The Naked Ape – Smuggler’s Cove Book

I have a lot of cocktail books in my collection and they are a great source of inspiration. However, the problem is that I rarely make drinks from them. Sure, I flip through the book when I a new one and I always notice interesting recipe. Yet, I already have such a long list of drinks I want to mix that I simple do not get around to try them all. So, I guess it is time to chance that and start mixing all of those great drinks!

First up is the excellent book from Martin Cate. I guess I do not have to tell you how great this tropical cocktail book is, others have done that to a great extent. Nevertheless, I simply have to add that the book constitutes so much more than a plain collection of recipes. Basically, you learn how to set up your own private or commercial tropical bar. On top of that, the book sheds some light on the sometimes confusing sorts of rum demanded in “classic” tropical cocktails.

Bananas flambéed in rum

Well, I probably could have picked any recipe from the book for which I had the ingredients on hand. Yet, I was inspired by Matthias Soberon to make the “Naked Ape”. After all, the recipe has everything you could ask for in a tropical cocktail: a lot of aromatic rum, an “exotic” liqueur and spicy syrup. Furthermore, the drink almost resembles a reduced tropical recipe which has all the necessary ingredients, but nothing more.

The “Naked Ape” starts off with a clear Jamaican rum note. Additionally, you can instantly taste the bananas in the drink. I was quite pleased by the combination of the two rums with the Burke’s Seamaster resembling the dark and mild Jamaica rum. Obviously, the ingredients which make a great dessert, e.g. rum, banana and cinnamon, also make an excellent cocktail! In one of my next posts, I will present my own version of the drink using a different “exotic” liqueur.