Jolly Roger Cocktail Recipe

Jolly Roger Cocktail

“It was enlarged and improved in 1934 by the addition of a cocktail bar, a bigger dining-room and some extra bathrooms. The prices went up. People said: ‘Ever been to Leathercombe Bay? Awfully jolly hotel there, on a sort of island.’” from Evil under the Sun, 1941

The setting for this holiday mystery takes inspiration from the hotel on Burgh Island, a tidal island off the coast of South Devon. In 1927, George Chirgwin, a music hall star, sold Burgh Island to filmmaker Archibald Nettlefold, who built a stunning art deco hotel there. The island became one of the most popular hotels of the 1930s. Christie frequently visited and had a writing cabin there. Improvements included the addition of a cocktail bar called the Captain’s Cabin, literally the captain’s cabin from a ship. In England’s growing seaside towns, where Poirot is holidaying, the aristocracy built summer homes, the wealthy stayed in grand hotels, and nearby working-class families brought picnics to the beach. On warm, sunny days, buses and trains soon brought even more bodies to the beaches. Legend has it that pirates invented this cocktail to prevent scurvy, but at the seaside during holiday season, a Jolly Roger or two prevents sobriety.

Ingredients 

  • 1 ounce (30 millilitres) dark rum
  • 1 ounce (30 millilitres) Galliano or ½ ounce (15 millilitres) Grand Marnier
  • ½ ounce (15 millilitres) apricot brandy
  • 3 ounces (90 millilitres) orange juice

Instructions

  1. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add all the liquids. Shake well for 30 seconds.

  2. Strain into a collins glass and garnish with slices of apricot, orange, and kiwifruit.