After all the heat in New Orleans and the summer isn´t over yet even though much cooler here than say +37 – and the humidity is not 100% but its always welcome with a tikidrink. This post´s theme is a Summer Tiki Drink containing a new product – Root.

Of course i drink tikidrinks all the time – in the winter they also serves as a vehicle of escapism away from the cold of the winter mentally taking you to Polynesia. But in the summer they also cools you and who can resist a real tikidrink served in either a sturdy tikimug or a beautiful glass which lets you see the colors and the ice..

So here we go.

I got quite a bit of inspirations for all kinds of flavour combinations from my recent trip to the US and one of the most interesting new flavors i can work with now which arrived to my homebar just a week before myself is Root which is a new certified-organic 80-proof spirit, and dubbed “the first true American liqueur since the pre-Prohibition era.” – its spicy and deep and less sweet than rootbeer.

First was the potent root-tea which the settlers during the 1800th century picked up from the native Americans and which later gave the temperance people the idea of making root- beer by removing the booze. Root today is made by some folks callling themselves “Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction” in partnership with the folks behind Hendrick’s Gin. This is a PA product, distilled in California by Modern Spirits.

Root is said to be good with birch beer and ginger ale but its also a good ingredient for tikidrinks. I guess its good with ginger beer as well, a Root and Stormy maybe?

So i just had to try Root in a tikidrink and immediately felt it would be good with dark rum, they seem to be natural companions to me. But i also added some white rum, lime, simple sugar and to give some more depth i muddled grilled pineapple.

Garnish with pineapple skin, mint and one of those merry cocktail parasols – oh yeah.

I call the drink Mahalo – which means thank you in Hawaiian, to thank you all who have helped me in life.

MAHALO

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

1 oz white rum

0.5 oz fresh lime juice

0.5 oz simple syrup

2 sliced fresh pineapple rounds, grilled

4-5 tsp Root

1-2 oz fresh grapefruit juice (yellow)

Ice

Grill the pineapple rounds, cool and cut in chunks to muddle with simple syrup in shaker. Add the other ingredients and shake with ice. Double strain into a ice filled jazz glass from New Orleans. Top with some grapefruit juice.

Spear a piece of pineapple skin in a spiral manner and top with a merry parasol.

Throw in a piece of fresh mint on the side.

Enjoy!

This is an experiment with Root, maybe more of it would make a better drink? its spicier than root beer and not so sweet. The 4 teaspoons i added to the drink gave a subtle hint of something, that if you didin´t know what it was you would know something`s there but not exactly what. And in say a tikidrink that sort of mystery is just perfect.

I need to experiment more with this.

Have you yet tried Root?