Lizzy in Houston sent in this cooling cocktail perfect for entertaining a crowd this weekend – The Piñata.
My husband and I (fly fishing Wyoming and Idaho natives) are both grinding through postdoc work at the Med Center in Houston. Thanks for keeping Chi Wulff running, you guys provide a glimpse of home country sanity just about every day when Houston overwhelms us.
We were recently served this cocktail at a party and we both thought of sending it in to y’all (OMG, I’m starting to sound like a Texan). The grilled pineapple is a nice touch and it meets your criteria of being pretty simple and portable to take along in a boat cooler for the day. We like the “make a batch in a pitcher” concept for entertaining too.
My dad is a guide on Henry’s Fork and prefers Jake’s Mojitos (he still talks about the ‘pineapple chalice’), though we’ll be up there the first two weeks of June and plan to see what he thinks about this one…
Cheers, Lizzy, and don’t let Houston get you down. Get out there and chase some redfish and perhaps we’ll see you on the HF in early June. We’ve put this on the books as Lizzy’s Piñata.
1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
2 cups ounces dark rum (Lizzy uses Zacapa)
1/2 cup simple syrup
Crushed ice
Pineapple prep. Preheat the grill to medium-high and grill the pineapple slices for about 2 minutes per side until lightly charred and beginning to caramelize. Cool, cut 2 slices into quarters and rough chop the rest.
Muddle. Muddle the grilled, chopped pineapple, the lemon juice and 2 cups basil in a large pitcher. Stir in the rum and simple syrup.
Strain and pour. Strain into 8 Old Fashioned glasses filled with crushed ice, garnish with a basil leaf and a pineapple slice quarter.
Enjoy.
