Elvis - or at least his former Memphis home, has been in the news lately. His granddaughter blocked a foreclosure of Graceland. To her, 4717 mixologist David Seale raised a fitting drink.
I love Elvis movies. There, I said it. Out loud, and for the world to read. You can check your brain in at the door, enjoy some middle shelf tunes (and maybe even a few bottom shelf), and 90 minutes later, you feel better about yourself and life. And while none of his movies will be the Citizen Kane of musicals, most Elvis movie fans consider Blue Hawaii his high watermark. In fact, outside of Greatest Hits collections and live albums, Elvis's best-selling album was the soundtrack to that film containing more than just a handful of really great songs by the King.
One song is the namesake of a cocktail I created that is a riff off of the Tequila Sunrise, which is really just a south of the border riff off of a screwdriver.
The Hawaiian Sunset:
1 3/4 oz of rum
3/4 oz lime juice
4 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz grenadine
In an old-fashioned glass, mix the first three ingredients with ice. Then slowly pour the grenadine over the back of a spoon over the glass so that the grenadine sinks to the bottom. You can use a shaker, but pineapple juice has a tendency to become frothy. Now, if frothy is the look you're going for, then by all means shake the first three ingredients and pour over rice.
In the movie, Elvis's character is the son of a pineapple juice company CEO, so I have a feeling that his whole family would enjoy this cocktail. Even Angela Lansbury, who plays his mother using maybe one of the worst Southern Accents I've ever heard on film.
Hipa Hipa!