Just the other day, I had some friends over and for the hell of it, we decided to celebrate some higher education folks' spring break with some Doctor Bird daiquiris. Working for Two James Distillery as a Chicagoland rep/ambassador made it obvious that I'd center the cocktail on our funky Jamaican rum, Doctor Bird. Doctor Bird is traditional pot-still rums, aged and unaged, blended and finished for 3 months in Muscatel barrels (boosts the fruitiness and depth of the funk). Pot Still rums focus the esters of fermentation (the flavors that yeasts produce, and that are a big part of beer fermentation as well) into a potent formula for cocktails, and a little goes a long way. In Doctor Bird, you get notes of banana, pineapple, passionfruit, almond, and more. We had fun doing it, and I just got really excited this week to see one of my favorite Chicago restaurants, Clever Rabbit, is throwing some Doctor Bird funk onto their Happy Hour menu!
The Piña Colada is a misunderstood cocktail. In its purest and simplest form it is rum, pineapple, coconut cream, and perhaps some lime. That's all it really needs. A touch of sugar can balance the acidity, but too much and you have the oversweet spring break cocktail many think of when they hear the words Piña Colada.
My advice:
1.5 oz Two James Doctor Bird Jamaica Rum
0.75 oz dark aged rum
1.5 oz Coconut Cream, unsweetened
1.5 oz fresh pineapple juice
0.5 oz fresh lime
Blend with 5 chunks of frozen pineapple and about 12 oz of ice.
Garnish with some tiki bitters or angostura and a pineapple leaf.