I'm as normal as blueberry pie.

South Pacific (1958)

Overall, gorgeous scenery, delightfully catchy songs, and a positive anti-racism message. The pace drags a bit at times (it takes two full hours just to get to the surveillance mission!), and the overuse of color filters makes the film look rather dated. It's still watchable, but the cocktails below will certainly help you make it through all 171 minutes :)

Cockeyed Optimist
Courtesy of Sean Caltrain at Blood & Sand, St Louis MO
A huge shout out to Sean, the awesome bartender at Blood & Sand! He was kind enough to share this original recipe and inspire a viewing of South Pacific. It's been a while since I've posted anything here and it feels good to get back into it. Thanks again Sean!

• 1 oz plantation stiggins fancy pineapple rum
• 1 oz velvet falernum
• 1 oz aperol
• 1 oz lime juice

Shake with ice. Serve over crushed ice with Angostura bitters and fresh mint leaves.

Blue Hawaiian
In honor of the dreamy faraway island of Bali Ha'i. I've always shied away from blue curacao, perhaps because I've only tasted the cheap versions loaded with food coloring, sugar, and who knows what else. But it's challenging to replicate that lush tropical hue, and the Drillaud we found at Total Wine isn't half bad. Still makes your tongue all blue if you drink it straight up :)

• 3/4 oz light rum (I subbed in a dark rum instead)
• 3/4 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz blue curacao
• 3 oz pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz lime juice

Shake with ice. Serve in a hurricane glass with pineapple wedge and cherry.

Pineapple Hop #HereComesThatYellowFilterAgain
From Serious Eats. I'm so into shrubs lately!

For the pineapple shrub (makes about 3 cups):

• 1 medium fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 & 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

For the cocktail:

• 1 oz white rum
• 1 oz pineapple shrub
• 1/4 oz orgeat
• 4 oz india pale ale

Make the shrub by muddling the pineapple and sugar and refrigerating the mixture overnight. Strain and add apple cider vinegar. I tried cutting down on the amount of sugar, and it tasted great at first but the vinegar flavor became overpowering after a few days in the fridge. Stick to the original recipe.

Shake rum, pineapple shrub, and orgeat with ice. Strain into highball glass and top with the beer.

Cable Car (a.k.a. Sexy Lootellan)
This one's for poor old Lootellan Cable. He never got a chance to throw it all away for some mute underage Tonkinese side piece and then instantly regret his life choices :/ Because let's be honest, Bloody Mary would have driven him absolutely mad eventually. What's up with her literally whoring out her daughter and then getting weirdly violent when rejected? Mega pimp.

I did a twist on the Cable Car (original recipe here), which is actually a twist on a Sidecar, and subbed the simple syrup for some homemade maraschino syrup that I happened to have on hand.

• 1 & 1/2 oz spiced rum (I subbed the pineapple rum from above, it's tasty)
• 3/4 oz curacao
• 3/4 oz maraschino cherry syrup (leftover from homemade maraschino cherries)
• 3/4 oz lemon juice

Shake with ice. Serve in a cinnamon-sugar rimmed cocktail glass with an orange twist.

Bloody Mary
I can't really top the Bloody Mary bar I put together for Forrest Gump, and the Kick-Ass Homemade Bloody Mary Mix is still the best recipe I've found so far. Give it a try!

For more info on South Pacific, check out this cool post about the history and making of the film, as well as some foreign movie posters, which are my fave :D