Not really even sure what this comment means. The SC recipe is more in line with Don’s Navy Grog than Trader Vic’s. This recipe is an attempt to re-create the still secret Vic’s grog concentrate, which some people think has Coca Cola in it. Virtually all Tropical and Tiki cocktails are slight variations of others. Is the SC recipe trying to dunk on Don the Beachcomber with tiny adjustments and pretty pictures?
Long ago I enjoyed Cocktail Chemistry. How to Drink was great for a time (IMO). For quite some time now, I've enjoyed the Educated Barfly and was delighted when I discovered Anders Erickson, Cocktail Time, and Truffles on the Rocks. That approach is my JAM (even if I can't do everything Kevin Kos or Jean Felix put on the table). For the brief six months that I ventured into Tiki, I've enjoyed Spike's Breezeway and Easy Tiki and, however good those channels are, I was left lacking *something*. But you, my good man, fill a very niche gap of realistic scientific approach (can't buy everything), brief history to keep things interesting, and tropical drinks.
Thank Alfonso, those are kind words! I don't have a grand plan or mission statement. Just trying to do things that I find interesting and I think when people on RU-vid do that they find out there are others out there that have the same interests. I'm noticing how quickly cyclical I am with cocktails and by extension the videos. A lot of Dave Arnold and Tropical Standard back to back and now I'm tired and want to go back to older and simpler. I like that you said "realistic scientific approach (can't buy everything)" because that's a lot better put than my take "too lazy to do more."
I feel you with that “can’t do everything Kevin Kos does” sentiment. That dude is Bill Nye in a bartender’s apron 😅 Some of what he comes up with truly boggles the mind
Thanks for testing this recipe and making the syrup. Looking forward to see how it comes to the Navy Grog at Trader Vic's, though the rums they use are for sure not going to be the same here. Vic's uses their Light rum and Dark rum (from Puerto Rico) and a Demerara rum.
At the end of the day it seems to always come down to the rums being used anyways. But the book and the grog concentrate has me thinking of other ways to make the "Ultimate Grog Concentrate." Maybe there's a secret ingredient out there with 23 flavors that needs to be tested.
This is great!! Love your channel. I'll be making a Navy Grog (or two) on my upcoming birthday. We can't get hold of St Elizabeth here in England, so I'll be using Bitter Truth Pimento Dram Liqueur instead. I will report back findings!
I have all the Barbancout rums, the white doesn't taste even close to their brown rums... it's very very grassy, the closest thing to it would be Leblond Cachaça
I’m not big on allspice. I made this drink to exact specifications last night and I found it extremely heavy on the allspice flavor. Maybe I should reduce or leave the allspice out of the syrup. Or omit the allspice dram from the drink.
Really excellent. I've been deep diving into Tiki for a several years now and not only is this my favorite Grog recipe, it's in the top tier of my favorite Tiki drinks. I cut the St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram amt. in half as I prefer my "spicy" Tiki drinks to have the presence of spice without it taking a lead role and find 1/2 tsp perfect for my taste.
The dirty pour on the glass at slow mo, was just cocktail Pr0n Great video, you sir just got yourself a new subscriber I got the book myself today and it’s a bit overwhelming at first but I love geeking out with my cocktails , so it will be a fun ride
Great channel. Keep up the good work. I made the drink last night and also didn’t have the Barbancourt white so went with a 3:1 Flor de Cana 4 year / Neisson Blanc Agricole sub for that rum. I have no clue if it was even close :). But the drink was great.
Thanks for adding grams as measurements, at least at the beginning😂😂😂as an expat living overseas, I had to adjust and find working in metric so much more simpler. Enjoying the content and channel, keep up the hard work.
This might be a crazy idea, but I believe it gets used a bit on home coffee machines to control the pressure of a coffee shot - you could maybe add a dimmer on your power cable, the same kind you would use for lights. That might turn the power down to your liking.
Made this last night (used your acid adjusting technique - though it was a little weird with grapefruit being 1.58% and so things not lining up cleanly) and it was sensational! I have the book, but seeing your video gave me confidence in the long process of tackling it.
That's awesome and I'm glad to hear! And that is a tricky thing about any of this acid adjusting. We're all looking to be precise but the juice you're starting with is not. Even if we can point to an academic study on a fruit's acidity, it doesn't mean that the fruit in your hand is the same. But acid adjusting is still a game changer.
Made this last night and it's amazing. Couldn't find whole Allspice berries in my area so had to settle for pre-ground ground allspice so I am not sure if I am missing out but it turned out great anyway.
Probably pretty close and maybe something you wouldn’t even notice. I think another alternative would be just to omit the allspice berries from the concentrate and up the allspice dram used on the drink.
Awesome video! Any idea on what else to use this grog syrup for? I made this drink last night and it was amazing, but now I’ve got a whole bottle of the stuff. I could’ve sworn I saw another recipe in the book that used it but can’t find it in the index, unfortunately. The shoddy index and lack of “by ingredient” recipe sorting is the book’s only downside.
I have seen and read the navy grog had a ice cone made from shaved ice that was then frozen. Then it that was placed in the drink. Other than coolness as a garnish did it serve a purpose, like controling dilution? Was this typical of all navy grogs?
That’s how the Don the Beachcomber Navy Grog was served. The one in this video is a take on Trader Vic’s. Don’s did have an ice cone. It did make the drink look a certain way and served as a garnish, but also meant less dilution. The straw was also put inside the cone, so it would be especially cold compared to typical drinks with ice.
I've been meaning to make this forever and I only finally got around to it this past weekend. Man, I can't believe I missed out for so long. This is for sure one of the top 5 tropical cocktails I've ever had -- and that includes ones I've ordered at bars like Smuggler's Cove, Last Rites, Forbidden Island, Zombie Village, Pagal Idol, etc. I had to make the same Barbancourt substitution as you, but it certainly didn't seem to diminish the drink in any way. What a delicious symphony of flavor. Everything weaves together so well. I will have to start making these regularly! I've been (very) slowly working through Tropical Standard, and your videos have been great guideposts for me to pick drinks to prioritize. Probably going for the Rum Drum next.
I like this level of detail, TIki drinks can be inaccessible sometimes because of their complexity, but they are delicious and worth every effort. I'm searching for ways to attempt to make some Tiki drinks more accessible by substituting certain ingredients, maybe this book can help, looks interesting.
Just got my copy this week, too. Currently making a batch of the grapefruit punch syrup to use in the Submariner. What glass did you use in this video? I really like the size & shape.
I don’t even know where to begin with the punches and syrups. So many I want to try. I just looked it up and it’s the Bruges Beer glass form Crate and Barrel. Once you make the submariner let me know how it turned out.
That's a good question. I don't really know. My instinct is just to say they are different and while maple syrup might taste good in a drink, it's not going to be the same. I think the better alternative if you didn't want to or couldn't find Demerara is to play around with adding small amounts of molasses to a regular simple syrup or making a simple syrup with some amount of brown sugar. Generally, the intention of Demerara Syrup would be to highlight or intensify a molasses flavor. I just shot a video with 2 cocktails one using Molasses and the other Demerara. Wish I had been thinking about this then... I'll prob add something in addressing this.
Thank you. In the past I've bought ice but a few weeks ago I was sent a nugget ice maker. I'm going through some testing and it works well. I will probably make a video on it and while it won't be sponsored, it was sent to me for free and you can't beat that. But I'll give my real opinion when I do it.
Definitely the coolest just difficult to know what your getting off of eBay. I don't want to spend $250-500 just to end up needing to get a new motor relatively soon. But I'm always on the look out for them.
Not yet, but the easy thing to do is use the exact recipe but swap out the grapefruit for other citrus and play around with the rums as well. Also, anything that calls for a simple syrup and allspice dram in a recipe you could try replacing with the grog concentrate.
I just landed, you have a rather long intro. OMG, I fast forwarded & you’re actually mixing a drink. Calming music, pebble ice, Leopold Jigger; check, check & check. Oh well, you seem to actually have made your point. Perhaps your 1st post? Oh well carry on, bottoms up.
I've been a follower of the craft cocktail and tiki revival for about the last 15 years or so, and follow a number of cocktail channels on YT. There are many and I have my favorites. I came across your channel maybe a month ago, and you are quickly moving into that group of favorite go-to channels. Nice job! Have you considered tackling the "2070 Swizzle" from Smuggler's Cove? Cheers.
Thanks so much! As for Smuggler's Cove, I'd say every original Smugglers Cove cocktail is on my list of things to do. It will probably take awhile to get through them all but I recently made every syrup from the book so the clock is ticking on using those. A new Smuggler's Cove video will be posted within the next few minutes.
I finally got my hands on Barbancourt White and it unfortunately is nothing like 3 star. It is worth tracking down just for this drink because it makes quite a bit of difference in the final flavor. A way I would say to approximate the flavor of white would be to mix the 3 star with an unaged rhum agricole to get some of that grassy flavor into the mix. Getting the right rum blend moves this into perfect cocktail territory.
The actual navy grog was more like 1 oz rum to 3 oz of water and some lime cordial to avoid scurvy. The only way to keep water fresh was with alcohol and rum was the most popular spirit among sailors at the time.
Yes 100%, but that would be just a “grog” and much more simplistic but the “Navy Grog” is a Don Beach invention and the real ones that stay true to form use grapefruit juice since that’s what Don did.
