52 COCKTAILS

It won’t inspire confidence to say this but I’ll say it anyway:
This recipe should not work.
That’s what I thought when I first read it (in Shaken, published by Paragon in 2007) and that’s still what I think now, despite having drunk several of them just to be sure. I mean really, Kahlua and pineapple juice? With gin?! That sounds less like a match made in heaven and more like a match made in your parents’ alcohol cabinet when you were 14 and they’d gone out for the night. But trust me, it’s a great combo. The disparate ingredients come together to produce an intriguing blend of flavours that are kinda hard to pick – tropical yet earthy with a hint of exotic spices. It’s best served ice-cold on a hot, sultry night, but I’m not going to stop you if you want one midweek in winter. Just remember to top up the bottles so your parents don’t know you’ve raided their alcohol cabinet…

INGREDIENTS
30ml vodka
30ml gin
60ml Kahlua
60ml pineapple juice (store-bought is fine)
tonic water (optional)

GLASS
Chilled cocktail glass

METHOD
Half-fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all the ingredients except the tonic water and shake well. Strain into the glass. Taste test it. If you like it as is, leave it the hell alone – it’s delicious, right? The original recipe does suggest adding a dash of tonic water, though, which sounds like it shouldn’t work but…does. Make two – one with and one without the tonic – and see which one you like best.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Getting over the “that sounds DISGUSTING” factor is the hardest part.

RECIPE BY
This recipe is taken from Shaken (Paragon, 2007).