Don the Beachcomber, ~1940s.
| 1½ oz · 45 ml | AGED RUM | 40 % |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | RHUM AGRICOLE | 50 % |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | LIME JUICE | |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | ORANGE JUICE | |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | FALERNUM | 11 % |
| 1 barspoon | HONEY SYRUP | |
| 1 dash | ANGOSTURA BITTERS | 44 % |
| 1 barspoon | ALLSPICE DRAM | 17 % |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 3.87 oz mixed with ice, 0.95 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Shaken: +20 % of the pre-batch, +0.77 oz of water |
| Served | 3.87 + 0.77 = 4.64 oz in the glass |
| Strength | 0.95 ÷ 4.64 = 20.4 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.95 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 22 g · about 155 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM AGED RUM · from oak barrel aging
Bourbon's fingerprint, extracted from the charred American oak the law requires for aging. Same molecule as the vanilla bean's signature, so a well-aged bourbon legitimately tastes like vanilla. Chemistry, not metaphor. Cognac, aged rum, tequila reposado all extract vanillin from oak too. Different barrels, same molecule.
ALSO IN Old Fashioned · Manhattan · Whiskey Sour · Paper Plane · Boulevardier · Sazerac · Espresso Martini · Mai Tai
FROM FALERNUM + ALLSPICE · the clove note
The clove note, a phenylpropanoid that shows up wherever a recipe calls for clove, allspice, or nutmeg, and in rye whiskey through oak-barrel extraction. Anesthetic at high concentration; dentists used clove oil for centuries before lidocaine. The numbing sensation on the tongue from biting a whole clove is eugenol blocking nociceptor signaling at the contact point.
FROM LIME · the lemon aroma
Lemon's defining note: technically a mix of two geometric isomers (geranial and neral) that read as the same aroma to the nose. Lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon verbena, and Indian chai all carry it. In cocktails it's what a lemon twist contributes that lemon juice can't: the volatile expressed from the oil glands, not the acid from the pulp.
ALSO IN Margarita · Mojito · Daiquiri · Whiskey Sour · Gimlet · Moscow Mule · Paper Plane · Aviation
Two rums, lime, orange, falernum, honey, Angostura and allspice dram. The grassy esters of rhum agricole, from fresh sugarcane juice, bridge the oaked aged rum and the spiced allspice dram. The garnish is the name: three cherries (dots) and one pineapple frond (dash) spell the Morse code for 'V for Victory.'
Don the Beachcomber created the Three Dots and a Dash during WWII; the garnish encodes the Morse code 'V' as a victory salute. The drink was on Don the Beachcomber's secret menu for years; bartenders weren't given the full recipe, only assembled it from pre-mixed proprietary ingredients (Don's Mix #1, Don's Mix #2). Paul McGee revived the recipe at Three Dots and a Dash, his Chicago tiki bar named for the cocktail, in 2013.
