Sharkbaits Cocktail of the Week: Planetary Alterations

Hooray for Friday! Thankfully after last week’s injury I’m doing better but not 100% yet. I even skipped both of my games this week because the ankle still hurts off and on. But, at least 90% of the swelling is gone and I have no issues walking around or standing for a while so proper cocktailing is back on the menu! Originally I wanted to make a modified Saturn one last week. Modified because of the lack of passion fruit. Now that a week has gone by, I still don’t have the passion fruit. Partially due to the injury kind of throwing my game off and putting it out of my mind, but also I kind of wanted to see if my modified Saturn would work. At the very least, it’s in the same vein as the tiki original, and doesn’t stray too far from the source.

Saturn (Modified)

1 1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. orgeat
1/4 oz. passion fruit purée Here I subbed in the pineapple juice, and used a half ounce.
1/4 oz. velvet falernum

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake and pour the contents into a rocks glass. 

No aroma per se. No lemon is able to poke through, which is what I thought would be able to make itself known out of all the ingredients here. But I don’t necessarily mind the lack of anything strong leading off here, which if I recall, is on par with how a Saturn should be.

This is good. Very good for a spin off of a classic. It starts out rather neutral flavor wise, the prevailing tone being sweet from the orgeat. Underneath the sweetness from the syrup you can definitely taste the almond base as well, so that adds a nice depth as well. The lemon is also noticeable, but not over the top. There is a subtle citrus-y sour that you can pick up, but much like its corresponding aroma, isn’t overbearing, but it’s there. The gin is all but untraceable. In a tiki drink, I don’t hate that to be honest.  As much as I like a strong drink, I think a tiki/beach drink needs to be more drinkable than overbearing with a boozy flavor. The pineapple rounds out the rest of the flavors, adding a good flavor base, and finishes with a nice refreshing fruit flavor.

As good as this riff is, it’s not coming as close to the original as I would have hoped. Clearly the passion fruit brings a lot to the table here, but I figured pineapple would come close, but it doesn’t come as close as I thought it would. I wonder if some bitters, either angostura or orange would have helped. Either way, clearly I need some passion fruit to make the real thing soon. Or, outsource it and go visit my friend who bartends at a tiki place and have him make it for me. I AM overdue for a trip there…

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)