Frontier Mixology: The Hawaiian Lady, an FP Original

There are those who say the ukulele is the sidecar of musical instruments, i.e., no matter what you do, it’s hard to look cool doing it with a diminutive plucked lute.  Those people are wrong.  In the hands of such masters as Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards, who in the 1930s performed such hits as the unfortunately titled “I Did It With My Little Ukelele,” the ukulele’s sound becomes a worthy companion to such distinctive timbres as that of the banjo or the kazoo.   Although of Portuguese origin, however, the ukulele will always be associated with Hawaii. Given that even our President hails from the Little Fiftieth, we couldn’t resist cashing in on the popularity of all things Hawaiian.  Luckily, the editors of Hawaii Women’s Journal saw fit to profile FP in their latest issue, and it would be only fitting to honor them with an original cocktail: the Hawaiian Lady.

As symbolically Hawaiian as the ukulele is the pineapple, although the association is less about beautiful tropical melodies, and more about the insider connections of iron-fisted industrialist James Dole, the “Pineapple King.”  That said, pineapple was a must.  For base spirits, tiki and polynesian drinks are generally composed of rum, specifically a combination of light and dark rums.  Everybody knows, however, that you never go full tiki, and so we looked to other Prohibition-era cocktails.  The framework of the Pink Lady lent itself to the most profitable experimentation.  Thus, after much pleasurable trial and error, the debut of an FP original cocktail:

Hawaiian Lady

1 oz. light rum

1 oz. dark rum

egg white

½ oz. lime juice

½ oz. rich pineapple syrup

dash of Angostura bitters

Shake the hell out of all the ingredients and a copious supply of ice; strain into a chilled cocktail glass; garnish, if desired, with a speared pineapple chunk.

A quick note on the ingredients, don’t be scared off by the inclusion of the egg.  It provides body and frothiness to the drink, and, if you’re concerned about wee beasties, do as we do.  Get a carton of pasteurized egg whites, measuring out an ounce or so.  For the pineapple syrup, you can buy it of course, but it’s more fun to make your own by cutting up a small pineapple, combining it with a cup of brown sugar, a cup of regular sugar, and a cup of water.  Allow to sit overnight, then strain into a clean, empty bottle, adding a dash of high-proof rum as a preservative.

So, thanks Hawaii Women’s Journal.  We here at FP wish you the best of luck, and toast you with a Hawaiian Lady cocktail!

Drink up,

You might also like to check out...