Funny that the first Tiki drink I write about is not of those famous drinks such as Mai Tai or Zombie. There is more fun because my Tiki season has started when summer comes to the end. Anyway, I’m drinking Tiki cocktails from time to time during last three years but get only just ready for writing about it.
My choice was a bit spontaneous. I was in mood for something exotic when buying two big pink grapefruits in a local store. Juiced, they’ve provided me with a 0.5L bottle of fresh grapefruit juice, and that was a reason for making grapefruit inspired Tiki drink.
So I’ve switched over to The Reverb Crash, a relatively new Tiki cocktail in which grapefruit juice works with passion fruit syrup and rum.
This cocktail was created by Ran aka kick_the_reverb, a member of Tiki Central community who won The Tiki Central Drink Contest in 2003 with The Reverb Crash. He wrote that the cocktail’s main flavour should be bitter, and that’s quite unusual for Tiki culture.
I was trying to get some bitter notes from lime and grapefruit. I can’t say that I’ve failed to make it bitter but my The Reverb Crash wasn’t too bitter. To be honest, it was bittersweet. I blame grapefruits which were rather sweet than tart or sour. Anyway, the cocktail was magnificent, refreshing and exotic at the same time. Definitely it starts on the sweeter side but on the swallow pair of passion fruit and grapefruit become bitterish thanks to citrus tart flavour and rum dry aftertaste.
The Reverb Crash
- 120 ml freshly squeezed grapefruit juice,
- 40 ml passion fruit syrup (Maison Meneau Fruits de la Passion),
- 25 ml fresh lime juice,
- 12 ml orgeat syrup (Monin Orgeat),
- 30 ml Cuban rum (Havana Club 7 Años),
- 30 ml Jamaican rum (Appleton Estate V/X).
Shake all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of cracked ice until it becomes ice cold. Pour in Tiki mug filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a few big mint sprigs.
I’ve felt myself ashamed and totally unprepared for Tiki challenge when I was serving the cocktail. I still have no Tiki mug so was forced to serve it in an usual 12oz glass which proved to be too small for my The Reverb Crush.
Also I slightly tweaked the recipe. If you’re familiar with original one, you’ll see that I’ve took less passion fruit syrup and used aged Cuban rum instead of light rum from Cuba or Virgin Islands.
I believe that in Tiki drinks aged rum is always much better than unaged which lacks of distinct rum flavour. So I’ve left Havana Club 3 Años rum on a shelf and used the aged version instead with a great success.
But passion fruit flavour and not rum dominates in The Reverb Crash. This thick sweet taste is in the center of the drink. Orgeat underlined its light bitterness in the end. Rums support its tropical sweetness that was great addition to refreshing sour citrus wave. Lime completely dissolved in four ounces of grapefruit juice giving it some additional tartness, and it was another side of the cocktail’s taste that balanced passion fruit exotic flavour. Citruses and mint scent from garnish bring awesome freshness which looks very impressive and helps to take The Reverb Crash as light refreshing drink.
Links
Inaugural Orange Punch 
Appleton Estate V/X Jamaican Rum 
Dark and Stormy 
Old Fashioned. The story continues 
