Pineapple Rum

Rum is a liqour that originated in the West indies and is made by fermenting then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate is usually a clear liquid and is then aged in oak barrels.

Most Rums are produced in the Caribbeans and American countries, but are now produced in other sugar producing countries like PHilippines and Taiwan.

The first recorded mention of Rum comes from Barbados, in about 1650. They were originally called "kill-devil" or "rumbullion" and later on, simply Rum.

Captain Morgan Parrot Bay Coconut Rum

Captain Morgan\'s Parrot Bay is a coconut Flavored rum produced by Captain Morgan in Puerto Rico.

IT is as per the company brochure, it has a light, tropical, and subtly sweet and creamy taste created to transport you to one of the sunny caribbean islands ? where you lose yourself in the Caribbean way of life, fun and frolic and enjoy the Caribbean vibes no matter where or when.

Note: do not confuse a Coconut Rum with Malibu. A Coconut Rum is still a Rum despite the cononut flavour and is 90 proof or 45% ABV where as Malibu is a Caribbean Rum Coconut liqueur with a 15% ABV alcohol content.

Captain Morgan\'s Parrot Bay is a coconut Flavored rum produced by Captain Morgan in Puerto Rico.

IT is as per the company brochure, it has a light, tropical, and subtly sweet and creamy taste created to transport you to one of the sunny caribbean islands ? where you lose yourself in the Caribbean way of life, fun and frolic and enjoy the Caribbean vibes no matter where or when.

Note: do not confuse a Coconut Rum with Malibu. A Coconut Rum is still a Rum despite the cononut flavour and is 90 proof or 45% ABV where as Malibu is a Caribbean Rum Coconut liqueur with a 15% ABV alcohol content.

Pina Colada Mix

Pina Colada Mix is available as ready to mix bottles without the Rum in it, but one can easily make a Pina Colada mix for a Pina Colada experience at home from three simple ingredients, frozen pineapple chunks and pineapple juice, coconut milk ( even better if home made ) and lime juice.

It only takes a minute or two to blend up. It contains zero added sweeteners and then all you need is a White Rum for the punch and a Dark Rum for a depth in the flavour, and your Pina Colada is ready. For a recipe that work well, see here.

When Pina Colada mix is used as an ingredient in a cocktail, it usually refers to the virgin mix only.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Vanilla flavoured ice cream is probably the most common ice cream in North America, Europe and Asia. Vanilla Ice Cream like any other flavoured ice cream, was originally created by cooling a cream, sugar and vanilla mixture over a metal container of ice and salt.
Vanilla Ice Cream as a cocktail topping is popular and it usually goes well with nutty liqueurs like Amaretto, Frangelico and also is a good choice as a topping for non-tropical fruit based cocktails with neutral spirits.

Grenadine Syrup

Grenadine is a common non-alcoholic pomegranate syrup with a characteristic deep red colour. It is a very popular cocktail ingredient, used for its pomegranate flavour and more for its ability to add a reddish to pink tint to a cocktail.

The name Grenadine originates from the French for pomegranate, which is grenade.

Grenadine is not subjected to regulations like alcoholic beverages are, and there are no region specific formulae any more, and thus manufacturers often replace pomegranate with blackcurrant juice and other fruit juices while retaining the same flavour profile.

Many producers now use artificial ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate and food grade red colour along with natural and artificial flavours.

Whipped Cream

Whipped cream is a liquid heavy cream that has been whipped by a whisk or in a mixer until a light fluffy cream that holds its shape. The whipping makes the water and cream form a colloid and often dissolved gas is used which on expansion forms a firm colloid. Whipped cream is also called Chantilly cream.
Whipped cream sold in aerosol cans, where the cream is instantly whipped by the expanding gas, is a ready to use whipped cream, and its known by several names like Squirty Cream, Spray Cream or Aerosol Cream, in Scotland it’s called Skooshy Cream. A common Squirty Cream brand in the United States is Reddi-Wip.

Maraschino Cherry

Maraschino Cherries are preserved, sweetened cherry, typically light coloured cherries like Royal Ann, Rainier and Gold varieties are used. Maraschino Cherries are used in many cocktails and Tequila Sunrise and Queen Mary are too bright examples.
The name Maraschino originates from the marasca cherry of the Dalmatian region, Maraschino Liqueur is made from it, and the marasca cherries that were macerated to create the pre-distillation liquor, were pickled and preserved for use, the steeping in spirit helped in the preservation, and since the production of these cherries and their alcohol pickle was scarce, the Maraschino Cherry, as they were known in Croatia because of it's origin in the Maraschino Liqueur making process, became a delicacy of the royalty and the wealthy across Europe.
Due to scarcity of the Marasca Cherry the Maraschino pickled cherry soon no more just Marasca cherries, other cherries were preserved in the same method and were sold as "Maraschino Cherry".
In USA, in 1912, the USDA defined Maraschino Cherries as Marasca cherries preserved in Maraschino Liqueur, but since Prohibition from 1920, alcohol preserved cherries fell out of preference and regulations prevented cherries from being pickled in alcohol too, and different brining methods were invented that produced pickled cherries that were far from the Maraschino Cherry that they claimed to be.
Most modern versions of Maraschino Cherries have little or no alcohol, and since post prohibition, under the pressure from the non-alcoholic preserved cherry industry, the FDA redefined Maraschino Cherries as "cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar, and packed in a sugar syrup flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor" since 1940.

Ice

Ice is so obvious in most drinks, be it a straight drink or a mixed drink, that we often forget it's importance or even reason behind using a crystal clear good quality ice in a glass of whisky, or crushed ice in a tall glass to enjoy a cocktail.

Ice tempers a hard liquor, and as is in the case of whisky for example, if you prefer the flavours of whisky reach your nose without the hard note of spirit lingering around, or want to avoid the mild sting of a neat whisky, a cube of ice mellows the strength down a little and as it melts slowly, the aroma and flavour is released from the whisky slowly and makes whisky progressively weak, lingering and palatable.

Ice in Vodka helps release the little flavour a Vodka has, slowly, instead of letting the Vodka hit your nose all at once,

In mixed drinks, ice plays an important role in creating the perfect temperature a certain drink requires and bartenders use ice in several different ways, crushed ice for long drinks that will allow the cocktail to slowly water down like a Mint Julep, Moscow Mule, Rum Swizzle, Sherry Cobbler and other Tiki drinks, a large block or cubes of ice for drinks that are spirit heavy, such as the Old Fashioned, Negroni, and Manhattan