We had just finished working with the team that developed 10 Cane rum and wanted to use this excellent grassy pot-stilled spirit in a cocktail. Naturally, we gravitated toward fresh, sweet, and tangy pineapples, which are so common in the Caribbean. We added maraschino to the mix to help give a fruit punch to the more vegetal ingredients. The result is a cocktail so tropical and multidimensional that it will make your head spin, so tasty and good looking that you will fall in love with it instantly.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 1 drink
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Muddle the ginger, pineapple, and sugar in the bottom of a mixing glass. Pour in the rum, lime juice, and maraschino and apple liqueurs. Add large cold ice cubes and shake vigorously. Pour unstrained into a rocks glass. Garnish with the pineapple leaf.
ginger smash
Step 2
When we were composing the menu for employees Only back in fall of 2004, we were building the restaurant mostly by ourselves and couldn’t really afford any time away from the construction site. So we had just one afternoon to test our recipes before opening. although we had discussed ideas beforehand and were clear on the direction of the opening menu, and had even created infusions and ingredients on our own time, we’d not had the chance to create the cocktails we had envisioned. But it all worked seamlessly in one afternoon in our “laboratory” in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Step 3
The one cocktail that came out unexpectedly was the Ginger Smash. The term “smash” refers to an old family of drinks, similar to juleps, in which mint would be muddled into spirits of any kind. Ginger has always been a favorite “hot” ingredient of ours, but when we combined fresh cranberries and gingerroot, muddled with sugar, the result was unlike anything we had tasted or made before. Short, snappy, tart, fresh cranberries; the heat from the ginger and gin; sweet apple cordial from Germany; and a little lemon juice produced the most complex ginger cocktail we had ever witnessed. After our December opening, it ranked as our number two selling cocktail. In February, with fresh cranberries out of season, we tried frozen, but they had no snap. This forced us to create a Ginger Smash for each season, using the spirit and fruit accompaniment dictated by the current harvest. all showcase ginger and are smashed or muddled.
tasting notes
Step 4
Dominant Flavors: pineapple and ginger
Step 5
Body: full, rich-textured
Step 6
Dryness: medium
Step 7
Complexity: high
Step 8
Accentuating or Contrasting Flavors: grassiness from the rum and gaminess from the maraschino
Step 9
Finish: long, spicy, fruity
Step 10
Glass: rocks
