Vic’s Grog

Recipe: Vic’s Grog (serves one)

• 2 oz. Myers’s rum
• 1 1/2 oz. passion fruit juice
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1 dash (= 1/8 tsp.) Angostura bitters
• lemon slice

Shake liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into ice-filled rocks glass and garnish with lemon slice.

Last night we met a friend at a tiki bar called the Purple Orchid. It’s in downtown El Segundo, which has a small-town vibe even though it’s sandwiched between LAX Airport and a row of aerospace companies. The Purple Orchid was rated as the top tiki bar in the Los Angeles area by LA Weekly. The bar is a laid-back place with Hawaii-inspired decorations that could be right out of Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room. We ordered Vic’s Grog in a volcano bowl, which came with two giant straws and a flaming pool of 151 in the center. Not only was it fun to drink, but it tasted delicious.

This recipe is our take on Vic’s Grog. It’s a little less sweet than the drink at the Purple Orchid, and we used Myers’s rum since we like its complexity and didn’t have light rum. Be careful. Like a Long Island Iced Tea, this drink is stronger than it tastes.