Mulled Pineapple Rum Cocktail
Pineapple juice mulled gently with toasted whole spices, strained, and finished with dark rum and brandy stirred in off the heat so the spirits keep their flavor. A broiled pineapple skewer lies across each mug and doubles as the snack.
Ingredients
Broiled Pineapple Skewers
- 10 ounces fresh pineapple peeled and cut into 16 cubes of about 3/4-inch, roughly a third of a medium pineapple
- 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika plus a pinch of cayenne
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Mulled Pineapple Juice
- 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns whole
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 2 sticks cinnamon about 3 inches each
- 4 cups unsweetened pineapple juice not a juice blend or a cocktail mixer
- 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise and the seeds scraped out, or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice stirred in after straining
To Finish
- 6 ounces aged dark rum
- 2 ounces brandy VS cognac, American brandy or applejack
Instructions
Broil the Pineapple Skewers
- Heat the broiler with an oven rack set about six inches beneath the element and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Pat the pineapple cubes dry on paper towels, toss them with the sugar, Aleppo pepper, ground cinnamon and salt, and spread them out in a single layer. Wet fruit steams instead of caramelizing, so the drying matters.
- Broil 2 to 4 minutes, until the sugar bubbles and the edges take color. Do not walk away; sugar goes from bubbling to burnt in about fifteen seconds. Cool on the pan, then thread 4 cubes onto each of 4 short skewers or sturdy toothpicks.
Mull the Juice
- Toast the allspice, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon sticks dry in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until you can smell them from arm's length.
- Pour in the pineapple juice and add the split vanilla bean along with its scraped seeds. Bring it barely to a simmer, then drop the heat to its lowest setting and hold it at 180F to 190F for 15 minutes. A bubble every second or two is right; a rolling boil strips the aromatics and concentrates the sugar.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl or a clean pan and discard the spices, then stir in the lemon juice. Leaving the whole spices in keeps extracting and turns the drink bitter.
Add the Spirits and Serve
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the dark rum and the brandy. The base should be around 160F at this point, which lands the finished mug near 150F. Warm it gently before the spirits go in if it has cooled, never after.
- Ladle into 4 heatproof glass mugs and lay a pineapple skewer across the rim of each one.
Notes
Adapted from Liquid Gold in Winter Cocktails by Maria del Mar Sacasa, photographs by Tara Striano (Quirk Books, 2013), which came to this site as a publisher's review copy. The spice quantities have been re-derived and the spirits now go in off the heat rather than simmering with the juice.
Aleppo pepper is worth ordering, but 1/4 teaspoon of sweet paprika with a pinch of cayenne stands in for it.
Make ahead: mull and strain the juice up to 5 days ahead and refrigerate it. Reheat gently to about 160F, then stir the spirits in off the heat.
Storage: the strained base keeps 5 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen. Never store it with the whole spices still sitting in it; it turns bitter by the next morning.
Alcohol-free: leave out the rum and the brandy and add 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar plus an extra tablespoon of lemon juice, so the acid replaces the bite.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cocktail | Calories: 308kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.3g | Sodium: 88mg | Potassium: 355mg | Fiber: 1.2g | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Vitamin C: 31mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 0.7mg