The Captain on Acid

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Last week I wrote about the classic Painkiller cocktail. There's a similar cocktail that is less well known but, in my opinion, just as good if not better than its more famous counterpart: Captain on Acid.

It is typically served as a shooter (2 oz. glass) but can be served as a cocktail.

Here's the recipe as I initially encountered it (and the way I was required to make it in bartending school. The correct glass was a highball glass (about 10 oz. capacity)

1/2 oz. Captain Morgan

1/2 oz. Malibu Rum

1/2 oz. Blue Curacao

Pineapple juice (enough to fill the glass; about 3 oz.)

The result was pretty good. When I practiced making the cocktails required for the course at home--with real booze in the bottles rather than dyed water--I would make the drink, take a sip to get an idea of the taste and mouth feel, and dump the rest down the sink. (Oh, the humanity!) The Captain on Acid was the first cocktail where I couldn't resist drinking the whole thing.

But it really needed tweaking, especially because the Blue Curacao and pineapple juice yielded a weird green color similar to the color of the mucous you hock up when you have a bad chest cold. I also thought it ought to be stronger. So here's my adaptation. The main change is the substitution of Cointreau for Blue Curacao. Both of them are orange-flavored and Cointreau adds a touch of class; plus the color of the drink doesn't look like snot. (If you must, use the Blue Curacao mainly for color and go for a pleasant turquoise color; throw in a splash of Triple Sec to retain the full orange flavor. )

So:

Into a shaker put:

Ice (enough to chill the liquid but don't add too much.)

2 oz. Captain Morgan (The photo shows a bottle of Bacardi, which in an early version I used to reduce the spiciness of the Captain Morgan a bit. I didn't re-shoot the pic. Sue me.)

1 oz. Malibu Rum

1 oz. Cointreau

4 oz. pineapple juice

Shake vigorously to create a foamy liquid, then pour into a 15 oz. hurricane glass--or any glass of equal volume. The liquid should end up near the rim unless you went overboard with the ice.

The drink you now have has the yellow hue of a Caribbean sun. But if you want to go more for a Caribbean sunset (as I do), then:

Lace with grenadine. It's very sweet and since the drink is already pretty sweet, make sure to use just a few drops--you're going for color, not taste. If you screw up, a dash or two of bitters--preferably Agostino Orange bitters--will partially redeem your error, but the operative word is "partially."

Pineapple garnish (if available)

Obviously my version is fairly potent, so use care when serving it, especially to your obnoxious QAnon conspiracy nut uncle.

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