MxMo CVI: Spring Break // Pistachio Planter's

Hey, it's Mixology Monday! February's theme is "Spring Break", and looking out the window, that seems like eight million years away. Anyway, let out host, Joel DiPippa of the great Southern Ash blog, explain this idea deeper to you in his announcement post, but basically, it's about whatever spring break, or just spring, means to you. And to me, it means prepping the balcony for the (hopefully) bright times ahead. You know, the bamboo walls, the mint plants, the polyresin macaw and the 4ft pink flamingo... setting up our little tropical paradise for another unpredictable Swedish summer.

I like my spring drinks a little more lightweight than the full-blown tiki numbers we happily gulp for the rest of the season, so here's a Planter's Punch with a nutty twist that I started experimenting with last spring without nailing it. It's much better this time around.

Key ingredient here is a weird pistachio flavored rum sort of spirit, made from sugar beets, by Swedish Träkumla Rom. It's fun booze, but not really that good. It has an overwhelming oiliness to it and the flavor is really unsmooth. But in mixed drinks, it works well in small amounts, only hinting at the pistachio. Like in this one. And paired with pear juice, it actually ends up quite awesome.

I feel that the Pistachio Planter's has a familiar tiki structure with a robust rum base, refreshing fruit juices and underlaying spices, but it's not too heavy or dead-serious. And it's in a seasonal limbo with both the flavors of the winter behind and those of the summer to come. Perfect for, say, mid-April drinking.

Pistachio Planter's

1½ oz. dark Jamaican rum
½ oz Träkumla Altissima Pistage
¾ oz. demerara sugar syrup
½ oz. lime juice
½ oz. pear juice

¼ oz. Don's spices #2*
1 dash Barkeep Saffron Bitters

Shake with crushed ice and pour unstrained into a tall glass. Garnish with mint and shelled pistachio nuts.

*Don's spices #2: Equal parts pimento dram and vanilla syrup.