Like the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the whisper of the word “Shanghai” conjures images of a distant past, one of dark, narrow streets filled with underworld characters sneaking into opium dens and harlot-filled nightclubs. A six-month trip on a tramp steamer and there you are in “the Paris of the Orient”, where you take your chances and your life in your hands as you embark on a Noir adventure of mystery and lust.
You step up to the hand-carved bar in The Shanghai Club, and order a
Shanghai Cocktail
from a seedy bartender. He narrows his eyes as he considers the strange American before him, and makes his decision whether to poison you or allow you to live. You slap an American sawbuck on the bartop, and he decides to give you another day.
Shanghai Cocktail Recipe:
1 oz dark rum
1 tsp anisette
1/2 tsp grenadine syrup
juice of 1/4 lemon
Shake ingredients together in a shaker with ice until a frost forms on the outside of the canister. Rim a martini glass with lemon, and strain the cocktail into the glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
To make a Shanghai Surprise, set a half ounce of Bacardi 151 aflame and pour into the mixed drink.
-Tiki Chris reporting from the Tiki Bar at Tiki Lounge Talk, the web’s hottest blounge for Tiki Drink Recipies.