The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess

Good episode, though I couldn’t help but notice the striking change in garnish in the last few shots of the episode

I’m not sure where to get Coco Lopez coconut cream. Is there anything about that particular brand that is important to this drink recipe? What is the difference between coconut cream and coconut milk, such as those found in Asian supermarkets?

While tending bar here in Orlando, Florida I discovered a positive relationship between using natural juices and increased sales.

The hotel lobby bar where I worked, had the bottled “Pina Colada mix” but it made very few sales.  The stuff often went bad. So when I would make one, the guest would often return in it and tell me “it tastes funny.”

After reading Gary Regan’s book, I convinced my managers to invest in a case of Coco Lopez coconut cream and some small cans of pineapple juice.

One slow, Sunday afternoon at my bar I put the Pina Colada up on my “Special’s Board” for $7.29. I made one or two Pina Coladas without the spoiled mix. Suddenly a buzz started among the guests and I was making five or six at a time. That afternoon I made over 100 dollars in sales on this one drink!

This was very unusual for a small lobby bar; but it was because I was doing something extra: Walt Disney called it “plussing.”

Commercial mixes have killed the sales of classic cocktails in Florida’s hospitality industry; this is true is especially of the Bloody Mary, as well as Pina Colada and even the Margarita.

Bars have prefabricated bottled mixes that often sit on unrefrigerated speed racks and are kept until the mold begins to grow inside. Food and Beverage managers should understand how increased sales and quality ingredients are positively correlated.

Nick… yeah, we edited out me “fixing up” the garnish a tad just before the last “hero” shot :->

Berkana… Coco Lopez Coconut cream is a very thick cream, and works a lot better than a coconut milk. If you are having a hard time finding Coco Lopez, just use the thickest coconut cream/milk you have available

Peter… I (of course) TOTALLY agree with you. Thanks for the story!

-Robert

To Peter V:
AMEN!
Thank you for providing us with your first hand account concerning the practice of creating quality drinks from scratch with a touch of “love” or as you quoted Uncle Walt, “plussing” it.

Absolutely, the “Prefabricated Drink Mix” producers and distributors, the world over, have done an embarrassing disservice to quality bartending. The creation of these “quick fix” products are a bitter reminder of the age old philosophical argument: “Just because something CAN be done, doesn’t necessarily dictate that is SHOULD be done.”

But PDM marketers aren’t the only offenders whose hands are soaked with this batch of premixed bile. Unfortunately, some 4 or 5 star restaurants pride themselves on back house (kitchen) drink mixes for their sweet-&-sours and bloody marys. By doing this, they are corning the guest/customer into a highly rigid and ill fated dining experience. If you’re positively salivating for a mild gin mary during a Sunday brunch, the bar may screw you with a tart and saucy drink mix. And it’s all due to the misdirected notions of penny pinching and workflow efficiency. IT’S WRONG!
Save the premixes for the strip clubs, college bars and night owl dives.

To Master Mixologist Hess:
I’m aware that your sponsor, Kegworks, does market “instant cocktail mixes.” With that in mind, I wholeheartedly pray to Bacchus, Hotei, and Saint Amand that you will never comprise the quality of future cocktails just to satisfy a sponsor. }:^)

"Using a commercial sour mix to make a cocktail is like using instant rice to make paella.” :->

I suppose an argument could be made for mixes being appropriate for “some” situations, but if you ever see me using a mix on the show, then it’s because I think that it makes a great drinks.

That said, there are a couple of commercial mixes that I am not totally opposed to. One of them is the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai mix. Not as good as scratch, but for a “mix” it isn’t bad. Specifically because they aren’t putting the lime juice in it. Their mix is essentially just a premix of the orgeat and orange curacao (although non-alcoholic). Of course I don’t see any reason for using it since it is just as easy to mix it up from scratch.

Another is the Demitris Bloody Mary Mix (http://demitris.com). Bloody Mary Mix overall is probably a better concept than other mixes since most people are using canned/bottled tomato juice anyway. A “mix” is then (usually) just the tomato juice with added spices. The differentiation about Demitris however is that they are “just” the spice mix. Vodka (or gin), Tomato Juice, Demitris, and lemon juice makes for a quick drink. And you can not only adjust the seasoning up or down by adding more or less of the “mix”, but what I do is use their spice mix in addition to scratch spices to make a more complex drink.

It should also be pointed out that the concept of a “mix” itself isn’t necessarily a bad idea, the problem lies more in the execution of the mix, and in the inappropriate use of it. Pimm’s No.1 could be considered as a “mix”, so too could vermouth, take that notion far enough, and even gin could be seen as a mix, although not one that would be easily replaced with an “a la minute” version.

What I -hate- however, is seeing a recipe which calls for a “mix” as an ingredient. Recipes should always be listed out as “scratch/fresh”, otherwise “newbies” will think the mix is the right ingredient to use. I take this so far that I don’t like seeing “catsup” as an ingredient in cooking recipes. When I cook, I essentially make my catsup from scratch by using tomato sauce, some form of sweetener, some form of acid, and some appropriate spices in order to make the sauce fit the dish.

-Robert

Mr. Hess,
While you are in your exotic drink phase (pretty much our entire focus at my work) ...what are the odds you could do a segment on the Gombay Smash? I have had a hard time researching the origins of this drink, and have no definative recipe.

Keep em coming.

AL

Coco Lopez cream of coconut is not too difficult to find; I’d first check your grocery store.  Here in the United States, many grocery stores carry it in their drink, canned fruit or baking sections.

Cream of coconut and coconut cream are not the same ingredient; although, these terms are often incorrectly used interchangeably.  Cream of coconut is similar to coconut milk, but with a higher ratio of coconut to water than coconut milk.  Sometimes, coconut cream will form on the top of canned coconut milk if the can is left undisturbed for a few days.

Cream of coconut, on the other hand, is sweetened coconut cream with added stabilizers to make it creamy, but pourable.  As such, you can not simply substitute coconut cream and/or milk (no matter how think) for cream of coconut and expect to get the same results.

As for the Coco Lopez brand, it is the original and probably best known producer of cream of coconut.

I need to say, that a piña colada with fresh pineapple juice has another dimension...even better, if it is instantly extracted…
Normally you can rexduce or omit as well the cream - it just taste good…

To the best of my knowledge, fresh juices are always better than any other option… although I have to admit I’ve never tried doing fresh cranberry juice. And to do fresh pineapple juice takes something a little more specialized then a simple hand juicer…

I’m curious how you came up with that recipe. Having 6x pineapple juice to coconut cream seems a bit out of balance. Did you personally opt for a creamy Pina Colada that has more of a dominate pineapple taste?

I usually make with 1 1/2 rum, 1 1/2 oz coco cream and 2 -3 oz pineapple juice.

I will at times use a dark rum like Coruba which for those who love the tast of rum is a nice way to go.

One downside to this drink is the saturated fat content. I wish there was a no-compromise low-fat version....Oh well, enjoy while you can.

Thanks Robert for the videos. Keep em’ coming!