Two drinks in one! (depending upon the details)
The first book I purchased about tropical cocktails was Beachbum Berry Remixed, a reprint of Jeff "Beachbum" Berry's first two books. While my library (and bar) have grown considerably since then, I've found myself returning to it time and again for drinks that don't require as many esoteric ingredients as many of the newer Tiki and tropical cocktail manuals. Another tendency I developed was to keep notes in all of my books. I typically rate them on a 5 point system, keep notes about which brands and varieties of rum and liqueurs I used, and of course, whether or not my wife liked it!
Perusing through this favorite this week I came across notes showing that I used some banana liqueur that I now consider to be woefully sweet. At the time, I had nothing to compare it to so, live and learn. At any rate, I thought that I should make it again with my now favorite banana liqueur (Tempus Fugit) and while I was at it, I should probably upgrade the called for Jamaican rum as my Jamaican rum collection has expanded greatly since those early notes. As it turns out, mixing a good drink is a lot like mixing a band. Making each instrument sound great seems like a good plan but you need to think about what part of the sound spectrum each will occupy so they don't muddy everything up. Same goes for cocktails.
The drink in question is the Planet of the Apes by Beachbum Berry. This cocktail is a riff on the West Indian Punch. It's a fairly simple cocktail (by Tiki standards) with only 6 ingredients. The main two players are the aforementioned banana liqueur and Jamaican rum. everything else tastes the same regardless of brand so these are the two ingredients to play with.
Let's start with the banana liqueur. These range from cheap banana Laffy Taffy syrup-like offerings to fresh banana flavors to banana fosters. I'd skip the candy and look at the Tempus Fugit crème de banana which has a caramel banana fosters flavor and/or Giffard Banane DU Bresil Banana Liqueur which has a fresher banana flavor mixed with cognac.
As for the Jamaican rum, the sky is the limit but it really comes down to how funky you want it to be. Some Jamaicans are quite mild (Appleton, Myers, Plantation Xamayca) while others have much higher ester counts for a funkier flavor (Hamilton Jamaican Black, Doctor Bird, Smith & Cross). After trying a few variations I found that (to my palate) the Tempus Fugit stood up to the funkier Jamaicans better and didn't play as well with the lighter Jamaicans. Most interesting was that I could make four Planet of the Apes using four different rum and liqueur combinations and pass them off as four different drinks! The effect is that great.
Being the great guy that I am, I've listed me two favorites below "Mild" and Wild".
Mahalo!
Planet of the Apes (Mild)
Source - Beachbum Berry Remixed, Jeff "beachbum" Berry
1/2 ounce lime juice
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
3/4 ounce Giffard Banane DU Bresil Banana Liqueur
1 ounce Plantation Xaymaca
1/2 ounce Trader Vic 151 Rum
Build everything in a shaker with crushed ice and shake well. Garnish is a fresh banana slice speared to a cocktail cherry. Top with a purple orchid (which I never have around).
Planet of the Apes (Wild)
Source - Beachbum Berry Remixed, Jeff "beachbum" Berry
1/2 ounce lime juice
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
3/4 ounce Tempus Fugit Banana Liqueur
1 ounce Hamilton Jamican Black
1/2 ounce Trader Vic 151 Rum
Build everything in a shaker with crushed ice and shake well. Garnish is a fresh banana slice speared to a cocktail cherry. Top with a purple orchid (which I never have around).
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