Elusive Dreams

Demi Natoli, Patterson House | Nashville, TN

photo: Lizzie Munro

The Elusive Dreams, Demi Natoli’s spin on Cuba’s Hotel Nacional cocktail—rum, pineapple, lime, apricot—takes a decidedly tropical turn as she swaps out the apricot in favor of banana liqueur. Natoli then doubles down on the pineapple, using fresh pineapple juice and splitting the rum component between the traditional white rum and Plantation pineapple rum, which is infused with both the rind and fruit of Victoria pineapples. Cinnamon syrup provides a baking spice note for added depth and a nod to Don the Beachcomber’s secret weapon.

Reprinted with permission from Easy Tiki: A Modern Revival with 60 Recipes, by Chloe Frechette, copyright © 2020. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Photographs copyright © 2020 by Lizzie Munro.

Ingredients

Serving: 1

  • 1 ounce Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy pineapple rum
  • 1 ounce blended unaged rum, preferably Plantation 3 Stars
  • 1 ounce pineapple juice
  • 3/4 ounce lime juice
  • 3/4 ounce cinnamon syrup
  • 1/2 ounce banana liqueur, preferably Giffard Banane du Brésil

Garnish: pineapple crescent, edible orchid

Directions
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add 1 large ice cube and shake until chilled, about 30 seconds.
  2. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a coupe.
  3. Garnish with a pineapple crescent and an edible orchid.

Tagged: easy tiki, easy tiki cocktails, pineapple rum, Tiki