For A Potent Cocktail Packed With Tropical Taste, Look No Further Than The Fog Cutter

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Don't let the vibrant hue fool ya. If you think "frozen strawberry daiquiri" when you hear "tiki drinks," allow us the supreme pleasure of opening your eyes and stoking your thirst. The unofficial tiki cocktail Hall of Fame is home to some of the punchiest, most potent long-sippers in the game, from Hurricanes to Painkillers (both of which really deliver on their namesake promises). Today, we're taking a closer look at one of the perhaps lesser-known tiki classics that's no less deserving of a reprise: The Fog Cutter.

Tiki drinks are all about layering and balance, criteria upon which the potent Fog Cutter delivers in spades — a feat no less impressive because of its signature potency. The Fog Cutter is built on the eyelash-searing foundation of a tri-spirit base (light rum, cognac, and London dry gin). Orgeat syrup enters for some sweet rounding balance, taming the boozy flame. Those complex nutty-sweet almond notes work wonders in masking the punchy power beneath, while a sherry float keeps the tasting profile dry and not too cloyingly tropical. On the palate, the Fog Cutter arrives fruity, oaky, tropical, and mature.

To assemble a Fog Cutter, 1.5 ounces of light rum gets vigorously wet-shaken with 1 ounce cognac, ½ ounce London Dry gin, 2 ounces lemon juice, 1 ounce orange juice, and ½ ounce orgeat. The chilled mixture gets strained into a crushed-ice-filled Collins glass, then gently topped with a ½ ounce sherry float and a generous pinch of fresh mint leaves to serve.

As the legendary mixologist (and Mai Tai inventor) Trader Vic wrote in the 1972 revised edition of his seminal 1947 "Bartender's Guide," "Fog Cutter, hell. After two of these you won't even see the stuff" (via Difford's Guide). Indeed, Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron is credited with creating the Fog Cutter sometime during the 1940s, when sweating glasses of the drinks first started cropping up in patrons' hands at his Oakland, California bar.

The Fog Cutter comprises nearly four ounces of liquor for an impressive 15.5% ABV — the equivalent of three standard beers, and not a far cry from a Long Island Iced Tea at 22% ABV. Still, unlike the headache-inducing jungle juice that is the Long Island, the Fog Cutter is every bit as impressive and intentionally-crafted as the Zombie, another tiki cocktail classic with a staggering ABV (hence the living-dead moniker). Also notably, the Zombie was created by Trader Vic's SoCal tiki bartending predecessor, Donn the Beachcomber. Call it a potent passing of the torch.

Arguably, the crucial ingredient that pulls the Fog Cutter together is the orgeat almond syrup, a must-have for making tiki drinks at home. For a store-bought version, Monin brand makes a fitting almond-flavored syrup, which can also be used in craft coffee drinks. Or, we've got a recipe for homemade orgeat syrup that comes together in less than 15 minutes. Opt for a high-quality sherry if it's in the budget.