Tuesday Happy Hour — Turn Your Pineapple Into a Tiki Mug

A fun gimmick, and a delicious drink.

Speaking of cocktail gimmickry, one of my favorite party tricks is to hollow out a pineapple and then turn it into a tiki mug. It’s great for a double-sized Jungle Bird or an oversized Jungle Bird variation. Typically I do this in the summer. But there are times when I need a pick-me-up on a cold winter’s night. This works pretty well.

One way to create a pineapple mug is to use a knife to chop off the top and then a spoon and knife combo to scoop out the insides. But the easiest way to do it is with an inexpensive specialized tool — a pineapple corer, like this one from Oxo.

I know some people are allergic to single-use kitchen gadgets. But this one is inexpensive and easy to store, and it really makes the whole process much easier.

To start, trim off the top of the pineapple and reserve the fronds for garnish. Then push the corer into the fruit, teeth down, twisting as you go, taking care never to slice open the outer wall.

When you near the bottom of the fruit, gently pull the whole thing out.

You’ll have a nice spiral ring of pineapple circling the corer. Just remove the T-shaped handle, then slide off the pineapple fruit spiral. 

You’ll still have a central core of fruit remaining inside the pineapple, which you can either leave in place or cut out with a knife. Typically I cut it mine out, but it’s not strictly necessary. 

If you want to eat the fruit, you can, but I prefer to blend it up, strain out the solids, and turn it into juice for cocktails.

A cored pineapple will hold more liquid than a typical cocktail glass, so if you’re making a Jungle Bird, you might want to make a double-sized drink, then serve it with two straws for you and a friend. 

But you might also try a variation, like Ruby Mae’s Second Surfin’ Bird, a delicious mezcal-based riff on the Jungle Bird, created by Paul McGee of the world-class Chicago tiki bar Lost Lake.

As is often the case with tiki drinks, it’s somewhat complicated, and assembling all the ingredients may take a bit of doing. But I promise it’s worth it. It’s not quite as bitter as a Jungle Bird, but it’s smoky, decadent, and exotically sweet thanks to the combination of fruit juice, port, and passion fruit syrup. It’s also larger in volume than a typical cocktail, so it fills a pineapple tiki mug well. 

Ruby Mae’s Second Surfin’ Bird

• 2 oz reposado tequila, such as Espolon

• 1/2 oz mezcal, such as Del Maguey Vida 

• 1 1/2 oz fresh pineapple juice

• 1 oz fresh lime juice

• 3/4 oz Campari

• 3/4 oz port

• 3/4 oz Monin passion fruit syrup

• 1/2 oz simple syrup

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaking tin.

2. Add a large scoop of crushed ice, then shake until thoroughly chilled.

3. Dump all ingredients, including ice, into a cored pineapple.

4. Garnish with a pineapple frond.

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