Tropical Month 2024 – Turnbuckle

I have to admit that I regularly neglect to remix interesting recipes. The reason for that is that I have a long backlog of already mixed drinks and an even longer one of recipe ideas. Yet, with the ‘Turnbuckle’ I managed to make the cocktail almost as soon as I discovered the recipe.

Sure, the recipe is not new. In fact, Jen Akin created the combination of Cynar, Jamaica rum, lemon and syrups in 2018. However, the drink had a sort of revival a few weeks ago on Instagram. At least that is when I discovered the drink. I instantly knew that I had to remix this relatively simple, tropical cocktail.

Bitter and exotic notes

While the original recipe does not specify the Jamaica rum to use, I think the drink needs a Navy Strength one. Smith & Cross is a great option, but I went for the Kill Devil Navy Style Rum. Furthermore, I used the excellent Orgeat from Meneau and some homemade passionfruit syrup. For the syrup I combined a fresh passion fruit, with 75 ml passion fruit nectar as well as 125 g vanilla sugar. After simmering for a few minutes, I strained the mixture and bottled it in a clean bottle.

I really like Cynar, but I was surprised how good the combination with rum and passionfruit work. The orgeat adds a certain ‘milky’ mouthfeel to the drink. Afterall, the ‘Turnbuckle’ is almost light when it comes to the alcohol, but at the same time it is complex. I also tried the drink with another Amaro from a local distillery which resulted in a different flavour profile. However, it was also delicious.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The herbal liqueur was provided by Weyermann.