\u0026rsquo;s invention. He reformulated with a blend, and every serious\nversion since has been a blend of some kind. This is not a compromise — the\ndrink genuinely wants two rums. A rich, funky Jamaican for the top notes and\nsomething with more body and age underneath.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe modern convention of building it from a blended aged rum plus a Jamaican\npot still component gets you very close to what the drink is supposed to do.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-other-claim\"\u003eThe other claim\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDonn Beach maintained he\u0026rsquo;d created a Mai Tai in 1933, more than a decade before\nVic. His version is a different drink entirely — closer to a rum swizzle with\ngrapefruit and falernum — and the two have almost nothing in common beyond the\nname.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth men were relentless self-mythologizers, and neither was above rewriting a\ntimeline. The dispute is unresolvable and mostly beside the point. The drink\nthat conquered the world is Vic\u0026rsquo;s, and it\u0026rsquo;s the one worth defending.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"why-it-matters\"\u003eWhy it matters\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Mai Tai is the argument for the whole category compressed into one glass. It\nis not sweet, it is not simple, and it rewards good ingredients enormously. Get\nsomeone to try a properly made one and you\u0026rsquo;ve usually converted them — not to\nthe Mai Tai, but to the idea that tropical drinks can be serious.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/the-mai-tai-is-not-a-fruit-punch", "lastmod": "2025-06-04T10:15:00-07:00", "markdown": "\nOrder a Mai Tai in most of the world and you'll get something red, sweet, and\nfull of pineapple and orange juice, usually with a float of dark rum on top for\ndrama. That drink has a right to exist. It is not a Mai Tai.\n\n## The actual drink\n\nTrader Vic's 1944 original is a rum sour with almond and orange:\n\n- Aged rum — originally a 17-year Jamaican that no longer exists\n- Fresh lime juice\n- Orange curaçao\n- Orgeat\n- A small amount of rock candy syrup\n\nThat's it. No fruit juice beyond the lime. Served over crushed ice with a spent\nlime shell and a mint sprig.\n\nWhat you get is dry, complex, and rum-forward — the almond and orange sitting\nunderneath rather than on top. People who think they don't like Mai Tais have\nusually never had one.\n\n## The rum problem\n\nVic's original called for J. Wray \u0026 Nephew 17 Year, which was gone within a few\nyears of the drink's invention. He reformulated with a blend, and every serious\nversion since has been a blend of some kind. This is not a compromise — the\ndrink genuinely wants two rums. A rich, funky Jamaican for the top notes and\nsomething with more body and age underneath.\n\nThe modern convention of building it from a blended aged rum plus a Jamaican\npot still component gets you very close to what the drink is supposed to do.\n\n## The other claim\n\nDonn Beach maintained he'd created a Mai Tai in 1933, more than a decade before\nVic. His version is a different drink entirely — closer to a rum swizzle with\ngrapefruit and falernum — and the two have almost nothing in common beyond the\nname.\n\nBoth men were relentless self-mythologizers, and neither was above rewriting a\ntimeline. The dispute is unresolvable and mostly beside the point. The drink\nthat conquered the world is Vic's, and it's the one worth defending.\n\n## Why it matters\n\nThe Mai Tai is the argument for the whole category compressed into one glass. It\nis not sweet, it is not simple, and it rewards good ingredients enormously. Get\nsomeone to try a properly made one and you've usually converted them — not to\nthe Mai Tai, but to the idea that tropical drinks can be serious.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "the-mai-tai-is-not-a-fruit-punch", "summary": "Order a Mai Tai in most of the world and you’ll get something red, sweet, and full of pineapple and orange juice, usually with a float of dark rum on top for drama. That drink has a right to exist. It is not a Mai Tai.\nThe actual drink Trader Vic’s 1944 original is a rum sour with almond and orange:\nAged rum — originally a 17-year Jamaican that no longer exists Fresh lime juice Orange curaçao Orgeat A small amount of rock candy syrup That’s it. No fruit juice beyond the lime. Served over crushed ice with a spent lime shell and a mint sprig.", "title": "The Mai Tai Is Not a Fruit Punch", "url": "/posts/the-mai-tai-is-not-a-fruit-punch/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 379 }, { "api": "/posts/making-your-own-orgeat/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-07-09T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "The almond syrup that makes or breaks a Mai Tai, and why the supermarket version won't do.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-07-09T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "The almond syrup that makes or breaks a Mai Tai, and why the supermarket version won't do.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2024-07-09T09:00:00-07:00", "publishdate": "2024-07-09T09:00:00-07:00", "tags": [ "syrups", "technique", "recipes" ], "title": "Making Your Own Orgeat" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eOrgeat is an almond syrup with a hint of orange flower water, and it is the\nsingle ingredient most responsible for whether a Mai Tai tastes like a Mai Tai\nor like a rum sour with some sweetener in it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost commercially available orgeat is almond-flavored sugar water. No actual\nalmonds, no texture, no length. It\u0026rsquo;ll make a drink that\u0026rsquo;s technically correct\nand completely flat.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-good-orgeat-does\"\u003eWhat good orgeat does\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReal orgeat brings three things. Sweetness, obviously. But also \u003cem\u003ebody\u003c/em\u003e — the\nemulsified almond oil gives a drink a silky weight that sugar alone can\u0026rsquo;t\nproduce. And a nutty, faintly floral length that lingers after the citrus has\ncleared.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce you\u0026rsquo;ve had a Mai Tai made with the real thing, the difference isn\u0026rsquo;t subtle\nand you can\u0026rsquo;t go back.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-method-in-outline\"\u003eThe method, in outline\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eToast raw almonds\u003c/strong\u003e lightly. This is optional and controversial; it pushes\nthe flavor darker and nuttier. Skip it if you want something more delicate.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrind and steep.\u003c/strong\u003e Blitz the almonds, cover with hot water, and let them\nsit for several hours. You\u0026rsquo;re making almond milk.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStrain hard.\u003c/strong\u003e Through a nut milk bag or several layers of cheesecloth, and\nsqueeze. What you want is the liquid, and you want all of it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAdd sugar\u003c/strong\u003e — roughly two parts sugar to one part almond milk by weight for\na rich syrup. Warm gently to dissolve; don\u0026rsquo;t boil.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinish\u003c/strong\u003e with a small amount of orange flower water and a splash of\noverproof rum or brandy. The orange flower is easy to overdo — start with\nless than you think.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rum isn\u0026rsquo;t for flavor. It\u0026rsquo;s a preservative. Fresh orgeat with no alcohol\nwill turn in under a week.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"if-youre-not-going-to-make-it\"\u003eIf you\u0026rsquo;re not going to make it\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat\u0026rsquo;s a completely reasonable choice. Several small producers make genuine\nalmond orgeat and ship it, and a good bought orgeat beats a bad homemade one.\nThe thing to check is the ingredient list. If almonds aren\u0026rsquo;t near the top, put\nthe bottle back.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe broader point applies to every syrup in an exotic cocktail. These drinks\nhave a lot of moving parts, and the parts that aren\u0026rsquo;t the rum are doing more\nwork than people assume. Passion fruit, falernum, cinnamon syrup, Martinique\nsugarcane syrup — each one is a decision, not a filler.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/making-your-own-orgeat", "lastmod": "2024-07-09T09:00:00-07:00", "markdown": "\nOrgeat is an almond syrup with a hint of orange flower water, and it is the\nsingle ingredient most responsible for whether a Mai Tai tastes like a Mai Tai\nor like a rum sour with some sweetener in it.\n\nMost commercially available orgeat is almond-flavored sugar water. No actual\nalmonds, no texture, no length. It'll make a drink that's technically correct\nand completely flat.\n\n## What good orgeat does\n\nReal orgeat brings three things. Sweetness, obviously. But also *body* — the\nemulsified almond oil gives a drink a silky weight that sugar alone can't\nproduce. And a nutty, faintly floral length that lingers after the citrus has\ncleared.\n\nOnce you've had a Mai Tai made with the real thing, the difference isn't subtle\nand you can't go back.\n\n## The method, in outline\n\n1. **Toast raw almonds** lightly. This is optional and controversial; it pushes\n the flavor darker and nuttier. Skip it if you want something more delicate.\n2. **Grind and steep.** Blitz the almonds, cover with hot water, and let them\n sit for several hours. You're making almond milk.\n3. **Strain hard.** Through a nut milk bag or several layers of cheesecloth, and\n squeeze. What you want is the liquid, and you want all of it.\n4. **Add sugar** — roughly two parts sugar to one part almond milk by weight for\n a rich syrup. Warm gently to dissolve; don't boil.\n5. **Finish** with a small amount of orange flower water and a splash of\n overproof rum or brandy. The orange flower is easy to overdo — start with\n less than you think.\n\nThe rum isn't for flavor. It's a preservative. Fresh orgeat with no alcohol\nwill turn in under a week.\n\n## If you're not going to make it\n\nThat's a completely reasonable choice. Several small producers make genuine\nalmond orgeat and ship it, and a good bought orgeat beats a bad homemade one.\nThe thing to check is the ingredient list. If almonds aren't near the top, put\nthe bottle back.\n\nThe broader point applies to every syrup in an exotic cocktail. These drinks\nhave a lot of moving parts, and the parts that aren't the rum are doing more\nwork than people assume. Passion fruit, falernum, cinnamon syrup, Martinique\nsugarcane syrup — each one is a decision, not a filler.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "making-your-own-orgeat", "summary": "Orgeat is an almond syrup with a hint of orange flower water, and it is the single ingredient most responsible for whether a Mai Tai tastes like a Mai Tai or like a rum sour with some sweetener in it.\nMost commercially available orgeat is almond-flavored sugar water. No actual almonds, no texture, no length. It’ll make a drink that’s technically correct and completely flat.\nWhat good orgeat does Real orgeat brings three things. Sweetness, obviously. But also body — the emulsified almond oil gives a drink a silky weight that sugar alone can’t produce. And a nutty, faintly floral length that lingers after the citrus has cleared.", "title": "Making Your Own Orgeat", "url": "/posts/making-your-own-orgeat/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 377 }, { "api": "/posts/pot-still-versus-column-still/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-05-30T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "The single biggest lever on how a rum tastes, and why blends of the two dominate the category.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-05-30T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "The single biggest lever on how a rum tastes, and why blends of the two dominate the category.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-01-14T16:45:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2024-05-30T09:00:00-07:00", "tags": [ "rum", "production", "education" ], "title": "Pot Still Versus Column Still" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eIf you only learn one thing about rum production, learn this one. Still type\ndoes more to determine character than country, age, or price.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"pot-stills\"\u003ePot stills\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA pot still is a batch process. You fill it, you distill, you empty it, you\nstart again. It\u0026rsquo;s inefficient, slow, and it produces a distillate that carries\nan enormous amount of the fermented wash along with the alcohol — congeners,\nesters, oils, all the heavy compounds that read as flavor.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is loud. Jamaican pot still rum is the extreme case: overripe banana,\nvarnish, tropical fruit turned up past the point of subtlety. Rum people call\nthat quality \u003cem\u003ehogo\u003c/em\u003e, from the French \u003cem\u003ehaut goût\u003c/em\u003e. In a cocktail, half an ounce\nof it will announce itself over everything else in the glass.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"column-stills\"\u003eColumn stills\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA column still runs continuously and separates the distillate into fractions\nwith far more precision. You can pull a very clean, very high-proof spirit off\nit. Cuban-style and most Spanish-heritage rums lean on column distillation, and\nthe results are lighter, softer, and more approachable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClean is not the same as boring. A well-made aged column still rum has plenty\ngoing on — it\u0026rsquo;s just that the oak and the base spirit do the talking instead of\nthe fermentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"blends\"\u003eBlends\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost rum you\u0026rsquo;ll drink is neither purely one nor the other. Blending pot and\ncolumn distillate lets a producer dial in exactly as much intensity as they\nwant: the column component provides structure and drinkability, the pot\ncomponent provides the top notes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is why \u0026ldquo;blended\u0026rdquo; deserves to sit alongside pot and column as its own\ncategory rather than being treated as a compromise. It\u0026rsquo;s a deliberate choice,\nand for a huge number of cocktails it\u0026rsquo;s the correct one.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"using-this-behind-the-bar\"\u003eUsing this behind the bar\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA practical rule: if a drink has a lot of competing ingredients — multiple\njuices, several syrups, a spice component — you can afford a loud pot still rum,\nand you probably want one, or the rum will disappear. If a drink is simple and\nrum-forward, a blend or a good column still rum will give you something you can\nactually taste through.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Daiquiri is the test. Three ingredients, nowhere to hide. Make it three\ntimes with three different rums and the entire category will explain itself\nfaster than any amount of reading.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/pot-still-versus-column-still", "lastmod": "2025-01-14T16:45:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nIf you only learn one thing about rum production, learn this one. Still type\ndoes more to determine character than country, age, or price.\n\n## Pot stills\n\nA pot still is a batch process. You fill it, you distill, you empty it, you\nstart again. It's inefficient, slow, and it produces a distillate that carries\nan enormous amount of the fermented wash along with the alcohol — congeners,\nesters, oils, all the heavy compounds that read as flavor.\n\nThe result is loud. Jamaican pot still rum is the extreme case: overripe banana,\nvarnish, tropical fruit turned up past the point of subtlety. Rum people call\nthat quality *hogo*, from the French *haut goût*. In a cocktail, half an ounce\nof it will announce itself over everything else in the glass.\n\n## Column stills\n\nA column still runs continuously and separates the distillate into fractions\nwith far more precision. You can pull a very clean, very high-proof spirit off\nit. Cuban-style and most Spanish-heritage rums lean on column distillation, and\nthe results are lighter, softer, and more approachable.\n\nClean is not the same as boring. A well-made aged column still rum has plenty\ngoing on — it's just that the oak and the base spirit do the talking instead of\nthe fermentation.\n\n## Blends\n\nMost rum you'll drink is neither purely one nor the other. Blending pot and\ncolumn distillate lets a producer dial in exactly as much intensity as they\nwant: the column component provides structure and drinkability, the pot\ncomponent provides the top notes.\n\nThis is why \"blended\" deserves to sit alongside pot and column as its own\ncategory rather than being treated as a compromise. It's a deliberate choice,\nand for a huge number of cocktails it's the correct one.\n\n## Using this behind the bar\n\nA practical rule: if a drink has a lot of competing ingredients — multiple\njuices, several syrups, a spice component — you can afford a loud pot still rum,\nand you probably want one, or the rum will disappear. If a drink is simple and\nrum-forward, a blend or a good column still rum will give you something you can\nactually taste through.\n\nThe Daiquiri is the test. Three ingredients, nowhere to hide. Make it three\ntimes with three different rums and the entire category will explain itself\nfaster than any amount of reading.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "pot-still-versus-column-still", "summary": "If you only learn one thing about rum production, learn this one. Still type does more to determine character than country, age, or price.\nPot stills A pot still is a batch process. You fill it, you distill, you empty it, you start again. It’s inefficient, slow, and it produces a distillate that carries an enormous amount of the fermented wash along with the alcohol — congeners, esters, oils, all the heavy compounds that read as flavor.", "title": "Pot Still Versus Column Still", "url": "/posts/pot-still-versus-column-still/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 388 }, { "api": "/posts/don-the-beachcomber-and-the-invention-of-an-aesthetic/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-04-11T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "A Prohibition-era bootlegger opened a bar in Hollywood in 1934 and accidentally created a genre.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-04-11T09:00:00-07:00", "description": "A Prohibition-era bootlegger opened a bar in Hollywood in 1934 and accidentally created a genre.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2024-04-11T09:00:00-07:00", "publishdate": "2024-04-11T09:00:00-07:00", "tags": [ "history", "birth-of-tiki", "don-the-beachcomber" ], "title": "Don the Beachcomber and the Invention of an Aesthetic" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eErnest Raymond Beaumont Gantt opened a small bar in Hollywood in 1934, filled it\nwith flotsam he\u0026rsquo;d collected wandering the Caribbean and the South Pacific, and\nstarted serving rum drinks nobody had tasted before. He eventually changed his\nown name to Donn Beach. The bar was Don the Beachcomber.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat he built wasn\u0026rsquo;t a Polynesian bar. It was a fantasy of one — an American\ninvention assembled out of Caribbean rum, Cantonese food, and Pacific island\ndécor, none of which had ever coexisted anywhere on earth.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-drinks-were-the-real-innovation\"\u003eThe drinks were the real innovation\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe décor gets the attention, but Donn\u0026rsquo;s lasting contribution was to the\nglass. He was doing things nobody else was: layering multiple rums in a single\ndrink, balancing them against fresh citrus, and using spices and syrups —\nfalernum, cinnamon, allspice — as structural components rather than garnishes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis specs were also famously, obsessively secret. Ingredients were labeled with\nnumbers and letters. Bartenders assembled drinks from premixed bottles without\nknowing what was in them. Some recipes were effectively lost for decades, and\nrecovering them took genuine detective work — most notably by Jeff \u0026ldquo;Beachbum\u0026rdquo;\nBerry, who tracked down surviving Beachcomber bartenders and their notebooks.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"escapism-as-a-business-model\"\u003eEscapism as a business model\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s worth remembering when this happened. 1934 — Prohibition had just ended,\nthe Depression was grinding on, and a war was coming. Donn sold an hour\nsomewhere else for the price of a drink. That\u0026rsquo;s the actual product, and it\u0026rsquo;s why\nthe format survived: the appeal of walking through a door into somewhere warm\nand far away doesn\u0026rsquo;t expire.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-complicated-part\"\u003eThe complicated part\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe aesthetic borrowed heavily and carelessly from Polynesian cultures — sacred\nimagery used as decoration, entire peoples flattened into a mood. That\u0026rsquo;s real,\nand it\u0026rsquo;s worth naming rather than waving past.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe interesting thing about the modern revival is that it\u0026rsquo;s largely dropped the\npseudo-anthropology and kept the parts that were always genuinely ours: the\ncraft of the drinks, the theatricality, and the hospitality of making someone\nfeel like they\u0026rsquo;ve gone somewhere. That\u0026rsquo;s a better inheritance than the carved\nidols.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/don-the-beachcomber-and-the-invention-of-an-aesthetic", "lastmod": "2024-04-11T09:00:00-07:00", "markdown": "\nErnest Raymond Beaumont Gantt opened a small bar in Hollywood in 1934, filled it\nwith flotsam he'd collected wandering the Caribbean and the South Pacific, and\nstarted serving rum drinks nobody had tasted before. He eventually changed his\nown name to Donn Beach. The bar was Don the Beachcomber.\n\nWhat he built wasn't a Polynesian bar. It was a fantasy of one — an American\ninvention assembled out of Caribbean rum, Cantonese food, and Pacific island\ndécor, none of which had ever coexisted anywhere on earth.\n\n## The drinks were the real innovation\n\nThe décor gets the attention, but Donn's lasting contribution was to the\nglass. He was doing things nobody else was: layering multiple rums in a single\ndrink, balancing them against fresh citrus, and using spices and syrups —\nfalernum, cinnamon, allspice — as structural components rather than garnishes.\n\nHis specs were also famously, obsessively secret. Ingredients were labeled with\nnumbers and letters. Bartenders assembled drinks from premixed bottles without\nknowing what was in them. Some recipes were effectively lost for decades, and\nrecovering them took genuine detective work — most notably by Jeff \"Beachbum\"\nBerry, who tracked down surviving Beachcomber bartenders and their notebooks.\n\n## Escapism as a business model\n\nIt's worth remembering when this happened. 1934 — Prohibition had just ended,\nthe Depression was grinding on, and a war was coming. Donn sold an hour\nsomewhere else for the price of a drink. That's the actual product, and it's why\nthe format survived: the appeal of walking through a door into somewhere warm\nand far away doesn't expire.\n\n## The complicated part\n\nThe aesthetic borrowed heavily and carelessly from Polynesian cultures — sacred\nimagery used as decoration, entire peoples flattened into a mood. That's real,\nand it's worth naming rather than waving past.\n\nThe interesting thing about the modern revival is that it's largely dropped the\npseudo-anthropology and kept the parts that were always genuinely ours: the\ncraft of the drinks, the theatricality, and the hospitality of making someone\nfeel like they've gone somewhere. That's a better inheritance than the carved\nidols.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "don-the-beachcomber-and-the-invention-of-an-aesthetic", "summary": "Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt opened a small bar in Hollywood in 1934, filled it with flotsam he’d collected wandering the Caribbean and the South Pacific, and started serving rum drinks nobody had tasted before. He eventually changed his own name to Donn Beach. The bar was Don the Beachcomber.\nWhat he built wasn’t a Polynesian bar. It was a fantasy of one — an American invention assembled out of Caribbean rum, Cantonese food, and Pacific island décor, none of which had ever coexisted anywhere on earth.", "title": "Don the Beachcomber and the Invention of an Aesthetic", "url": "/posts/don-the-beachcomber-and-the-invention-of-an-aesthetic/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 343 }, { "api": "/posts/ice-is-an-ingredient/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-02-27T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Most tropical drinks fail on ice, not on rum. Here's how to think about the form you're using and why.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-02-27T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Most tropical drinks fail on ice, not on rum. Here's how to think about the form you're using and why.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2024-02-27T09:00:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2024-02-27T09:00:00-08:00", "tags": [ "technique", "ice", "equipment" ], "title": "Ice Is an Ingredient" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eAsk someone why their Mai Tai at home doesn\u0026rsquo;t taste like the one they had at a\ngood bar and they\u0026rsquo;ll usually blame the rum. Nine times out of ten it\u0026rsquo;s the ice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIce does two jobs in a drink: it chills, and it dilutes. Both are features. A\ntropical drink built without adequate dilution is a syrupy, boozy mess — the\ncitrus and the sugar never integrate, and the rum sits on top of everything.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"match-the-form-to-the-job\"\u003eMatch the form to the job\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCrushed and pebble ice\u003c/strong\u003e is the workhorse of exotic cocktails. Enormous\nsurface area, fast chilling, fast dilution. It\u0026rsquo;s what makes a swizzle work: you\nagitate the drink against the ice until frost forms on the outside of the glass.\nNothing else does this.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCubed ice\u003c/strong\u003e is for shaking and stirring. You want it to survive the process\nwithout shattering into slush, then get strained away.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA single large cube or block\u003c/strong\u003e is for spirit-forward drinks served on the\nrocks, where you want the drink to stay cold for twenty minutes without turning\nto water.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-home-bar-problem\"\u003eThe home bar problem\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost home freezers produce hollow, cloudy, fast-melting ice that\u0026rsquo;s been sitting\nnext to last month\u0026rsquo;s fish. It picks up odors, and it dilutes unpredictably.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo fixes, in order of effort. First, buy bagged ice for anything that matters —\nit\u0026rsquo;s cheap and it\u0026rsquo;s consistent. Second, if you\u0026rsquo;re making crushed ice, get a\nLewis bag and a mallet, or a dedicated crusher. Blenders and food processors\nproduce wet, uneven slush that\u0026rsquo;s already half-melted before it hits the glass.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"flash-blending\"\u003eFlash blending\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe technique that ties this together is flash blending: a drink mixer — the\nkind used for milkshakes, with a spindle rather than blades — spun with a\nmeasured amount of crushed ice for a few seconds. You get chilling, dilution,\nand aeration in one motion, and unlike a blender you\u0026rsquo;re not pulverizing the ice\ninto a smoothie.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe measured part matters. Twelve ounces of crushed ice, flash blended for\nten seconds, is a repeatable instruction. \u0026ldquo;Blend with some ice until it looks\nright\u0026rdquo; is not.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce you start treating ice as something you specify rather than something you\nadd, drinks stop being inconsistent for reasons you can\u0026rsquo;t name.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/ice-is-an-ingredient", "lastmod": "2024-02-27T09:00:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nAsk someone why their Mai Tai at home doesn't taste like the one they had at a\ngood bar and they'll usually blame the rum. Nine times out of ten it's the ice.\n\nIce does two jobs in a drink: it chills, and it dilutes. Both are features. A\ntropical drink built without adequate dilution is a syrupy, boozy mess — the\ncitrus and the sugar never integrate, and the rum sits on top of everything.\n\n## Match the form to the job\n\n**Crushed and pebble ice** is the workhorse of exotic cocktails. Enormous\nsurface area, fast chilling, fast dilution. It's what makes a swizzle work: you\nagitate the drink against the ice until frost forms on the outside of the glass.\nNothing else does this.\n\n**Cubed ice** is for shaking and stirring. You want it to survive the process\nwithout shattering into slush, then get strained away.\n\n**A single large cube or block** is for spirit-forward drinks served on the\nrocks, where you want the drink to stay cold for twenty minutes without turning\nto water.\n\n## The home bar problem\n\nMost home freezers produce hollow, cloudy, fast-melting ice that's been sitting\nnext to last month's fish. It picks up odors, and it dilutes unpredictably.\n\nTwo fixes, in order of effort. First, buy bagged ice for anything that matters —\nit's cheap and it's consistent. Second, if you're making crushed ice, get a\nLewis bag and a mallet, or a dedicated crusher. Blenders and food processors\nproduce wet, uneven slush that's already half-melted before it hits the glass.\n\n## Flash blending\n\nThe technique that ties this together is flash blending: a drink mixer — the\nkind used for milkshakes, with a spindle rather than blades — spun with a\nmeasured amount of crushed ice for a few seconds. You get chilling, dilution,\nand aeration in one motion, and unlike a blender you're not pulverizing the ice\ninto a smoothie.\n\nThe measured part matters. Twelve ounces of crushed ice, flash blended for\nten seconds, is a repeatable instruction. \"Blend with some ice until it looks\nright\" is not.\n\nOnce you start treating ice as something you specify rather than something you\nadd, drinks stop being inconsistent for reasons you can't name.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "ice-is-an-ingredient", "summary": "Ask someone why their Mai Tai at home doesn’t taste like the one they had at a good bar and they’ll usually blame the rum. Nine times out of ten it’s the ice.\nIce does two jobs in a drink: it chills, and it dilutes. Both are features. A tropical drink built without adequate dilution is a syrupy, boozy mess — the citrus and the sugar never integrate, and the rum sits on top of everything.", "title": "Ice Is an Ingredient", "url": "/posts/ice-is-an-ingredient/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 368 }, { "api": "/posts/why-rum-needs-a-better-classification-system/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-01-18T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Color and country tell you almost nothing about what's in the bottle. Production method tells you everything.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-01-18T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Color and country tell you almost nothing about what's in the bottle. Production method tells you everything.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-03-02T11:20:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2024-01-18T09:00:00-08:00", "tags": [ "rum", "classification", "education" ], "title": "Why Rum Needs a Better Classification System" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eWalk into most bars and the rum shelf is sorted by color. White on the left,\ngold in the middle, dark on the right. It\u0026rsquo;s tidy, and it\u0026rsquo;s close to useless.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColor in rum is a poor proxy for anything. A rum can be dark because it spent\nfifteen years in oak, or because someone added caramel coloring last Tuesday. A\nrum can be crystal clear and have been aged for years, then filtered back to\nwhite. Two bottles sitting next to each other, identical in the glass, can\nbehave completely differently in a drink.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"country-doesnt-fix-it-either\"\u003eCountry doesn\u0026rsquo;t fix it either\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe other common approach is to sort by origin — Jamaican, Barbadian, Guyanese,\nCuban-style. This is better, because regional traditions are real. But it\nbreaks down fast. Jamaica produces both delicate column still rums and some of\nthe most aggressively funky pot still rums on earth. Calling both \u0026ldquo;Jamaican\u0026rdquo; and\nstopping there tells a bartender nothing about which one belongs in a Mai Tai.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd it collapses entirely for blends. What country is a rum made from stocks\nacross four islands?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-actually-matters\"\u003eWhat actually matters\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree things determine how a rum tastes and how it behaves in a cocktail:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBase ingredient\u003c/strong\u003e — molasses, evaporated cane juice, or fresh cane juice\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStill type\u003c/strong\u003e — pot, column, or a blend of both\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAging\u003c/strong\u003e — unaged, lightly aged, aged, long aged\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose three axes, combined, describe a rum in a way you can act on. A pot still\nunaged rum and a column still lightly aged rum are different tools. Once the\nshelf is organized this way, substitution stops being guesswork. If a recipe\ncalls for a blended aged rum and you\u0026rsquo;re out, you reach for another blended aged\nrum — not for whatever else happens to be brown.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"why-it-took-so-long\"\u003eWhy it took so long\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRum has no equivalent to the appellation systems that govern Cognac or Scotch.\nOutside of a few designations like AOC Martinique, producers can label almost\nanything almost anything. \u0026ldquo;Reserve,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;XO,\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;Private Stock\u0026rdquo; mean whatever the\nmarketing department wants them to mean.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat absence of regulation is part of what makes rum thrilling — the category\ncontains more variety than any other spirit. But it means the burden of\nclassification falls to us. If the industry won\u0026rsquo;t organize the shelf, the people\npouring from it have to.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/why-rum-needs-a-better-classification-system", "lastmod": "2025-03-02T11:20:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nWalk into most bars and the rum shelf is sorted by color. White on the left,\ngold in the middle, dark on the right. It's tidy, and it's close to useless.\n\nColor in rum is a poor proxy for anything. A rum can be dark because it spent\nfifteen years in oak, or because someone added caramel coloring last Tuesday. A\nrum can be crystal clear and have been aged for years, then filtered back to\nwhite. Two bottles sitting next to each other, identical in the glass, can\nbehave completely differently in a drink.\n\n## Country doesn't fix it either\n\nThe other common approach is to sort by origin — Jamaican, Barbadian, Guyanese,\nCuban-style. This is better, because regional traditions are real. But it\nbreaks down fast. Jamaica produces both delicate column still rums and some of\nthe most aggressively funky pot still rums on earth. Calling both \"Jamaican\" and\nstopping there tells a bartender nothing about which one belongs in a Mai Tai.\n\nAnd it collapses entirely for blends. What country is a rum made from stocks\nacross four islands?\n\n## What actually matters\n\nThree things determine how a rum tastes and how it behaves in a cocktail:\n\n1. **Base ingredient** — molasses, evaporated cane juice, or fresh cane juice\n2. **Still type** — pot, column, or a blend of both\n3. **Aging** — unaged, lightly aged, aged, long aged\n\nThose three axes, combined, describe a rum in a way you can act on. A pot still\nunaged rum and a column still lightly aged rum are different tools. Once the\nshelf is organized this way, substitution stops being guesswork. If a recipe\ncalls for a blended aged rum and you're out, you reach for another blended aged\nrum — not for whatever else happens to be brown.\n\n## Why it took so long\n\nRum has no equivalent to the appellation systems that govern Cognac or Scotch.\nOutside of a few designations like AOC Martinique, producers can label almost\nanything almost anything. \"Reserve,\" \"XO,\" and \"Private Stock\" mean whatever the\nmarketing department wants them to mean.\n\nThat absence of regulation is part of what makes rum thrilling — the category\ncontains more variety than any other spirit. But it means the burden of\nclassification falls to us. If the industry won't organize the shelf, the people\npouring from it have to.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "why-rum-needs-a-better-classification-system", "summary": "Walk into most bars and the rum shelf is sorted by color. White on the left, gold in the middle, dark on the right. It’s tidy, and it’s close to useless.\nColor in rum is a poor proxy for anything. A rum can be dark because it spent fifteen years in oak, or because someone added caramel coloring last Tuesday. A rum can be crystal clear and have been aged for years, then filtered back to white. Two bottles sitting next to each other, identical in the glass, can behave completely differently in a drink.", "title": "Why Rum Needs a Better Classification System", "url": "/posts/why-rum-needs-a-better-classification-system/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 387 } ], "sortedBy": "date", "title": "Posts" }