mr. bali lo

1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Espresso (cooled, pulled almost full strength) (*)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Vanilla Syrup (**)
1/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup (**)

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Fill with crushed ice. Garnish with a lemon twist and freshly grated nutmeg (pineapple wedge and 3 coffee beans have been done too), and add straws.
(*) Was a concentrated espresso-roast coffee prepped in advance
(**) Was 3/4 oz lemongrass syrup (or was it lemongrass plus either vanilla or cinnamon?)

On Friday, I remade one of the mocktails for Halle, the host at work that day, that I had done a few times in the Fall. I first made it for a friend's mom as her second drink. She liked the first one, but wanted something a bit different. I mentally scanned our inventory of nonalcoholic ingredients and honed in on the concentrated espresso-roast coffee that we used in our original Espresso Cocktail (now, a slightly different recipe and one that uses freshly pulled espresso to order). With that, I decided on utilizing the flavors in the classic Tiki drink Mr. Bali Hai, namely the pineapple, lemon, and coffee. For a sweetener, I believe I reached for the lemongrass syrup that we had for a menu item; however, we discontinued that syrup with the recent cocktail menu change. This time, I opted for vanilla and a touch of cinnamon to work with the coffee flavors in a Mexican coffee sort of way. I have garnished this a few ways including a pineapple wedge and coffee beans, but I had garnished my last creation on this blog with a pineapple wedge and wanted to change things up. As a tribute to the original, I dubbed this mocktail the Mr. Bali Lo (as in low octane, but still rich with flavor).
The Mr. Bali Lo presented a lemon oil aroma that brightened the nutmeg's spice notes. The lemon sip shared roast flavors from the coffee and extra fruitiness from the hint of pineapple, but most of the pineapple and coffee came through on the swallow that ended with a light cinnamon finish.