Pilikia

A 16.5% ABV raspberry liqueur, made from red and black raspberries as well as vanilla, citrus peels, honey and cognac.

A whiskey made primarily from a corn grain mash, aged in charred oak barrels.

A distilled Mexican beverage made from any type of agave plant. The word mezcal comes from mexcalli or 'oven-cooked agave,' referring to the roasting of the agave plant before distillation, giving mezcal its signature smoky flavor.

The general term for the Carribean-based nonalcoholic syrup. Falernum is a sweet syrup commonly used in tropical drinks and usually flavored with almond, ginger, cloves, vanilla, allspice and lime. You can make it yourself, it takes a few days. Combine 1/3 cup toasted almonds with 1/2 cup for light rum. Seal and let sit for 2 days. Add the zest of 8 limes (no pith) and 30 whole cloves, stir and let sit for another day. Juice 4 limes and strain the juice into a sauce pot. Add 2/3 cups water and 1/2 cup sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Let the syrup cool then combine it with the almond/rum infusion. Stir to combine then strain all through a cheesecloth or coffee filter. Add alcohol as a preservative and turn it into Velvet Falernum.

A tropical fruit, used in many tropical cocktails for its sweet flavor and yellow color. You can either juice a real pineapple, buy pineapple canned in juice (not syrup) or buy pineapple juice in a container.

The second most common juice used in cocktails. This citrus juice is about 6% acid; 4% from citric and 2% from malic, with small amounts of succinic acid (this is what gives it a little bloody taste). Lime juice should be used the day it is squeezed, some like it freshly squeezed and others like it a few hours old.

A concentrated aromatic bitters made in Trinidad from water, ethanol, gentian and other herbs and spices; used in many classic cocktails like the Manhattan.

A culinary herb in the mint family.