Here we are – day two of my perhaps Quixotic attempt to make up a new drink every day.? In an attempt to get through some of the rum, I decided to make an attempt to make a drink that I’d declare as tiki.? Why’s that?

Why, Trader Tiki, that’s why.

I asked a couple of people what makes a drink tiki and no one really had a good answer.? If you have one, leave it in the comments.? But what I think of is rum and fruit juices, really.

However, there’s something else with tiki – I think of the British.? That might sound weird, but I think about the British influence especially on the high seas.? I really wonder if we’d truly have “tiki” these days without the influence of the British.

Not to mention the East Indian Trading Company even – and we’re talking about someone named TRADER TIKI.

So I did some thinking, some experimenting, and here’s what I ended up with.

The Trader Tiki
1 ounce Lemon Hart 151
1 ounce Plymouth Gin
1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
1 1/2 ounces passionfruit juice
1 ounce tamarind juice
1/2 ounce allspice dram
2 dashes Trader Tiki’s Aged Falernum Bitters
1/4 (or so) ounces grenadine
club soda
Pour the first eight ingredients over ice into a mixing tin.? Shake, and pour – unstrained – into a tiki mug.? Top with club soda.? Garnish with a long swizzle with a piece of pineapple, a lime wedge, and a mint leaf on it.

No, I don’t have a picture for it tonight.? Sorry guys.? But I’m sipping on one and it’s actually pretty tasty – kind of smokey, but Blair’s a bartender so I’m going to assume he’s usually pretty smokey, too.

And with that unfortunate verbiage behind me, I’m going to go back to watching TV.? Until tomorrow night, suckas!

[Second in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales.? The first post in the series is here.]