The Turnbuckle Recipe
A tiki-style sour that puts Cynar in front of funky Jamaican rum, with passion fruit and orgeat softening the bitterness.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 12%
- Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients
- Dark Jamaican rum22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Cynar (artichoke amaro)30 ml (1 oz)
- Fresh lemon juice22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Passion fruit syrup15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Orgeat syrup7.5 ml (0.3 oz)
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice.
- Shake hard until well chilled.
- Strain into a rocks glass packed with crushed ice.
- Garnish with a generous mint bouquet and an orchid.
Garnish
Mint bouquet and an edible orchid
What it tastes like
It has a bitter backbone, the citrus acidity leads and there is pineapple and passion fruit in it.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Dark Jamaican rum
- Jamaican rum is set apart by the banana-and-pineapple note called funk, which comes from long fermentation and cannot be faked with another rum. It is where tiki drinks get their character.
- Cynar (artichoke amaro)
- An amaro made from artichoke. It does not taste vegetal but earthy and caramelised; at 16.5% it is one of the lighter amari, which is why it turns up in long drinks.
- Fresh lemon juice
- Freshly squeezed lemon; one lemon gives 30-40 ml. It can swap with lime, but lemon is softer and less aromatic, so use a touch more.
- Passion fruit syrup
- Passion fruit syrup. The seedy pulp is balanced with sugar; it is high in acid, so recipes that use it usually pull back on the lemon.
- Orgeat syrup
- Almond syrup with orange flower water in it — the signature of a Mai Tai. Without it, sweetened almond milk plus a drop of almond extract gets you close.
The Story
One of the modern "bitter tiki" drinks, in which an Italian amaro takes the base role and rum becomes the supporting spirit.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a The Turnbuckle mixed?
- It is shaken and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a The Turnbuckle?
- Roughly 12% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a The Turnbuckle be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a The Turnbuckle hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.