Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Tropical Thunder

Hello and happy Friday one and all. The tropics have been making their presence known in New England recently. On Thursday, the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred dumped a ton of rain and brought down trees around Boston, and now Henri (most likely a hurricane by the time this posts) has a shot at hitting the Cape and other parts of the coast. So, that’ll be fun on Sunday and Monday. Good thing I’ll be armed with a tropical drink I can imbibe when the weather turns south: The Barbados.

I was inspired to use my falernum more and came across the aforementioned drink and actually sat on it for a couple weeks, while other experiments took priority. Now that I’m ready to bring this one in off the bench, we’ll see how it is. I’ve featured Falernum and rum in the past so I know that is a good combination, so I’ve got pretty high hopes for this one.

Barbados

Crushed ice
1 oz. Velvet Falernum
1.5 oz. Dark rum, such as Coruba
.75 oz. freshly squeezed juice from 1 to 2 limes

I didn’t go with crushed ice. I figured I was straining it anyway, so I could get away with it. Plus I just didn’t feel like tossing ice cubes into a ziploc bag and crushing my own ice. Though I will say, that IS a very nice way to de-stress after a shitty day. Beating the hell out of ice and then making a drink with it can be a pretty nice feeling.

Anyway

On to the notes.

There isn’t much of a nose on this one. I get a  slight hint of clove from the falernum, and that is about it. Not even the lime garnish gives off any kind of aroma.

The first thing that hits you is how cold and refreshing this is. Even without doing the crushed ice, the shake gets this super cold and it is one of those sips that you can feel drop all the way down.

As to the flavor, it starts out fairly neutral and well balanced, then the lime comes storming in and takes over after a few seconds. It doesn’t completely dominate the flavor palate, but it is the biggest player. The citric acid making this seem like more of a rum sour. The finish is also strong on the lime. The flavor hangs out on your palate for a bit after you’re through so give it a little bit if you don’t want to over lime your taste buds. I like to think of it as built in moderation. The falernum gives this drink some very good depth. I ended up using golden falernum, and the recipe calls for velvet falernum. I looked it up, and the real discernable difference between the two is velvet falernum is thicker and has more lime flavor to it. centric flavor. So, if you wanted more lime flavor, add extra lime if  you are using golden falernum. Though I wouldn’t necessarily advise that, since I think the fresh lime juice packs enough of a punch here.

There isn’t a very strong alcohol flavor here, Which can be a good thing or a bad thing. I could easily have a few of these before dinner or while grilling in the back yard. I can see this being a multi-seasonal drink as well. Obviously good in the summer, but  I think it could work in the winter as well. I think it would pair well with a ginger cookie and a roaring fire while thinking of warmer tropical climates when there are inches of snow outside. Check back with me in February and we’ll see if I’m right.

(Banner image found here)