To help get us through this period, we need a drink that is equal parts refreshing, soothing, and nutritious — enter the White Cloud. This is a cocktail you won’t find much about when Googling. The recipe comes from Tiki archeologist Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s Sippin’ Safari, which is well worth your time and coin if you’re into tropical and Tiki drinks.

Berry’s original recipe calls for Puerto Rican rum and less of it than I use here, but I have my reasons. For the recipe below, I’ve doubled the white rum. This will enable us to free-pour (without straining) to get some cooling shards of ice into the drink, helping us stay cool. It also means that the drink will stay peppy as the ice melts. If you like coconut the way I do, this will be a good one.

The drink was created by one of Don the Beachcomber’s legendary mixologists, Mariano Licudine, who began his journey working in pineapple fields in Hawai’i. Don the Beachcomber famously maintained incredibly tight control of his bartenders. He wouldn’t even label the ingredients or mixes used in many of his concoctions, using monikers like “Don’s Mix,” which meant the bartenders themselves often didn’t know what they were actually mixing.

When Licudine left for the Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, that meant more freedom. The White Cloud is a bit of a relative of the Moonkist Coconut, for which you’ll find a lot more information and discussion. He was born in Manila, Philippines. And while we often talk about folks like Don the Beachcomber or Trader Vic, many of our best ideas in mixology, especially tropical mixology, come from folks like Licudine, Harry Yee, and Jasper LeFranc. And that’s not to mention the countless Caribbean island residents who didn’t think of themselves as “mixing,” but as beating the heat with some rum, sugar, and citrus. So, here’s to a real one! Thanks, Mariano! 

Thoroughly chill your glass. This is a shaken cocktail. In one of your tins add the ingredients sans garnish. Load the other tin with ice and bring together for a standard cocktail shake. Make sure the outside of the tin is frigid before you stop. This cocktail is a bit different in that we won’t strain it. Instead, we’ll just free pour it into the glass. The extra rum I’ve added will take care of any boozy issues. Garnish with 3 pineapple fronds. You can keep these in your freezer (in a vacuum-seal or Ziplock bag with as much air forced out as possible) indefinitely, so save some the next time you eat a fresh pineapple, which should be often. Enjoy!

Glass: Rocks, goblet, or vintage wine glass 

First, the rum. The original recipe calls for Puerto Rican white rum. This isn’t a bad choice at all. I used Planteray 3 Stars because that’s what I had on the shelf. It might be slightly less crisp with more body, but not much. A wide array of white rums would work here because the drink is really not about the rum. 

Be sure you are using cream of coconut (e.g., Coco Lopez) and not pure coconut cream. The difference is that cream of coconut has sugar added to it. There are numerous recipes online for making your own if your local grocer doesn’t carry a version (there are many besides Coco Lopez). Art of Drink has a great, simple version. Also, be aware that if you find cream of coconut, it’ll often separate in the can. So, you may need to give it a brisk whisk to bring it back together before proceeding.

Your lime juice should be no more than 4–6 hours old. Fresh lime juice oxidizes extremely quickly. I always filter the pulp out of mine before using it, but you do you. You can certainly make this drink with Orange Curaçao and will be even more textured and rich. I like the brightness of Triple Sec (I used Cointreau) here because there’s plenty of richness from the cream of coconut.

The Falernum is a small but useful contribution — it gives a subtle spiciness of clove, ginger, lime, and almonds that works really well with the coconut background of the drink. As we discussed in Corn ‘n Oil, John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum is the standard, but if you can’t find it, the internet contains myriad recipes for it. Just remember that the drink will be tinted a bit green from these versions. I made my own clear Falernum here and someday will get around to posting that recipe. For now, see you at the Appalachian Speakeasy next week as we continue our grand tour around the Caribbean and other tropical, rum-soaked environs.

This blog is, as ever, an opinionated take on drinks.