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The Taino Cocktail is a tribute to the Taino Indians, the sea-faring natives who inhabited the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of Columbus. Columbus himself first encountered the Tainos on the island of Hispanola, which is today divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Not surprisingly, then, the Taino Cocktail is rum-based, and gives a prominent place to Pineapple, a fruit cultivated by the Taino throughout the Caribbean.

The Taino Cocktail bears some resemblance to a Pineapple Daiquiri, and this again is no surprise: "Daiquiri" is a Taino word given to the Cuban beach where the popular rum cocktail was invented.

Columbus himself - the man who discovered the Taino at the same time he discovered America is also recognized in the Taino Cocktail. The mixture of rum and sweetened lime juice, which is the basis of the Taino, is in fact nothing other than grog, the drink served to sailors all over the world in the age of sail. Captains added lime juice to the daily rum ration not to make it more palatable, but to get sailors to consume something that would prevent scurvy. It sure beat the other widely used scurvy preventative sauerkraut!

To make a true Taino Cocktail it is imperative that you use either Haitian or Dominican rum. Hispanola was the first place in the new world where sugar cane was cultivated, and rum is made from fermented molasses, a byproduct of the sugar-making process. Unlike more familiar rums made in Jamaica and Barbados, Dominican rum is created with a slower more natural distillation process and is typically aged in American white oak kegs. The result is a sweeter, more satisfying rum that mixes perfectly with pineapple!

Haitian rum, on the other hand, reflects the influence of French colonists on the other half of the island. Haitian distillers use sugar cane juice rather than molasses. It is thought that the unique style of Haitian rum was a result of the traditional French skill in making fine brandies such as cognac. Haitian rum is still distilled using the same double-pot process used in cognac.

With all that historical background out of the way, let's make a Taino Cocktail

1 jigger white Dominican or Haitian rum

2 tsp fresh-squeezed lime juice

2 - 3 dashes pineapple syrup (Torani is a popular and widely-available brand)

1/2 tsp powdered sugar

1 slice fresh pineapple

Blend at high speed with crushed ice. Serve in a chilled Daiquiri glass.

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