Categories: Cocktails

Humuhumunukunukuapua’a

A few months ago I amazon’ed a copy of the holy tome Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki. Between regular trips to the bar, the book is a fantastic resource for making tasty cocktails that I haven’t yet sampled.

The book details the rich, and nearly forgotten history of tiki drinks. Over more than 300 pages, Martin Cate and his wife Rebecca, the founders of Smugglers Cove document the rise, fall, and rebirth of the tiki movement in America. The book features more than 100 cocktails and, like the bar, it’s educational, down-to-earth and not judgmental.

In fact, the non-judgmentality of Smuggler’s Cove is what places it heads and shoulders above many of the other bars we’ve been frenetically patronizing. Smuggler’s Cove features down-to-earth, accommodating bartenders that pump out volume like machines. Though it’s a rum bar with a remarkable selection, they encourage you to try other spirits, and ask about your mood and what you’re interested in when you order. Each bartender is also able to make 10+ ingredient drinks to order every time in a flash under constant and steady assault from the hundreds of patrons.

Pronounced like: Humu humu nuku nuku apu ah ah

Back to the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a: it’s a well balanced cocktail. You get the bright, but not overwhelmingly sweetness of pineapple, a bright burst of citrus, and a gin finish. It’s balanced and one of our favorites from the book so far. As redditor Feylias pointed out, it’s not that hard to pronounce. If you break it up, it’s pronounced humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apu-a-a. Also it’s the reef triggerfish, the only fish that can eat spiny sea urchin, because it has a long snout and its eyes are located on the top of its head. In Hawaiian it means “trigger fish, nose, nose like a pig.” Thanks to Mashel2811 from Reddit for the clarification!

Reef triggerfish