Cocktail #5: Hell In the Pacific

This week we have a new take on a 1930s classic. The Hell In the Pacific is from Jeff Berry's Grog Log. It's his version of the Myrtle Bank Punch, a drink popular in the 1930s, and originating at the Myrtle Bank Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. Berry has a bit of fun with this one, (if it's possible to have fun with WWII symbolism?) turning it into a symbol of the Pacific Theater of World War II. The grenadine gives it an almost blood-red color and of course you cannot miss the miniature USA and Japanese flags used to garnish the drink. Apart from the drink requiring a mini craft project (creating the flags) this is a simple one with only a few ingredients:

0.75 oz. Fresh lime juice
0.50 oz. Maraschino liqueur
0.25 oz. Grenadine
1.50 oz. 151 Demerara rum (I broke my own rule here of sticking strictly to the recipe because I used regular 151 rum - c'est la vie).

Shake everything well with one scoop of crushed ice. Pour all the contents of the shaker into a 10-oz. Pilsner glass. Decorate with USA and Japanese flags stuck into a lime wedge on the rim of the glass (and I added a couple pineapple leaves).

Simple, refreshing, and substantial. If you don't like overly sweet exotic cocktails this might be one for you. I'd never had maraschino liqueur before and I expected it to be reminiscent of overly sweet grocery store maraschino cherries. In fact, it's nothing like that. It's actually quite dry and adds a subtle note of bitterness to the cocktail. It's also used in an old classic cocktail, the Aviation (though good luck finding crème de violette update: these days it can be found in most well-stocked liquor stores).

As a nod to the early days (30s and 40s) of exotic cocktails, I listened to the soundtrack to the 1937 Bing Crosby film Waikiki Wedding  while I got this one together. Here's the tune, Blue Hawaii for your listening pleasure. Cheers!