Not a Pina Colada Recipe

Who doesn't like fresh pineapple? Its sweet-slightly tart flavour is naturally refreshing. Suggestive of tropical beaches and relaxation, it's a perfect flavour for a summer cocktail. But, while there have always been canned juices available, they taste, well, canned. And manually squeezing fresh pineapple to get juice for a cocktail is a messy, time-consuming, and not very productive business. I know; I've tried it. So the problem for us mixologists is, that unless you have a professional-quality juicer, getting good quality pineapple juice is difficult. That is, until now.

A few summers ago, President's Choice introduced a fresh, not from concentrate, pineapple juice. It comes in a 1.75L carton, and you'll find it in the refrigerated juice section, next to the orange juice. It's a great product.

Something that I really like about pineapple juice in a cocktail, besides the flavour, is that, when you shake it in a cocktail shaker with ice, it produces a layer of lighter-coloured foam on top of the drink, an effect I take advantage of in the following drink recipe.

You'll need a cocktail shaker for this one, as well as a shot glass with markings for accurate measuring of ingredients. Put about a cup of fresh ice in the shaker. I like to use store-bought ice because of its clarity, clean taste, and slow-melting properties. But if you have good water and an ice maker that produces good quality ice, use it.

Add 2 ounces of white rum and 1 ounce of Blue Curacao. Blue Curacao is much like triple sec. It's an orange-flavoured liqueur from the Caribbean island of the same name, but it's tinted blue, and is widely used to give colour to tropical-themed drinks. It's produced by several companies and is not very expensive. Then add 2 ounces of pineapple juice and a dash (about 1 tsp.) of fresh lemon or lime juice. The reason we need the lemon juice is because both the Blue Curacao and the pineapple juice are sweet and the lemon juice not only balances the sweetness a little, it also adds complexity and enhances all the other flavours.

Close your shaker and shake sharply for about 30 seconds. Shaking cocktails with ice does several important things. It thoroughly mixes the ingredients, of course, as well as chilling the drink. (As a general rule, shake until the outside of the shaker is covered in condensation.) Also, some of the ice melts, diluting the alcoholic strength, which smooths the flavour. And in the case of this drink, which contains pineapple juice, it creates that layer of foam I mentioned.

Strain into a martini or margarita-style glass. You'll notice the drink is a beautiful turquoise with the lighter-coloured foam floating on the top.

I call this cocktail the Aphrodite in honour of the Greek goddess of love, who was said to have been born of the sea foam. You, too, may find it inspires thoughts of the sea, or even of love.