Aku-Aku Gold Cup

Again, its Tiki time here in the blog – this time even cracking a corny joke: because what could be a better drink at Easter than a cocktail from the Easter Island? Well? Ok, excuse that one. Of course, today’s drink is not really from the Easter Island, but still it is in contact with that place. At least in the realm of imagination. And between all the chocolate and the heavy Easter meals, it even offers some real refreshment. Read More

Pure Spirits: Cardenal Mendoza Carta Real & Mendoza’s Indulgence

With the Cardenal Mendoza Clásico Solera Gran Reserva I did present a representative of the category of Brandies a few days ago. More precisely, it was a Spanish Brandy de Jerez. Personally, I appreciate Brandy very much for its flavor profile, which is very much in line with my personal taste, and against this background, I am particularly happy today to introduce an even more noble representative of this genre. Read More

Pure Spirits: Plantation Vintage Edition Panama 2004 & The Big Bloody Bamboo

Without question, tiki drinks often offer a visually stunning effect. On the one hand, they serve common cliché expectations many people have regarding cocktails, on the other hand, well-made representatives of this genre also manage to overcome existing negative stereotypes of mere juice concoctions with rather questionable finesse. Furthermore, you can expect a real firework of flavors – if the right rum is of the party. Read More

Pure Spirits: Nardini Rabarbaro & The Hooker Cocktail

And off we go with a new article from a series about Italian bitter liqueurs. I have already written about Amari in general and delivered some in-depth information about that particular spirit type in the course of my review of the Nardini Fernet. So today, I can deal with a very special and very attractive species among the Amaros: a Rabarbaro. Read More

Mauna Kea Kiaha

If I had to draw up a list to show which cocktails guests in my private domain most frequently request, the White Russian would for sure be among the top five. This is certainly due to its big popularity and its place in popular culture, which was largely influenced by the cult movie “The Big Lebowski”. Personally, I have nothing against a good White Russian, but I have to admit that I never actually prepare it for myself. Read More

Pure Spirits: Cardenal Mendoza Clásico Solera Gran Reserva & The Granadero Cocktail

Today the time has finally come and I’m going to publish an article that has been on my mind for a long time. Although I have already used brandy as an ingredient in various cocktails in the past, I did not present a specific brandy here or wrote about the topic in general (apart from various cognacs). Therefore, we will see that brandy is not always brandy and that there is no way to avoid some basic definition work here. Read More

Pure Spirits: Plantation Vintage Edition Barbados 2002 & Plantation Black Cask N° 3 – “Made by Lemonhead” & “Sherman”

Today it is time again for rum – and as we all know, rum time often means “Tiki time”, which is why I have also implemented two slightly tongue-in-cheek Tiki-style recipes. However, the main part is about the characteristics of two particular rums, which I would like to briefly introduce here and of course review them in terms of quality. Both rums undertook a long journey from the Caribbean to France beforehand. Read More

Pure Spirits: Luxardo Bitter & Thyme for a Spritz!

Today I would like to stay in the realm of Italian liqueurs. In my last article, I introduced a Fernet as a particularly bitter and spicy representative of the Amaro liqueur category, which is the reason why this time it will be about another type of liqueur. Not only in color, but also in taste. However, whether we are dealing with an Amaro here after all is often the subject of discussion. Read More