Updated May 15, 2012
See below: Our Jet Pilot review | Ancestor recipes | Tribute recipe
Related: Mai-Kai cocktail guide
Tiki bar pioneer Don the Beachcomber’s Test Pilot was one of the most copied drinks during the mid-century heyday of Polynesian cocktails. It morphed into the Ace Pilot, Space Pilot and Astronaut, among others. At The Mai-Kai, it became the Jet Pilot.
As discussed in last week’s S.O.S. review, Donn Beach was a decorated World War II veteran and always had a deep connection to the armed forces. In his honor, a B-26 Marauder was painted with a replica of the Don the Beachcomber driftwood sign on its nose. The plane and crew flew many successful missions in the Pacific.
The Test Pilot is also an interesting study in how Donn Beach constantly tweaked his drinks. A Don the Beachcomber cocktail from the 1930s or ’40s could be vastly different than one with the same name in the 1950s or ’60s.
Included below is a Test Pilot recipe unearthed by cocktail sleuth and author Jeff “Beachbum” Berry from the 1940s. It’s become the most popular version in the Tiki revival and includes many of the same ingredients as The Mai-Kai’s Jet Pilot. But I’ve also listed a later recipe from a book by Donn Beach’s widow, Phoebe. It’s slightly different but also very strong and has a similar flavor profile.
Mixologist Mariano Licudine worked for Donn Beach from 1939 through 1956, when he left to design The Mai-Kai’s original tropical drink menu. So it’s likely he had access to multiple versions of the Test Pilot when he created arguably an even better cocktail, the high-octane Jet Pilot.
The official menu description
JET PILOT
Fast and courageous. A vigorous blend of heavy bodied rums and zesty juices.
Okole Maluna Society review and rating
Jet Pilot. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward, January 2012)
Size: Medium
Potency: Strong
Flavor profile: Dark rums, honey, cinnamon, bitters, Pernod.
Review: Very complex and intense. Not for the timid. Sweet, spicy and strong all at the same time.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (see how it ranks)
Ancestry: The Jet Pilot dates back to The Mai-Kai’s original 1956 menu and is based on Don the Beachcomber’s Test Pilot.
Bilge: Since the release of Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log in 1998, the Test Pilot has caught the fancy of rum and cocktail bloggers such as Blair Reynolds and Paul Clarke. Sample the original Test Pilot in New York City at Lani Kai or in Oakland at Conga Lounge.
Agree or disagree? Share your reviews and comments below!
ANCESTOR RECIPES
Two versions of the Test Pilot by The Atomic Grog (Photo by Hurricane Hayward, January 2012)
Test Pilot
(By Don the Beachcomber, circa 1941, from Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log and Remixed)
* 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
* 1/2 ounce falernum (Fee Brothers)
* 3 teaspoons Cointreau
* Dash Angostura bitters
* 6 drops (1/8 teaspoon) Pernod
* 3/4 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
* 1 1/2 ounces dark Jamaican rum
Blend with 1 cup (8 ounces) crushed ice for 5 seconds, then pour into a double old-fashioned glass. Add more crushed ice to fill. Garnish with a speared maraschino cherry.
Cointreau and Pernod dominate this complex, strong and sour concoction that has a very old-school feel.
Test Pilot
(By Don the Beachcomber, from Hawai’i – Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine)
* 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
* 3/4 ounce grape juice
* 3/4 ounce honey mix (equal parts honey, water)
* 3/4 ounce gold Puerto Rican rum
* 3/4 ounce dark Jamaican rum
* 1 ounce Lemon Hart 151 Demerara rum
* 2 dashes grenadine
* 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Blend with 6 ounces cracked ice. Serve in a double old-fashioned glass.
Super strong and bitter, with the rums and grape juice forming an odd but surprisingly drinkable mix.
Notes and tips for home mixologists
* These are quite different drinks if you look at the ingredients, but much like the story of the Q.B. Cooler and Mai Tai, somehow they yield a similar taste.
* This is a very rum-forward drink so be sure to use high quality spirits. Fortunately, Lemon Hart 151 was recently reintroduced to the U.S. and is becoming available in more and more states. But if necessary, in this cocktail you could try Goslings Black Seal 151, or a mix of equal parts Goslings and Bacardi 151.
Tribute to The Mai-Kai’s Jet Pilot
By The Atomic Grog
Jet Pilot tribute by The Atomic Grog, January 2012. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)
* 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
* 1/2 ounce orange juice
* 1/2 ounce falernum (Fee Brothers)
* 1/2 ounce rich honey mix
(2:1 honey, water)
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon syrup
(rich 2:1 syrup)
* 1 ounces gold Puerto Rican or Virgin Islands rum
* 1 ounce dark Jamaican rum
* 1 ounce Lemon Hart 151 Demerara rum
* 2 dashes Angostura bitters
* 6 drops (1/8 teaspoon) Pernod
Pulse blend for with 1 cup of crushed ice for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a double old-fashioned glass, adding more ice if necessary. Garnish with a speared pineapple finger.
Notes and tips for home mixologists
* A huge mahalo to Anestiki, who posted a nearly spot-on recipe in September on this Tiki Central thread that had been languishing for several years. I didn’t see his recipe until after I did my initial review, and low and behold he nailed all the key ingredients: Dark rums, honey, cinnamon, bitters and Pernod.
* It appears he also borrowed liberally from the Jet Pilot recipe in Sippin’ Safari that Beachbum Berry traces back to the Luau restaurant in Beverly Hills, circa 1958. It includes many of the same ingredients used in both Donn Beach’s versions and The Mai-Kai’s Jet Pilot. Interestingly, the Luau also had an outpost in Miami Beach, not too far from The Mai-Kai. Drink names, flavors and ingredients spread like wildfire when tropical cocktails reached their peak in popularity. This explains why Donn Beach and The Mai-Kai went to great lengths to keep their recipes secret.
With the return of Lemon Hart 151 Demerara rum, the Jet Pilot is now supersonically strong. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward, May 2012)
* I made just a few tweaks to Anestiki’s recipe, adding a dash more bitters and substituting orange juice for grapefruit juice. A very reliable source tells me that there’s definitely no grapefruit in the Jet Pilot. And it makes sense that perhaps the OJ was included as a substitute for the Cointreau.
* It also makes sense that honey and cinnamon syrup were both used in the Jet Pilot. These are two of the many “secret weapons” that Mariano Licudine learned from Donn Beach that you’ll find in quite a few Mai-Kai cocktails. As usual, we recommend a rich mix or syrup, typically a 2:1 proportion.
* Also, Corbua is a fine choice for the dark Jamaican rum since its sweetness helps cut through the one-two punch of bitters and Pernod. With the falernum, lime and OJ also lurking in the background and providing a nice citrus base, this is one of the most complex cocktails you’ll find anywhere.
* The coup de grace, however, is the recent return to The Mai-Kai of Lemon Hart 151 Demerara rum after more than 15 years. This potent and flavor-packed overproof dark rum provides an additional punch that returns the Jet Pilot to its original glory. We strongly urge you to add it to your bar, whatever the cost. (Our previous tribute recipe featured 1 1/2 ounces of gold rum and 1 1/2 ounces of dark Jamaican rum.)
It’s not easy to one-up the master, but Mariano Licudine and The Mai-Kai did so with the soaring Jet Pilot. With the addition of Lemon Hart 151, this classic has become even more fierce and fiery. Perhaps the strongest of the strong. You have been warned.
Okole maluna!
I’ve stated this before on Tiki Central, but I think it’s interesting that the Luau’s Jet Pilot has the exact same ingredients as the ’34 Zombie from Don the Beachcomber – only the amounts of the ingredients are different.
According to Beachbum Berry in “Sippin’ Safari,” Steve Crane (who owned the Luau and Kon-Tiki chain) got Donn Beach’s recipes by hiring away his bar managers. Bob and Jack Thornton had the same idea when they opened The Mai-Kai. We’re very lucky that Mariano Licudine was more creative in his re-interpretations.
Thanks for the mahalo and publishing of the recipe. Let me know when you get to the Dark Magic. I have a tweaked recipe for that one too.
Blake Sturges (aka Anestiki)
I think the Mai Kai tribute jet pilot recipe is quite close, especially as there is definitely 151 in this drink. My observation, having had many jet pilots, is that the Mai Kai version is Quite red, and sometimes quite sweet -and it seems the more red the more sweet. I suspect a version of Fassionola is included? Many of their drinks seem to have this red, sweet tinge. Ideas?
this syrup may also add to the smooth mouthfeel…
Tikichaser,
Have you had the updated version with Lemon Hart 151 yet? It’s definitely for the “fast and courageous.” The Lemon Hart’s overwhelming flavor has doused the sweetness a bit, but it’s still the same red/orange color (note that the drink looks nearly identical in the two photos above).
Instead of straight fassionola, I suspect that it perhaps contains what old recipes call “#7″, a combination of falernum, grenadine and a few other unknown elements (some fassionola perhaps?). We’re pretty sure the 151 Swizzle contains this mysterious syrup, and if you check out my latest photos you’ll note that it’s a very similar color.
Of course, if wouldn’t be The Mai-Kai if all the mysteries were solved.
Okole maluna!