The call out to Masters of the Air was quite timely and useful to illustrate the point. I had no idea what it was like for those boys until watching the show.
With Memorial Day coming up, I'd say this was a perfectly timed video. We have to be reminded time and again what many people of an entire generation faced. At my Grandpa's 100th birthday celebration earlier this year he shared his own experience. He was young when the war started and took a couple Farm deferments before joining the Army. He was made an infantry man and after boot camp was sent to the Philippines. His unit was shipped to the front lines fighting the last of the Japanese resistance on the islands. He could hear machine guns and mortars. Turned out it was the last day of the war and the whole unit was told to return to camp. He spent the rest of his enlistment working in the Mess kitchens still in the Philippines and even made Sergeant. I'll never forget talking with a gentleman who was at Bastogne, part of Patton's 3rd Army. All he would really say is that he hated the cold. One of the nicest, most soft spoke gentlemen I ever had the pleasure to meet. I'd say it's unimaginable what happened, but someone had to do just that for it to happen. I think I'll be giving this drink a try in a couple weekends.
Ok, so, I never expected to get a history lesson with a cocktail recipe. This is the reason I followed you after hearing about you from Steve the bartender. Excellent story, an excellent drink, and told like a true storyteller. You have a gift and I love hearing you tell stories. Keep it up.
The drink that got me into tiki. Took my wife to the namesake bar in Chicago on her birthday in 2018. Ordered the drink and it completely blew my mind. I remember reading the ingredients as I sipped: “What’s falernum? Pimento dram? Agricole?” I had to know. I had to be able to make this at home. Awesome job on the history!
Thanks for the history and great suggestion for V Day! Prefer to make it with a more traditional Martinique style rum - Denizen Merchant's Reserve. Adding a half ounce of ED12 was a great idea. Great video!
This is my favorite tiki cocktail. This became my favorite vid of yours after finding your channel 2 weeks ago. Adding WW2 history made it Epic. One of the draws of tiki to me the early history and escapism of Don's 1930's and 1940s. Kudos and well done on this video.
This is probably my favorite classic tiki cocktail. It really has a unique flavor, compared to most other tiki drinks. Tiki Tom's in Walnut Creek makes an incredible Three Dots!
Really enjoyed your background on DB and his contributions during the war years athe background on the cocktail. I think that some TH-camrs are a bit too snarky about old Donn and really minimize what he was trying to do for our airmen. They lose sight that during that time everyone was trying to use whatever talents they had to contribute to the effort. Donn definitely did his part and you definitely captured it well in your segment. Cheers and well done!
54 comments after 6 hours. Glad to see your channel is growing. I love this cocktail, and love the recipe. I also add 1/2 oz of Jamaican rum (I use Appleton 12) for a bit of funk (balance with slightly more orange juice and lime juice). Great video, love the bit of history. Hoping to get to the bar in Chicago sometime.
Loved hearing about the history hear. It was super interesting and I never would have heard or seeked it out on my own. Seems like a good drink too. Keep up the great content!
Great background - thanks for the research and drink! I just finished Masters of the Air and indeed, that was a good series - much respect and thanks to those flyers.
Excellent video! I've been to three dots and a dash in Chicago several times never got the namesake drink. Finally made it at home to finish off some honey syrup. Sooo good.
I'll need to catch Masters of the Air soon. For this cocktail, I prefer the Paul McGee version via Lost Lake, which uses orange liqueur instead of orange juice. I also like to tinker with the rum here, since what we know today as rhum argicole is not really the same thing that Don would've been mixing with in the 1940s. Though it does work great with a modern agricole too of course.
I'm still not convinced with Don the Beachcomber drinks on what type of rhum from Martinique was used. We know the brands from his menus and it's likely that some were sugar cane juice, so I'm reserving judgement until each of those rhums can be parsed out more definitely.
There's been some discussion on what the appropriate rum to use in the Three Dots, because while it does call for an aged Martinique rum, Donn describes it's flavor as dark and molasses like. Which certainly isn't an agricole. Some believe a more appropriate rum here would be a dark jamaican instead. Did you run into this discrepancy when researching this cocktail?
Kind of but the cocktail became the least important aspect when putting this video together, and I just wanted to go with the most common recipe (s) out there. But when it comes to all the discrepancies with what a Martinique rum would have been like in back in the 1940s-1980s it’s incredibly hard to say one way or the other. Not to go even deeper in the Mai tai rabbit hole but there’s still a ton of disagreement on that, and there’s way more evidence and writings from Vic about what that rum would have tasted like.
I really hate to say it, but I really wish Don didn't have so many drinks that required a Mix Master. My wife will drop a safe on my head if I buy one. She tolerates my tiki beverage fascination, but only so far.
Probably a dumb question, but what measurements would I use to make the honey syrup you use for your tiki cocktails? Is it just equal parts honey and water? Any recommendation on best honey or type of honey to use in tiki drinks? Thanks so much in advance! 🙂
hey derek, first off excellent video. I've got a lot of respect for Donn. But anyway, Ive been working on some recipe cards for my bar, and I was just copying the recipe for three dots and a dash from the Smugglers Cove book. I noticed that SC recipe calls for an AOC Martinique rhum agricole vieux... And that really got me thinking and made me go see which rums you used. I don't have any copys of Jeff Berrys books so I cant look it up, but are we sure Donn would have been using a rhum agricole here, and not another martinique rum that's more similar in style to a black rum (similar to the martinique rum debate Martin Cate discusses and that you mention in the TRUE mai tai video)? I think this is an interesting enough topic in general, enough to maybe warrant its own video: when did agricole rums become popular and when should the be used when recreating classic tiki drinks? Three dots and a dash would be an entirely different cocktail with 1.5oz of coruba or hamilton 86 in place of aged rum agricole, and its creation during the mid 40s means it was very unlikely to use a rum agricole.
The problem with any assumption that this rum should be molasses based is there's no evidence. The theory that Trader Vic's Mai Tai blends used a molasses based Martinique rum was based on Vic's own words about the rums from Martinique, so there's some evidence to support it. But even that is just a theory. Was Don using a molasses based rum from Martinique? It's possible but there's currently no evidence anyone has shared that would line up with that. But "Agricole" rums also did not exist prior to 1996, so any rum from Martinique before 96 could have been sugar cane juice, syrup, or something else. Could have been pot still instead of column. They just didn't have the standardized laws and regulations they do now. That's just the unknowns of these historic rums. Even the recreations could be wrong. The original W&N may have been aged in larger barrels made or french oak, which would lead to much different result from a smaller ex-bourbon American Oak they used in the Appleton 17. So even that could have some drastic inconsistencies.
@@makeanddrink @makeanddrink hey man thanks for the swift reply! Lot of channels don't bother, I was wondering if you'd even see my comment haha. I like your attitude here, and agree with the sentiment. The tradition of mystery is one of the appeals of tiki for me! Thankfully for a home bar it's easy enough to swap out one thing for another and decide which you like better, but part of me (and I'm sure it's the same with you) really craves the most faithful representation we can come up with so I had to ask. Also to your point, since we don't know, multiple interpretations can be just as faithful to an original drink as one another even if they are pretty different. And thanks for the correction about agricole. I thought that word was just universally synonymous with "cane juice rum". But it seems like the French kinda own the word agricole as part of that geographic designator they came up with in the 90s.
Excellent history lesson, very worth presenting in this case. Paints a very different side of Don the Beachcomber than another, let’s say prominent bartending channel on TH-cam likes to paint…
@@makeanddrink It’s a channel you’ve been shallowly accused of imitating. He gave a very unflattering take on Don’s life story that largely ignored the intangible service he did for our airmen. Referred to him as a “b¥ll$h!t artist” if memory serves.
I agree, I think this recipe can be modified to be a bit sweeter, more sour and also might need some tweaking on the specific agricole rums and ratio with the demerara. Might have to experiment a bit
The call out to Masters of the Air was quite timely and useful to illustrate the point. I had no idea what it was like for those boys until watching the show.
Fascinating story. Great companion podcast as well. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-masters-of-the-air/id1727191019
Great show , great drink and great episode. One of my favorite drinks
Wow I’m getting emotional here 😢 The greatest generation ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you for this history lesson. So important
With Memorial Day coming up, I'd say this was a perfectly timed video. We have to be reminded time and again what many people of an entire generation faced.
At my Grandpa's 100th birthday celebration earlier this year he shared his own experience. He was young when the war started and took a couple Farm deferments before joining the Army. He was made an infantry man and after boot camp was sent to the Philippines. His unit was shipped to the front lines fighting the last of the Japanese resistance on the islands. He could hear machine guns and mortars. Turned out it was the last day of the war and the whole unit was told to return to camp. He spent the rest of his enlistment working in the Mess kitchens still in the Philippines and even made Sergeant. I'll never forget talking with a gentleman who was at Bastogne, part of Patton's 3rd Army. All he would really say is that he hated the cold. One of the nicest, most soft spoke gentlemen I ever had the pleasure to meet. I'd say it's unimaginable what happened, but someone had to do just that for it to happen.
I think I'll be giving this drink a try in a couple weekends.
Well said. Thanks for sharing!
Ok, so, I never expected to get a history lesson with a cocktail recipe. This is the reason I followed you after hearing about you from Steve the bartender. Excellent story, an excellent drink, and told like a true storyteller. You have a gift and I love hearing you tell stories. Keep it up.
Steve is the best! Glad you enjoyed it
The drink that got me into tiki. Took my wife to the namesake bar in Chicago on her birthday in 2018. Ordered the drink and it completely blew my mind. I remember reading the ingredients as I sipped: “What’s falernum? Pimento dram? Agricole?” I had to know. I had to be able to make this at home.
Awesome job on the history!
One of my favorites. So hard to beat.
Really loved the story of Don’s war time service. Don serving the men fresh fish and smuggled Scotch is amazing.
I got goosebumps listening to this story.. quite possibly the most amazing cocktail story ever told.... You cannot top this !!!
Wow, thank you!
Thanks for the history and great suggestion for V Day! Prefer to make it with a more traditional Martinique style rum - Denizen Merchant's Reserve. Adding a half ounce of ED12 was a great idea. Great video!
I am not crying, you're crying! Wow this was a emotional rollercoaster for sure! Amazing video once again!
Top notch, especially on the historic lead in.
Great video! I like the historical format.
This is my favorite tiki cocktail. This became my favorite vid of yours after finding your channel 2 weeks ago. Adding WW2 history made it Epic. One of the draws of tiki to me the early history and escapism of Don's 1930's and 1940s. Kudos and well done on this video.
Thank you! One of my top favorite Don cocktails as well.
Three Dots and a Dash is my go to when I see it on a cocktail menu. Love love love this cocktail.
This is probably my favorite classic tiki cocktail. It really has a unique flavor, compared to most other tiki drinks.
Tiki Tom's in Walnut Creek makes an incredible Three Dots!
You’re right not a historical show, WELL DONE! Learned so much about Don, that I had no idea was the case… I had the wrong impression!
Thanks for the recipe...and the reminder of what airmen suffered during ww2. The history of that time seems to have been forgotten by many today.
I fucking love this channel. And no waaaaaay I live close to one of those OC bases!
Really enjoyed your background on DB and his contributions during the war years athe background on the cocktail. I think that some TH-camrs are a bit too snarky about old Donn and really minimize what he was trying to do for our airmen. They lose sight that during that time everyone was trying to use whatever talents they had to contribute to the effort. Donn definitely did his part and you definitely captured it well in your segment. Cheers and well done!
Incredible drink. I had no idea of the history behind it and Don's valor. Amazing job on the history and backstory. Truely captivating 🙏
Thank you much!
Holy Moley, your production value is outrageous. A+ keep it up.
Much appreciated!
Another great history lesson professor. Keep it up!
Many thanks!
What a great video - I didn't know any of Don's story outside of his tiki cocktail making prowess.
Your story telling is incredible along with a great story to tell!
Absolutely beautiful storytelling and research 🧐 and one of my favorite drinks 🍹!!!!!
Thank you! Mine too!
54 comments after 6 hours. Glad to see your channel is growing. I love this cocktail, and love the recipe. I also add 1/2 oz of Jamaican rum (I use Appleton 12) for a bit of funk (balance with slightly more orange juice and lime juice). Great video, love the bit of history. Hoping to get to the bar in Chicago sometime.
Thanks, Rob! I as well hope to get to the bar in Chicago someday soon.
Loved hearing about the history hear. It was super interesting and I never would have heard or seeked it out on my own. Seems like a good drink too.
Keep up the great content!
Awesome, thanks so much!
Thank you !!! The history was very interesting and important. Keep up the great channel
Thank you!
Great background - thanks for the research and drink! I just finished Masters of the Air and indeed, that was a good series - much respect and thanks to those flyers.
100%
Fantastic introduction of the historic background! Great work - again :-)
amaizing cocktail with amaizing history .
Well done...again! Well researched, lots of new info re Don the Beachcomber, and from the comments I'm not the only one who thinks so. Bravo Zulu!
Thank you!
Great episode with great production !
Thank you!
Great opener!
Amazing episode! Thanks Derek. Definitely going to make one of these this weekend.
I’d give two thumbs up if I could. Great video!
Such a fantastic Channel, happy to have found it.
Glad you're enjoying it!
Fantastic video! 👏👏👏
Thank you very much!
Love the history on this one! Well done. Cheers
Glad you enjoyed it
**Great** episode on a great drink!
Thank you!
Great vid.
One of my favorites - didn’t know some of that history though!
One of the two drinks that I always order when visiting a place for the first time to judge their tiki cred.
What is the other?
Vodka soda
@@makeanddrink Invented by Donn Beach himself, I hear
A mai tai, of course
Excellent video! I've been to three dots and a dash in Chicago several times never got the namesake drink. Finally made it at home to finish off some honey syrup. Sooo good.
I'll need to catch Masters of the Air soon. For this cocktail, I prefer the Paul McGee version via Lost Lake, which uses orange liqueur instead of orange juice. I also like to tinker with the rum here, since what we know today as rhum argicole is not really the same thing that Don would've been mixing with in the 1940s. Though it does work great with a modern agricole too of course.
I'm still not convinced with Don the Beachcomber drinks on what type of rhum from Martinique was used. We know the brands from his menus and it's likely that some were sugar cane juice, so I'm reserving judgement until each of those rhums can be parsed out more definitely.
There's been some discussion on what the appropriate rum to use in the Three Dots, because while it does call for an aged Martinique rum, Donn describes it's flavor as dark and molasses like. Which certainly isn't an agricole. Some believe a more appropriate rum here would be a dark jamaican instead. Did you run into this discrepancy when researching this cocktail?
Kind of but the cocktail became the least important aspect when putting this video together, and I just wanted to go with the most common recipe (s) out there.
But when it comes to all the discrepancies with what a Martinique rum would have been like in back in the 1940s-1980s it’s incredibly hard to say one way or the other. Not to go even deeper in the Mai tai rabbit hole but there’s still a ton of disagreement on that, and there’s way more evidence and writings from Vic about what that rum would have tasted like.
I really hate to say it, but I really wish Don didn't have so many drinks that required a Mix Master. My wife will drop a safe on my head if I buy one. She tolerates my tiki beverage fascination, but only so far.
Best not to get into Mai Kai cocktails then because every drink requires one.
@makeanddrink I guess I'll just have to show how having one is to her benefit as well. Maybe a never-ending stream of date shakes is in her future.
Probably a dumb question, but what measurements would I use to make the honey syrup you use for your tiki cocktails? Is it just equal parts honey and water? Any recommendation on best honey or type of honey to use in tiki drinks? Thanks so much in advance! 🙂
I adjust mine to exactly 50 brix and that depends on the honey you use. I'll have more on this soon.
Anybody have a agricole they like in this recipe? I am using la favorite ambre, but surely there are some better options
hey derek, first off excellent video. I've got a lot of respect for Donn. But anyway, Ive been working on some recipe cards for my bar, and I was just copying the recipe for three dots and a dash from the Smugglers Cove book.
I noticed that SC recipe calls for an AOC Martinique rhum agricole vieux... And that really got me thinking and made me go see which rums you used. I don't have any copys of Jeff Berrys books so I cant look it up, but are we sure Donn would have been using a rhum agricole here, and not another martinique rum that's more similar in style to a black rum (similar to the martinique rum debate Martin Cate discusses and that you mention in the TRUE mai tai video)? I think this is an interesting enough topic in general, enough to maybe warrant its own video: when did agricole rums become popular and when should the be used when recreating classic tiki drinks? Three dots and a dash would be an entirely different cocktail with 1.5oz of coruba or hamilton 86 in place of aged rum agricole, and its creation during the mid 40s means it was very unlikely to use a rum agricole.
The problem with any assumption that this rum should be molasses based is there's no evidence. The theory that Trader Vic's Mai Tai blends used a molasses based Martinique rum was based on Vic's own words about the rums from Martinique, so there's some evidence to support it. But even that is just a theory. Was Don using a molasses based rum from Martinique? It's possible but there's currently no evidence anyone has shared that would line up with that.
But "Agricole" rums also did not exist prior to 1996, so any rum from Martinique before 96 could have been sugar cane juice, syrup, or something else. Could have been pot still instead of column. They just didn't have the standardized laws and regulations they do now.
That's just the unknowns of these historic rums. Even the recreations could be wrong. The original W&N may have been aged in larger barrels made or french oak, which would lead to much different result from a smaller ex-bourbon American Oak they used in the Appleton 17. So even that could have some drastic inconsistencies.
@@makeanddrink @makeanddrink hey man thanks for the swift reply! Lot of channels don't bother, I was wondering if you'd even see my comment haha. I like your attitude here, and agree with the sentiment. The tradition of mystery is one of the appeals of tiki for me! Thankfully for a home bar it's easy enough to swap out one thing for another and decide which you like better, but part of me (and I'm sure it's the same with you) really craves the most faithful representation we can come up with so I had to ask. Also to your point, since we don't know, multiple interpretations can be just as faithful to an original drink as one another even if they are pretty different.
And thanks for the correction about agricole. I thought that word was just universally synonymous with "cane juice rum". But it seems like the French kinda own the word agricole as part of that geographic designator they came up with in the 90s.
QB Cooler would be a good one today also. Quiet Birdmen may they rest in peace
I've done the cocktail but not really a history of the Quiet Birdmen. th-cam.com/video/aAsPsEtxqLQ/w-d-xo.html
@@makeanddrink didn’t realize…will check it out
What rums are used here? Brands I mean
1 ½ oz aged rhum agricole (45 ml)
½ oz demerara rum (15 ml)
@5:30
Clement and Hamilton
@@makeanddrink Thanks but what rhums specifically from Clement and Hamilton?
Excellent history lesson, very worth presenting in this case. Paints a very different side of Don the Beachcomber than another, let’s say prominent bartending channel on TH-cam likes to paint…
well now i need to know more
@@makeanddrink
It’s a channel you’ve been shallowly accused of imitating. He gave a very unflattering take on Don’s life story that largely ignored the intangible service he did for our airmen. Referred to him as a “b¥ll$h!t artist” if memory serves.
@mmwosu not sure that narrows it down. I’ve probably been accused of intimidating everyone.
What’s the music under the history section? Thanks
Love a good ...-
I wanted to love it, all ingredients I like but the taste was not convincing
I agree, I think this recipe can be modified to be a bit sweeter, more sour and also might need some tweaking on the specific agricole rums and ratio with the demerara. Might have to experiment a bit
This is a fantastic vid!!! Thank you for all the additional info surrounding this incredible drink! Great job!!! 🔴🔴🔴🟨
Thank you!
This was a great one, Derek. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!