Ugh.
It’s way too hot.
Let’s have something tropical to drink.

This one I found simply on about.com in the cocktails section. I saw the link on Teh Twitterz, and decided it sounded nice. Plus, I just got some tropical plants, so that’ll work quite nicely for the picture.


According to the brief blurb on the webpage, this was allegedly an old 1930s cocktail from the Brown Derby in Hollywood. I did find references to a Honolulu Cocktail No. 1 (this version, from the Savoy Cocktail Book) and No. 2 (totally different). I really didn’t see much mention of it past that. Oh well. Not every drink can have a long and storied history.


The Honolulu Cocktail

– 2 oz gin (Bombay London Dry)
– 1/2 oz pineapple juice
– 1/2 oz orange juice
– 1/4 oz lemon juice
– 1/4 oz simple syrup
– Dash of Angostura bitters

Mix em up. Shake, strain, serve. Use a nice chilled cocktail glass here, with a lemon peel garnish. I used a giant one and made a spiral. The article suggested a sugared rim, but I really don’t like doing that. So I didn’t.

Well, there’s gin on the nose. Lemon certainly, due to my gigantosaurus lemon twist. The pineapple gives it an almost grassy or leafy aroma. I have no idea why, but it does.

It tastes… pretty underwhelming. Like gin with a bunch of juices thrown in. Which is pretty much the recipe. The juniper is there, but cut down by the fruit juices at work. Again, something in this combination, perhaps the gin/pineapple, gives it a wet, vegetative taste. Not unpleasant, but unexpected. There’s a little orange in there, and the Angostura cinnamon light on the finish. It’s… a pretty color. And it’s… um… cold? Yeah. There’s not a whole lot to say about this one. Perfectly drinkable, but wholly understated. Rats. I was hoping for a tropical getaway, but instead I’m just left in my underwear on the couch with a fan doing little to cut down the 437% humidity. If you’ve got gin and pineapple juice, have a Royal Hawaiian instead.