This is fascinating!  The bourbon blends so well with the cassis.  A great discovery, Stew.

Pretty good. 

I love this drink, but prefer it with 1 1/2 oz pineapple juice. Really nice with Smith&Cross as well. Sam Ross has a version with Blackstrap, but unfortunately that is not available here.

I think that this is plenty sweet without the simple, and I agree that there's too much pineapple in it. It might be interesting with much more lime, more Campari, and Smith & Cross.

Thanks,

Zachary

Read the comment too late to adjust tonight's cocktail. Yes, was too much pineapple. Simple probably not needed if pineapple isn't too tart.

I adjusted the pineapple juice down to 2 oz and got rid of the simple syrup (my pineapple juice is sweet enough as is). With that mix there is a fine balance between the Campari, the lime juice, and the rum. I have also sucessfully substituted Lemon Hart 151 for the Blackstrap. (You need a strong flavored rum for a good balance). Wray & Nephew and Cruzan 151 are not optimal choices for this drink.

I highly recommend following Sam Ross' lead and decreasing the pineapple juice to 1 1/2 oz. At that ratio it's a sensational drink. A collection of extreme flavors that don't sit in a conventional "balance" so much as they complement and magnify each other. Extraordinary.

As much as I love it, I don't recommend Smith & Cross for this drink at least on its own; you want the deep molasses notes from the Black Strap, or barring that mix a dark Jamaican like Coruba or Meyer's with a dash or two of Angostura or chocolate bitters. A S&C float might not be out of place. Simple may or may not be needed, depending on the tartness of your juices, the sweetness of your rum, and your own taste.

Thank you. I incorporated Sam's recommendation into the notes above as I think it is a worthy and important improvement to the authentic version.

Great! It's worth noting that the original recipe calls for dark Jamaican rum, according to Berry. Black Strap is Giuseppe Gonzalez's substitution (and improvement).

This is really, really good with Sam Ross' recipe using Cacao Prieto's (very dry) Don Esteban chocolate rum "liqueur" in place of the Blackstrap.

A slight recipe tweak developed by Giuseppe Gonzalez of Painkiller (NYC) and that can be currently found on the menu at Milk & Honey NYC (thanks to head barman Theo Lieberman), has a dash more Campari (.75) and much less pineapple juice (.5) -- making rum and Campari the dominant flavours, a more bitter and alcoholic drink (also heavily reliant on the quality of the pineapple juice). It's the best variation I've tasted. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/dining/a-bird-walks-into-a-bar.html?_… NYT piece explains it</a>.

I have a slight preference for 1.5:1.5:0.75:0.5:0.5 ratio (possibly even slightly less juice or simple).

Smith+Cross, alone, would overpower. But 1 oz Barbancourt or even Goslings with a 1/2 oz of S+C is tasty.

I prefer this version over the variants that call for passionfruit syrup and/or pineapple rum.

For an interesting riff on this, try it with Reposado Mezcal, and Rhubarb Bitters.

I made this with Becherovka for cinnamon syrup and Licor 43 for vanilla syrup. I doubled the Becherovka to help the cinnamon come through. It was a nice tiki cocktail, although using St Elizabeth Alspice Dram, I felt the allspice dominated. I'd cut it by at least half.

This is a Don the Beachcomber original from ca. 1937, not a Jeff Berry drink as listed here. We do have Berry to thank for decoding the recipe, however.

Fixed, thanks for the catch.

Zachary