Rule 37: The Flying Tigre Coctel


Modern Drunkard Magazine’s articleThe 86 Rules of Boozing, by Frank Kelly Rich states:
Rule 37. Try one new drink each week.
The Rule 37 series of posts chronicle my attempts to accomplish this feat every week.
For the recipes of R37s past, click the Htf do I make these drinks? tab.



It’s been a hectic week. And like six thousand degrees out.

Lord, beer me strength.


But for now, a cocktail will do just fine. The Lady Friend tracked this one down. I’ve been working with a limited liquor palette due to a relocation of my bar and other worldly posessions, so like last week’s post, I’ve had to make do with the Bacardi Light/White instead of something infinitely tastier. So, the Lady Friend, being wikid smaht, went to the Bacardi website and found this week’s recipe. Here’s the history of the drink, taken from that site:

“Here’s our adaptation of a recipe featured in the 1949 edition of Esquire’s Handbook for Hosts. The originator is unknown, but the recipe is said to have been created in Cuba in 1942. Which explains the, erm, unusual spelling. The Flying Tigers were the US air squadron assigned to help the Chinese defend Rangoon during the darkest days of WWII. Despite being outnumbered by the Japanese, they held out for months and their bravery became the stuff of legend. Strangely enough, despite their name, the Flying Tigers were famous for the cartoon shark faces that they had painted onto the noses of their planes. Oh well, tigers, sharks… whatever works, right?”
Courtesy of Bacardi



The Flying Tigre Coctel
They had some silly measurements on the Bacardi site, so I’ve paraphrased it for easier mixing.

– 1 1/2 oz Bacardi white rum
– 1 oz Bombay Sapphire gin (we had Bombay London Dry)
– 1/4 oz simple syrup
– 1/4 oz grenadine
– 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Mix it up, shake it up, pour it out. They suggest an orange zest garnish, but the picture on their website has a lime wedge. We opted to leave the garnish out entirely.


Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Bacardi owns the Bombay Sapphire brand. Hence, their specific ingredient list.


It’s got an interesting smell. The gin is there, and there’s a sweetness, but also that Angostura spice. It almost smells like ginger. The Lady Friend mixed this one while I was laying down the worded groundwork, and I happened to catch her dashing in the bitters a little heavy-handededly. But I like bitters, so that’s not the end of the world. This is a decently boozy tipple, and the Angostura should add some flavor in there.

The taste starts off with a sweetness, but quickly goes towards the antiseptic burn of the Bacardi. Angostura is the predominent taste here, again because a bit more than necessary went into it. However, without the bitters, there really wouldn’t be much left to this one. At least, not with this brand of rum. Some good blackstrap would transform this drink. The gin really seems to get lost. I’m not getting much of it at all, aside from contributing to a touch of juniper pine on the finish. But it’s very subtle. With another sip, there IS a bit of gin in the overall flavor, but again, it’s slight. There is some juniper on the burp, which is a very effective way to taste the spirit. As with last week’s Boston Sidecar, the Bacardi white/light rum is non-existent flavor-wise, despite their proclamations of “Superior” branded rum.


As for the Lady Friend, she said that the “smell is initially gin, but I can pick up the pomegranate [grenadine].”
The taste was “initially, not too bad. I definitely get that gin, and Bacardi burn in the back. The first sip is smooth and sweet in the front, but gets that Bacardi burn in the back and the gin pineyness. It’s about what I expected, I guess. I think this could be drastically improved with better ingredients, like Bully Boy rum and GTD gin.

By jove, I think she’s starting to get it. Better ingredients equals better cocktails.

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