See below: Our Deep Sea Diver review | Ancestor recipe
Related: Mai-Kai cocktail guide
The Deep Sea Diver, one of the oldest and most distinctive tropical drinks at Fort Lauderdale’s Mai-Kai, can be traced back to the 1930s and tropical drink pioneer Don the Beachcomber’s original cocktail menu.
Tiki drink historian Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s excellent 2007 book, Sippin’ Safari, includes a recipe for the Peal Diver’s Punch that you’ll find below as well as an entire chapter on Mai-Kai mixologist Mariano Licudine (1907-1980). Licudine worked behind the bar at Don the Beachcomber restaurants from 1939 until 1956, when he was lured to Fort Lauderdale by Mai-Kai fledgling owners, Jack and Bob Thornton.
Sippin’ Safari is our favorite of the Bum’s books and perhaps the most influential in our appreciation of both tropical mixology and The Mai-Kai. It details how Licudine took all the Don the Beachcomber classics he had been making for years in Chicago and adapted them to suit his taste (which Donn Beach never would have allowed).
The slightly altered drinks received slightly altered names. The Vicious Virgin became the Impatient Virgin, the Missionary’s Downfall became the Missionary’s Doom, and the Pearl Diver graduated to Deep Sea Diver. The first two fell by the wayside over the years but the Deep Sea Diver remains as a proud throwback to the original “farm-to-glass” cocktail era, when fresh ingredients and delicious drinks were the norm.
The official menu description
DEEP SEA DIVER
Rich and creamy, a superb blend for those wishing to explore the depths.
Okole Maluna Society review and rating
Deep Sea Diver, September 2011. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)
Size: Medium
Potency: Medium
Flavor profile: Lime, honey cream, allspice, gold rum.
Review: Creamy and complex, this unique exotic cocktail goes down easy.
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars
(see how it ranks)
Ancestry: The Deep Sea Diver is another cocktail that has been on The Mai-Kai’s menu since the restaurant opened its doors in 1956. It evolved from Don the Beachcomber’s Pearl Diver’s Punch and Pearl Diver.
Bilge: That spicy, undefinable ingredient you taste is probably “pimento dram,” a traditional rum-based Jamaican liqueur that was a key ingredient in many Don the Beachcomber (and Mai-Kai) cocktails. Made with the pimento (a dried berry also known as allspice), it virtually disappeared from U.S. liquor stores but was revived by cocktail enthusiasts who began making their own homemade versions.
Agree or disagree? Share your reviews and comments below!
ANCESTOR RECIPE
Pearl Diver’s Punch
(1937 Don the Beachcomber recipe, from Beachbum Berry’s Sippin’ Safari)
Pearl Diver's Punch by The Atomic Grog, September 2011. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)
* 1 1/2 ounces gold Puerto Rican or Virgin Islands rum
* 3/4 ounces Demerara rum
* 1/2 ounce gold Jamaican rum (Appleton Special)
* 1 ounce orange juice
* 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
* 3/4 ounce Pearl Diver’s mix (see below)
* 1 teaspoon falernum
* 6 ounces (3/4 cup) crushed ice
Put everything into a blender (Pearl Diver’s mix first, ice last). Blend at high speed for 20 seconds – no more, no less. Strain through a fine-mesh wire sieve into a pilsner glass, pressing gently on solids to release all liquid into glass. (Discard solids.) Add crushed ice to fill.
Pearl Diver’s mix: Cream 1 ounce softened sweet unsalted butter and 1 ounce orange blossom honey with 1 teaspoon cinnamon-infused sugar syrup and 1/2 teaspoon each vanilla syrup and pimento liqueur. Prepare just before using. The mix must stay at room temperature; refrigerated, it will become a sticky mess in your blender.
This early recipe was replaced a decade later by the stripped down Pearl Diver, which remained a Don the Beachcomber staple for decades. We prefer this early classic.
Notes and tips for home mixologists
* Perhaps inspired by last week’s discussion of honey (and honey cream) mix, we take on the daunting Pearl Diver’s mix this week. It’s well worth the effort and not as difficult as it sounds, assuming you have all the ingredients. B.G. Reynolds offers both vanilla and cinnamon syrups (plus falernum). The most popular pimento (allspice) liqueurs are sold by Wray & Nephew in Jamaica, and St. Elizabeth in Europe and the U.S. Just warm the butter and whisk with all the other ingredients. If you don’t have a sieve, just strain through cheese cloth.
* Our other rum choices were: Cruzan Estate Dark (a fine gold Virgin Islands rum … don’t let the name fool you); and El Dorado 5-year-old Demerara rum.
This nearly 75-year-old classic tastes very similar to the Deep Sea Diver you can order at The Mai-Kai today, featuring the same unique lime/honey/allspice taste explosion.
Okole maluna!
The Pearl Diver’s Mix sounds yummy. May have to try it next time we have guests. I find BG’s cinnamon syrup about twice as strong as needed. What do you think tasting your drink and the Mai-Kai’s?
Yes, B.G. Reynolds (formerly Trader Tiki) cinnamon syrup is very strong, especially if you let it sit on the shelf for a while. The reason? I’m not sure this is done with every batch, but my bottle contains an actual cinnamon stick that has continued to break down. Not that I’m complaining, but you have to take that into account in your drinks and perhaps use a bit less. In the above recipe, it’s a small amount in a mix so it’s not much of an issue. I like to use B.G. Reynolds in drinks that call for a heavy dose of cinnamon, such as the Shrunken Skull and 151 Swizzle.
I also use the widely available Sonoma cinnamon syrup, which is just as flavorful but not quite as intense. I would recommend this in most recipes that don’t need that over-the-top cinnamon punch. And I also keep a homemade syrup on hand for large batch drinks or for daily use. It’s much cheaper and easy to make. Yes, I stock three different cinnamon syrups. (Don’t ask how many different sugar syrups I keep in my overloaded bar fridge.) Homemade also allows you the ability to adjust proportions of sugar or cinnamon to get different levels of intensity. To achieve the right flavor, I’ve had to add lots more sticks and extend the time spent in the pot. It’s a lot of work to break down the sticks. I’ve heard cinnamon bark is easier to work with, and I plan to seek this out. Also, check out this very interesting post from Colonel Tiki on the difference between cassia and ceylon (true) cinnamon. I just came across this yesterday and will definitely take his advice the next time I make a purchase.
At The Mai-Kai, I like to think they still make their syrup in-house per Mariano’s old recipes. It’s pretty prominent in quite a few of the drinks, not quite as intense as B.G. Reynolds but close. I’d also assume they’re using true cinnamon, which (as the colonel points out) has essences of citrus and is mellower and warmer than the common supermarket stick.
This calls for more experimentation (and cocktails).