Make a Dark Tropical Cocktail With Mexican Fernet
Last Wednesday, covered by a dull despair, I came to live in Instagram and mix a few cocktails for an audience of 10 people. I made a picletini , then mixed some shitty rose with a blackberry bush , then I just started pulling random bottles out of my bar cart and demanding the audience to “give me a drink” on which I would build the drink. Among these bottles were pineapple rum, Mexican fernet, and peach liqueur.
The next morning I received a DM from a bartender friend of mine who saw the carnage. He simply said, “1.5 pineapple, 0.5 fernet, 0.5 peach.” “It’s a three-ingredient happy hour!” I said. “Try first before you thank me,” he replied.
I just tried it and am ready to thank him, because this is a very good drink. The baking seasonings and bitterness in Mexican fernet soften the sweetness of pineapple rum and peach liqueur, giving this simple drink a surprisingly complex, distinctly tiki-flavored profile.
It is a dark drink that looks much more sinister than the taste, but has something unsettling about it. If I had to choose a weather phenomenon to describe it – which no one asks me to – I would choose the “impending tropical storm.” Obviously problems are brewing, but it’s quite fun and uplifting. To make it you will need:
- 1 1/2 oz pineapple rum
- 1/2 Mexican fernet (e.g. Fernet Vallet)
- 1/2 ounce peach liqueur
Pour everything into a stirring glass filled with ice and stir to cool and dilute. Strain into your compartment and garnish with fruit or zest that is close at hand.