the mac-olada.

the mac-olada.
It’s a rare treat to work with a nutty and savoury style of gin, so after the completion of our new Macadamia Gin, we were extremely excited to craft its signature cocktail. With that being said, there are inherent challenges that come hand in hand with working with this unique and dry gin - we can’t just put it into a Tom Collins. So we had to dissect it: what flavours do nuts generally work with in cocktails? Our first thought was cream, coconut cream in fact, which led us down the garden path to one of the Applewood team’s favourite cocktails of all time: The Pina Colada.

Mac-olada Cocktail Image

Traditionally a rum based cocktail and whilst gin is, as it should be, highly discouraged to be used as a substitute, Macadamias are an ingredient perfectly suited for that classic. While we could have simply replaced rum with our Macadamia Gin, our bar manager Mitch Gauvin (with his first crack at a signature gin cocktail) decided to twist it a little bit further, and steer it more in a direction of comfortability for a gin cocktail. Pineapple juice has been swapped for grapefruit juice with a touch of lime for added acid, a dollop of 2-1 honey syrup for natural sweetness, and a sprig of rosemary for a lick of herbaceousness. To put it simply: one of our favourite drinks ever put together in this series - but we’re a little biased. Seriously drinkable.

Cocktail Icon
mac-olada 
50ml macadamia gin
40ml ruby grapefruit juice
5ml lime juice
30ml 2-1 honey syrup
20ml coconut cream
rosemary sprig
muddle rosemary in a cocktail shaker before shaking all ingredients. double strain into a chilled coupe. garnish with rosemary leaves.