Article by Jonathan Guyon
Ah, the piña colada.
It’s one of the most popular cocktails out there. Its name has an exotic accent, which seems to become more pronounced the more you drink it. And it even has a catchy song dedicated to it— “If you like piña coladas…” And let’s face it, who doesn’t like piña coladas? Born in Puerto Rico,
it conjures up images of a milky-white cocktail lounging on even whiter sand along turquoise waters, garnished with a pineapple slice and a jaunty tiny umbrella.
But one audacious British pub in Montreal is boldly reinventing this iconic concoction. Boasting over 150 gins and known for its Made With Booze cocktail competition, Bishop & Bagg puts unique twists on classic cocktails, blending in homemade syrups and tonics. So who better to pluck the piña colada from the summery beaches of the South and plunge it into the wintery wonderlands of the North?
CLASSIC piña colada
Ingredients:
1oz(30ml)DonQRum(PuertoRico) 1 oz (30 ml) white rum
2 oz (60 ml) fresh pineapple juice
Directions:
Throw all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake well. Pour in a cocktail glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry, dehydrated pineapple slice and pineapple leaf.
WINTERIZED piña colada
Ingredients:
1 oz (30 ml) Don Q Rum (Puerto Rico)
3⁄4 oz (22 ml) Sainte-Marie spiced rum (Montreal) 3⁄4 oz (22 ml) Amaro di Angostura
1⁄2 oz (15 ml) fresh lime juice
1 oz (30 ml) sweetened coconut milk
Directions:
Throw all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and
shake well. Pour in a cocktail glass. For the garnish, roast 2 oz (60 ml) pineapple at 425° F in an oven with cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup for 1.5 hours. Grind a cinnamon stick. And garnish your cocktail with a maraschino cherry, roasted pineapple slice, pineapple leaf, spiced coconut chips and a dusting of cinnamon.
TIP:
On those particularly cold winter nights, warm the cocktail in a pot on the stove or in a milk steamer.
Photo: Owner Steven Owen (left) and bartender Sean-Michael McCaffrey (right) of Bishop & Bagg (part of the Burgundy Lion Group).
52 rue Saint-Viateur Ouest Montreal, QC H2T 2K8 www.bishopandbagg.com
Photos by / par: Jonathan Guyon
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