Cocktail #43: Q.B. Cooler

This week I was in search of a pleasant sounding drink that used passion fruit syrup, since I made a batch a couple of weeks ago with some very expensive fresh passion fruits. I'm not sure how long this stuff keeps (perhaps the splash of vodka I added will help?) so I wanted to make use of it while it was still good.

Paging through my tiki drink companion, Jeff Berry's Grog Log, I came across the Q.B. Cooler. Berry doesn't provide much background on this one, other than to say, "by Don the Beachcomber, circa 1941, when the house rule was "a limit of two to a customer." It was only after I made and consumed this delightful cocktail that I did a little Googling to see if I could find more info on it. As it turns out, it seems that Berry himself may have updated the recipe in a later version of this book (Beachbum Berry Remixed). I'll provide both - the one I used from the Grog Log as well as the seemingly updated version I've found online.

Grog Log version:

0.50 oz. fresh lime juice
0.50 oz. orange juice
0.25 oz. passion fruit syrup
0.25 oz. sugar syrup
2.00 oz. dark Jamaican rum (I used Plantation Original Dark)
1.00 oz. light Puerto Rican rum (I used good old Havana Club)
Dash Angostura bitters
1.8 tsp Pernod

Blend with 12 oz. crushed ice for 5 seconds and pour into a double old fashioned glass. Add more crushed ice to fill. Garnish with mint sprigs.

I garnished with a long orange peel, mint, and a cocktail cherry speared to a lime wheel with a plastic flamingo pick, naturally.

My Googling led me to this version, on the lovely site, Chemistry of the Cocktail:

1.00 oz orange juice
0.50 oz lime juice
0.50 oz honey syrup
0.25 oz falernum
1.00 oz soda water
1.00 oz gold Jamaican rum
1.00 oz light Puerto Rican rum
0.50 oz Demerara rum
2 dashes Angostura bitters
0.25 tsp ginger syrup

As you can see, this version removes passion fruit syrup completely, uses some different types of rum, adds falernum, honey syrup, and ginger syrup, and removes Pernod. So, quite a different drink, it seems. I've found similar versions with ginger syrup in my Interweb travels, so it would seem this is the ultimate Q.B. Cooler recipe - I need to try it soon to compare! Many writers seem to compare this version, and in fact claim it was the inspiration for, Trader Vic's Mai Tai.

I did find one little nugget about the origin of its name - according to Kindred Cocktails, the "Q.B." stands for "Quiet Birdmen," which, according to Wikipedia, is "a secretive club in the United States for male aviators" and was originally founded in France in 1919 (and then in the USA in 1921) as a sort of drinking club.

Anyway ... my verdict? Wonderful cocktail. It has the potential to taste too "juicy" or "punchy" - like some nebulous "tiki drink" one might get at a cheesy Florida beach bar. But what saves it, in my opinion, is the Pernod and the Angostura bitters. These two ingredients - scant as they are - add an important spicy/dry note to the drink which gives it a bit more interest than it otherwise would have. Considering the second version, I can only imagine that aspect of it is enhanced by ginger syrup, which I've never tried, as well as the falernum.

I'll leave you with something that a good friend of mine recently turned me on to. Korla Pandit was a midcentury performer who played eerie organ music with an "Indian" twist. He purported to be a Hindu, despite the fact that Hindus do not wear turbans (Sikhs wear turbans, and do not wear jewels in them). In reality, he was an African American man from St. Louis, a secret that he kept to himself until nearly the day he died. He actually made an appearance as himself in the wonderful Ed Wood in the party scene.


His music has sort of an "Indian Esquivel" feel to it. If you like that sort of thing, check out Korla Pandit! Here he is playing Miserlou. Cheers!