Picture the scene: you’re lying in a hammock, swaying gently in the dappled shade of the palm tree towering above you. The ocean rolling onto the shore is your soundtrack. The hot, heavy-air atmosphere wraps around you like a blanket. Someone approaches with a tray of cooling cocktails. A Piña Colada with an icy sheen on the glass? A refreshing Dark ’n Stormy? An exotic Singapore Sling? There are plenty to choose from, because tropical days and exuberant cocktails go together like birds of a feather.
For a lot of people, the most common category that springs to mind when thinking about drinks from exotic locales is tiki. These tropical cocktails are usually rum-based, fruity and exuberant in taste and personality. They include such classics as the Mai Tai, Piña Colada and Zombie.
However, there has been a reassessment of tiki venues as a whole within the drinks trade recently, prompted by valid arguments against the cultural appropriation and disrespect of Polynesian culture that’s common in a lot of these bars. What used to be seen as fun escapism is now reframed through wider understanding and education. Did you know that tiki mugs are actually made in the form of Polynesian gods, or that imagery of Pacific Islanders that sometimes appears in tiki bars might be based on racist tropes?
While most of this misappropriation of tiki motifs was carried out unwittingly, as education increases, bars and bartenders are moving away from the tiki label and aesthetic. Instead, they’re embracing a tropical philosophy.
‘Appreciation and inspiration are nice, but when it’s not collaboration, it’s theft,’ explains Chockie Tom, an Indigenous American bartender who does a lot of work in fostering cultural empowerment in the drinks industry. ‘You can create an immersive escapism experience without having to steal from people.’
One venue that achieves this new balance is Kiki Lounge, a tropical bar on the Isle of Man. Its menu offers the classic cocktails you would see served on your holiday in the Caribbean, as well as the team’s own original creations. So what qualifies a drink as being tropical?
‘I think there are theatrics to tropical cocktails, in the way the bartender is presenting the drink,’ says Drew Fleming, co-owner of Kiki Lounge. ‘Some of that is the techniques – such as using a bamboo swizzle stick or flash blending [using an upright mixer, a technique that requires less ice]. Tropical garnishes, flamboyant colours – and there’s almost a campness to the drinks.’
After some demanding ‘research’ of our own, here’s a selection of five tropical cocktails to try mixing at home, with origins ranging from Trinidad and Cuba to Malaysia and Brazil…
Five tropical cocktails to try
Queen’s Park Swizzle
Credit: Louise Haywood-Schiefer
A drier, more complex relative of the Mojito, the Queen’s Park Swizzle hails from Trinidad, where the Queen’s Park Hotel opened in 1895, attracting the glitterati of the day. This drink calls for Demerara rum from Guyana, which takes its name from the Demerara river. You can use either light or dark rum in this cocktail. A light option, such as El Dorado 3 Year Old (£22-£29/70cl), gives a drink that’s more akin to a Mojito, but with less sweetness and some added spice from the Angostura bitters. A dark rum such as El Dorado 5 Year Old (£24-£35/70cl) results in a cocktail with more gravitas flavour-wise – a deeper complexity that I personally find more satisfying. This recipe traditionally calls for it to be mixed with a swizzle stick – a long stick with a splayed end that’s placed in the bottom of the drink. Roll the stick between the palms of your hands to ‘swizzle’ it and churn the drink. Alternatively, the flat end of a bar spoon can be used to stir the drink.
Ingredients: 8-10 mint leaves, 25ml Demerara sugar syrup (1:1)*, 30ml fresh lime juice, 60ml Demerara rum, 4-6 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
Glass: Collins
Garnish: Mint…
Source : https://www.decanter.com/magazine/tropical-cocktails-for-summer-sipping-five-to-try-533865/
