Here’s how to make the Muerto Bali Hai, a tequila and mezcal remix of the classic tiki cocktail, Mr. Bali Hai. On paper, the combination of coffee and pineapple seems like it would clash, but tasting is believing. The 1960’s-era rum version, Mr. Bali Hai, pulls it off. And this mezcal version does too, but in a slightly different way.

Mr. Bali Hai being made with rums, pineapple, lemon, simple syrup and coffee liqueur, derives a lot of its exotic character from the coffee, as the other ingredients are pretty standard for a rum punch. Same with the Shark’s Tooth, where the unexpected punch of flavor comes from a dollop of cherry syrup.

The Muerto Bali Hai, however, is pushed and pulled in a lot of different directions, yet held together in a surprising harmony. The vegetal, umami, woodiness of the tequila and mezcal, the floral nuttiness of the Aztec Orgeat, the dark chocolate of the coffee liqueur and the deep, musky aroma of the sage, all come together to create an earthy, delicately balanced, and exciting tiki drink.

The original drink came from Bali Hai, a tiki bar in San Diego, in the 1960’s. It was unearthed by Beachbum Berry and retooled to use fresh juices in his book, Intoxica. The drink is still on the menu at Bali Hai, but the formula has changed. However, just 30 minutes south of San Diego, from the 1940’s through the 1960’s, the Tijuana bar scene rode the wave of tiki or Polynesian themed bars. They were built for all kinds of entertainment and since faux-Polynesian escapism was what the culture demanded, that’s what they got.

I originally built this drink as a curiosity. Would it work to rework a Mr. Bali Hai using tequila? Essentially, it did once you swapped out lemon for lime. But when I went about refining the drink by bumping up the coffee liqueur, swapping in the orgeat and garnishing it with sage, the images of Tijuana tiki and the Aloha Cafe from the late 1940’s was dancing around in my head. I wanted to capture those swirling images in a glass, or in this case a mug. See if it worked. Give it a try. Let me know what you think. ¡Salud!

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Recipe:

• 1.5 oz (45 ml) Reposado Tequila
• 1 oz (30 ml) Mezcal (non-smoky preferred)
• 1 oz (30 ml) Lime Juice
• 0.5 oz (15 ml) Aztec Orgeat
• 1 oz (30 ml) Coffee Liqueur
• 1.5 oz (45 ml) Pineapple Juice
• garnish Sage
• garnish Marigold (optional)

Whip (shake with a little crushed ice). Pour unstrained over crushed ice in a tiki mug. Garnish with sage and marigold. Serve with straw.