Virgin Island Kula
One of the great challenges in preserving vintage cocktail recipes is adapting them to suit modern palates and changing ingredients. The Virgin Island Kula is a prime example of a recipe that, counter-intuitively, must be changed in order to stay the same.
Invented by Ray Buhen, founder of Hollywood’s famous Tiki-Ti restaurant, the recipe is almost undrinkably sweet when made to the original specs, published in Beachbum Berry’s excellent Potions of the Caribbean. This is because, 60-odd years later, things like oranges and lemons and even apricot liqueur are often sweeter than they used to be.
We’ve modified the recipe to prefer a dry, European-style apricot brandy, which offsets the sweetness. If you do use apricot liqueur, you should omit the simple syrup; if that’s not sweet enough, add simple syrup or orgeat a teaspoon at a time until it’s to your liking.
Ingredients
- 1 part Apricot brandy or Apricot liqueur
- 1 part Gin or Aged gin
- 1 part Aged rum
- 1 part Orange juice
- 1 part Lime juice
- ½ part Simple syrup
- ½ part Orgeat
- ½ part Sparkling water
Instructions
Shake everything (except the sparkling water) with ice. Strain into a tall ice-filled glass and top with the sparkling water. Garnish with a cherry and a slice of orange or lime.
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Read more
- Beachbum Berry’s Potions of the Caribbean by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry
Colin Laidlaw, Google Play Store 
