Beachbum Has His Own Drink

Don't know if Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, salvager of Tiki drink culture, knows it, but there's a drink named after him at the East Village cocktail cave known as PDT. It's called (what else?) the Beachbum. The ingredients include Mt. Gay Eclipse Rum, Florida Dana Silver Dry, Rothman and Winter Apricot Brandy, PDT's own Orgeat, and lime and pineapple juice.

The resultant concoction is a pleasing potion, refreshingly smooth, with a nice tartness owing to the lime and pineapple. My only caveat would be with the presentation, which goes against several of Berry's own convictions (as I understand them). It was served in a kitschy, opaque tiki glass with a large paper parasol on top. In my 2007 interview with Berry, he preached that he prefers a clear glass, since the lovely color of tropical drinks is part of their allure. He'd also rather dispense with the umbrellas and tiki mugs, since they extend a cliched vision of the cocktails that he would just as soon dispel. Quote:

Here's my thing. I'm trying to be an evangelist for these lost drinks that were actually worthy, that could actually hold their own against all the other alcoholic inventions in this country. Then, someone has a visual image in their mind and says, "Are you talking about those drinks that come in those mugs with the umbrella?" It kind of works against me.

I agree with him. However, the I also think the tiki mug and umbrella were fun and I understood why PDT served it that way. Anyway, the important thing is: it tasted great, whatever glass it was served in.