ETHANOL

MARY PICKFORD

Havana, ~1920s.

COUPE
ETHANOL 15 G107 KCAL FROM ETHANOL4.01 OZ SERVED

SPEC

1½ oz · 45 mlWHITE RUM40 %
1½ oz · 45 mlPINEAPPLE JUICE
1 barspoonMARASCHINO LIQUEUR32 %
1 barspoonGRENADINE

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

METHOD

  1. 01SHAKE ALL INGREDIENTS WITH ICE
  2. 02DOUBLE-STRAIN INTO A CHILLED COUPE
  3. 03GARNISH WITH A CHERRY

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

STRENGTH // WORKED

Pre-batch3.34 oz mixed with ice, 0.65 oz of it pure alcohol
MeltShaken: +20 % of the pre-batch, +0.67 oz of water
Served3.34 + 0.67 = 4.01 oz in the glass
Strength0.65 ÷ 4.01 = 16.3 % ABV as served
Ethanol0.65 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 15 g · about 107 kcal from the alcohol alone

IN THE GLASS

DIACETYL

FROM WHITE RUM CANE · the butter note

Formula
C₄H₆O₂
Mass
86.09 g/mol
IUPAC
butane-2,3-dione

The butter note. Wanted in oak-aged Chardonnay and certain ales (English bitter, Czech pilsner) where a controlled amount adds body; unwanted at high concentrations, where it slides into movie-theater-popcorn territory. Yeast produces it as an intermediate during fermentation and reabsorbs it during conditioning. A rushed beer that skipped its conditioning rest often carries diacetyl as an off-flavor the brewer didn't intend.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Daiquiri · Piña Colada · Hemingway Daiquiri · Caipirinha · El Presidente · Beachcomber · Cuba Libre · Frozen Daiquiri

METHYL ANTHRANILATE

FROM PINEAPPLE · the grape candy note

Formula
C₈H₉NO₂
Mass
151.16 g/mol
IUPAC
methyl 2-aminobenzoate

The grape-candy / Welch's-grape-juice aroma. Concord grapes carry it in concentrations no European wine grape (Vitis vinifera) approaches; American Vitis labrusca grapes, native to the northeastern US, hold methyl anthranilate as a signature. The "foxy" note in North American grape juice and artificial grape candy both come from the same molecule. Also used as the standard bird repellent on commercial fruit crops; birds find it intolerable.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Ramos Gin Fizz · Hurricane · Singapore Sling · Royal Hawaiian · Bahama Mama · Paloma · Tequila Sunrise · Picante

CHEMISTRY

White rum, pineapple, maraschino and grenadine. It is Caribbean rum with the tropical fruit markers of 1920s Hollywood-in-Cuba tourism. Ethyl acetate and methyl butanoate from pineapple read as the nose, and benzaldehyde from maraschino lifts the finish.

PROVENANCE

Named for the Canadian-American silent-film star Mary Pickford. Basil Woon's 1928 When It's Cocktail Time in Cuba credits Fred Kaufman, a Havana bartender (others name Eddie Woelke); the Hotel Nacional, often named as its birthplace, did not open until 1930. The often-told story that Pickford was in Havana filming with Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin does not match their travel records. The drink belongs to the Prohibition-era Havana bar scene that also produced the El Presidente, when Americans crossed to Cuba for legal cocktails.

RUM // NEARBY

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