Queen’s Holiday

Many tiki drinks blend a couple of rums to create a more complex, layered base for their other ingredients, but there are a few out there that combine rum with other spirits, too. Gin and rum make surprisingly good companions in certain cocktails and this happens to be one of them.

The Queen’s Holiday is light, refreshing and surprisingly aromatic. Beefeater 24 uses grapefruit peel as one of its botanicals (it’s not used in regular Beefeater), so grapefruit juice was a natural fit for this cocktail. The Plantation pineapple rum gives the drink a nice depth of flavor – and mellows out the fresh pineapple juice – without dominating the gin in a way that a darker rum might. As usual, we opted for Gifford orgeat, which brings in a pleasant orange blossom note that compliments the gin. If you are using a different orgeat, you might need to use slightly more simple syrup to get the same sweetness that Giffard brings in.

Like the holiday that the Queen might take herself, this is an elegant drink. It has a nice natural sweetness and just enough tropical flavor to feel like you’re being whisked away – if only for as long as it takes you to finish the cocktail.

Queen’s Holiday
1 1/2 oz Beefeater 24
1 oz Plantation Pineapple “Stiggins Fancy” Rum
1 oz pink grapefruit juice
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
1/4 oz Giffard orgeat

Combine all ingredients in a shaker, fill with ice and shake vigorously until well-chilled. Strain into a Poco Grande glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with pineapple fronds and a grapefruit wedge.