Bikini Bottom

Pineapple goes surprisingly well with peaty scotch. This is exemplified in the super-tropical Ardbeg Drum special release whisky. Peated scotch typically evokes tasting notes of “meaty” and “bbq” and when combined with pineapple, the flavors meld into a smoked pineapple and bbq brisket combination that is unexpectedly pretty.

I grabbed one the other day on my daily foraging trip for flour, which is a rare and highly prized item in these coronavirus times. Side note/boast: that same day, I found not one but two bags of flour and felt like I had won the lottery. Because it’s San Francisco, the pineapple was nearly $8, but the juice (now batched and refrigerated) is enough to last me a few dozen cocktails. To get the juice, simply blend up the pineapple meat and then strain the liquid through a cheese cloth (to get rid of the chunks).

The cocktail we made is a split base bourbon-peated scotch with 1 full ounce fresh pineapple juice, and some Benedictine (French herbal liqueur) to meld the flavors together.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz bourbon (we used Cutwater Devil’s Share, which a friend of ours brought over – it’s delicious in cocktails but while writing this I looked up the price of ~$120 so it’s also pretty decadent for a cocktail ingredient)
• 0.5 oz Laphroaig 10 (all hail the frog!)
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• 0.5 oz Benedictine

Glass

Cocktail Glass

Instructions

• Stir the ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker
• Strain the chilled ingredients into a cocktail glass