Today's cocktail is based on the Hawaiian themed song, Mele Kalikimaka. The phrase "Mele Kalikimaka" is a direct translation of "Merry Christmas" but since Hawaiian has a much different phonological system than English, certain constraints (only 8 consonants, no words ending in consonants, etc.) had to be made in the translation. The song itself was written in 1949 and while it has been recorded by numerous artists perhaps the most famous was the version recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters in 1950.
With a Hawaiian cocktail, our minds naturally ventured to daiquiris. But not a blue one because that would be weird. But we do like pineapple so why not a pineapple daiquiri? We grilled the pineapples to sweeten them up a little. And while the grill was on, we threw the limes on for good measure.
Mele Kalikimaka Cocktail
1 1/2 oz dark rum
1 oz grilled lime juice
1 oz grilled pineapple puree
1 oz simple syrup
Grill the fruit until there is some light charring and the fruit are soft. Purée the pineapple in a blender, adding a few tablespoons of water if needed to create the purée. Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and pour into a cocktail glass.
Cocktail Notes
The cocktail is very straight forward. It should be noted that grilling the limes concentrates their flavour and makes them rather tart. This may not be everyone's preference so regular lime juice could be substituted.
A spiced simple syrup would be great in this. We accidentally added some cardamom syrup at one point and it was great. The peppercorn we used earlier in the calendar or a cinnamon syrup would be great too.
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