So Victor Bergeron, Donn’s tiki rival and peer, made his own riff of the Navy Grog. Unlike the Mai Tai, this was never a drink that was under any dispute as to who invented it. Vic brought his own twist to the game, changing some of the proportions, tweaking the rums, and most noticeably, splitting the sweetener into two parts - Demerara Syrup and Pimento (Allspice) Dram. Producing a drink that is preferred by many due to the additional layers and subtleties of the allspice.
Pour all ingredients into a blender, then add a couple of scoops of crushed ice, enough to sit level with the top of the liquid, and then flash blend for 2-5 seconds depending on the strength of your blender. See our tips below on how best to do this.
Open pour the drink into a double old fashioned glass. Then when you've filled about 3/4 of the way with both ice and liquid, use a gated finish to control the ice (put the strainer on the blender cup), filling with liquid to the top of the glass.The idea is that you use the gated finish to control the volume of liquid in your drink depending on how large your glass is.
Create your garnish by first giving the mint a good slap to release the oils and then place it in your drink so it hangs over the edge of your glass. As an addition, this drink works really well with a Rock Candy Stick, giving you the option to sweeten it up a bit if desired.
Notes
For those of you that believe the devil is in the details, there are a few things to take note of here:
The secret to Trader Vic's drink over Don's is his use of the sweetener.
What we've given here is the sweetener as used by Martin Cate of Smugglers Cove. The reason being that this is what he used when he worked at SF Trader Vic's back in 2005.
The commercially available Trader Vic's Navy Grog Mix (ie, the sweetener) is different to the Grog Concentrate they use behind the bar at Trader Vics. The concentrate is the holy grail of mixes, so if you can get your hands on it then you should go for it!
And to confuse things further, Trader Vic's Grogis a completely different drink toTrader Vic's Navy Grog (the drink we have here)! Oh, sweet sweet tiki, you are a tricksy and convoluted mistress!
How to Flash Blend your Drink
The idea of flash blending is to perfectly chill, dilute and aerate your cocktail - releasing the aromatics, loosening up the alcohol and creating just the right mouthfeel - all without making a slushy. When you pour it in your glass, you should still be able to see crushed ice in with the liquid.If you have a top-down blender or stand-up mixer like the ‘Hamilton Beach’, then a 2-3 second blitz is normally fine. This may vary depending on the strength of the blender. A hand-held immersion blender would also work well.However, if you’re using a standard blender (with the blades at the bottom of the flask) then there’s a knack to flash blending without over-diluting your drink.
Make sure you put all your ingredients in the blender, only adding your crushed ice just before blending. Don’t let the ice sit around in the liquid, otherwise it’ll just straight up melt.
Now, turn it on to blend and immediately hit stop. If you have a pulse button then use this, but if you don’t you’ll need to turn it on and off fast.
Pulse it again.
One more pulse and you’re done.
Your drink should now be the perfect consistency. If you’re flash blending, you should never just run it for 3-5 seconds, otherwise it’ll turn to water, snow or a mixture of both. If your blender is weapon grade mil-tech, you may even find it only needs 2 pulses. Adjust accordingly.
Demerara Syrup (Smugglers Cove Recipe)
Add ½ cup of demerara sugar and 1 ½ cups of granulated sugar to 1 cup of water in a pan (making a 2:1 rich syrup).
Heat the pan and bring the mix to a simmer. Do not allow to boil. If it boils then water will evaporate and your syrup has the potential to crystallize when in the bottle.
Stir continuously until the mix is clear and the sugar is fully incorporated.
Allow to cool, then pour into a sterilized bottle and refrigerate. It should last a couple of weeks.
For the Allspice Dram, we recommend making your own as it is really easy and SO tasty. Our complete guide to Allspice Dram has 3 recipes - two alcoholic liqueurs, and a non-alcoholic syrup.
A Presidential favorite
Trader Vic’s version of Navy Grog was said to be a firm favourite with the then President Richard Nixon, a former Navy Lieutenant who had served in the South Pacific. Nixon would have his staff call ahead to the Trader Vic’s bar in DC - which was housed within the Capital Hilton Hotel - and have them clear the bar of its customers and staff, all except for one trusted bartender. After being secretly driven down, Nixon would spend hours drinking his favourite drink and pouring out his heart to the barman. True to his honour the bartender never shared what Nixon told him. If only we were a fly on the wall...