Hawaiian Reprieve

Welcome back to Mixology 101

May is upon us with new growth and bright colors, so to that we will bring some refreshing and bright flavors! We can finally spend more time outside and enjoy the sunlight, so we are bringing you a highball to sip on.

Highballs are “lengthened” cocktails in that we draw out the intensity with dilution, and in this case the bubbles with soda water. We will start off with a Hawaiian gin, the first made in Maui since Prohibition, called Fid Street Gin — Fid being the sailor’s term for “drink.” Fid Street is where sea-weary, thirsty sailors came to drown their sorrows and enjoy their evenings.

With 11 local botanicals infused into the gin like grains of paradise, Fid Street Gin is the only gin made using pineapple. To this, we will continue across the Pacific to find lychee fruit, often called alligator strawberries with a lychee liqueur from Giffard. To this we will add some pineapple juice before balancing with a touch of lime and some sweetness.

For those who avoid the “pinecone” intensity of gin, this will be a welcome relief and reintroduction to gin, letting the juniper flavors sit back while citrus, berry and pineapple come to the fore. In a highball, we soften the drink’s intensity just as one does with an Aperol Spritz or a light soft drink; then we can take our time tasting the crispness without frying our taste buds.

First, the TOOLS: For this cocktail, you will need a measuring jigger, a cocktail shaker, a hawthorne strainer and a collins glass.

Next, the INGREDIENTS: To the cocktail shaker add:

• 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• 3 drops Crude Tropi-500 bitters
• .25 oz. simple syrup
• .5 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz. Fid Street Gin
• 1 oz. Giffard Lichi-li liqueur

Now, the PROCESS: Chill your collins glass with ice water or by leaving it in the freezer. After adding your ingredients to the cocktail shaker, fill it with ice and shake hard for 10-15 seconds. Strain your cocktail into the collins glass and then fill with ice. Top it off with soda water and garnish with some pineapple or berries.

Take a break and a load off and enjoy!