The great-granddaddy of all tiki drinks was born, as far as we can tell, on a small island—a former Dutch colony which had for a time been held by the English—located where the Atlantic Ocean meets the placid, green waters which the native Len’api Indians called “Ma Ni Noc” and we today call “New York Harbor.” Okay, so perhaps the Knickerbocker’s origins lie far from the swaying palms and white-sand beaches of the tropics. But if a drink compounded from rum, lime juice, and fruity liqueurs and syrups with half a lime floating in it isn’t tropical, what is? Even if it was invented in Old New York. The Knickerbocker, which first started turning up in the 1850s, took its name from Washington Irving’s alter ego, Diedrich Knickerbocker (or one of the many New York institutions that were named after him), and its rum—then as now a light, smooth, and mellow product—from the Virgin Islands,.
2 1/2 ounces aged Virgin Islands rum
1 1/2 teaspoons raspberry syrup
1/2 teaspoon Grand Marnier
Juice of 1/2 lime (reserve the squeezed-out shell for garnish)
To finish: 3 or 4 raspberries (or any other berries that are fresh and inviting)
Shake and strain into a large tumbler full of crushed ice; garnish with the half lime shell and berries. Add straw.
Substitutions: for the rum, anything aged and golden; for the syrup, Chambord liqueur; for the Grand Marnier, any orange Curaçao.
