Rum Cocktails: Dark Rum
Jet Pilot Cocktail
Jet Pilot Cocktail Ingredients
1.5 oz. Hamilton Jamaican Black Rum
0.5 oz. Hamilton 151 Ov reproof Rum
0.5 oz. Rhum J.M Gold
0.5 oz. Velvet Farlernum
0.5 oz. Fresh grapefruit juice
0.5 oz. Fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz. Cinnamon syrup
3 dashes Duplais Verte
1 dash Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters
Garnish
Mint bouquet
Jet Pilot Cocktail Preparation
Fill a Louis bag with ice and crush with a mallet. Combine all ingredients in a shaker and add crushed ice. Shake lightly. Pour into a tall pilsner glass and add crushed ice. Swizzle, add crushed ice, and swizzle again, add more crushed ice. Garnish with a mint bouquet or edible flowers.
Jet Pilot Cocktail Story
The Jet Pilot, credited to the notorious Hollywood socialite and womanizer Steven Crane, is an enduring example of Don the Beachcomber's influence on tiki drinks. After a failed movie career, a divorce with Lana Turner, and a stint abroad, Crane returned to Los Angeles in 1953 to open the Luau, a star-lit mecca of all things Polynesian. The Luau absorbed all the best elements of the country’s top tropical-themed bars, superseding them all and becoming the de facto center of tiki culture in the States. Inspired by Don's Test Pilot, itself a lighter-proof cousin to the Zombie, Crane invented the Jet Pilot at the Luau in 1958. That the Jet Pilot shares a likeness to one of Don’s drinks is no accident. The two good friends were also kindred spirits, with mysterious personas and Hollywood hobnobbing a common thread. Though the Luau has since closed, the original Jet Pilot lives on at old-school tiki meccas like the Mai Kai in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.