At easytalk, bitter tropical cocktails (“grown up Tiki”) are some of their favorites, especially during the holiday season. Cardinal Pines is their riff on a classic Jungle Bird, with a freeze-concentrated Cheerwine Holiday Punch adding extra tropical fruit and ginger spice to balance out the bitterness from the Campari. The recipe is rooted in N.C., splitting the base spirit between Broad Branch Distillery’s Frank Reserve (made in Winston-Salem) and a funky overproof Jamaican-style rum (made by Liberty & Plenty in Durham).

Ingredients

1 oz Bourbon (Broad Branch Distillery’s Frank Reserve)
.5 oz Overproof Rum (Liberty & Plenty’s Overproof Rum)
.75 oz Campari
1 oz Freeze-concentrated Cheerwine Holiday Punch
1 oz Pineapple Juice

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake hard for 10-15 seconds.
Strain the cocktail over fresh ice.
Garnish with a cherry and fresh-grated nutmeg (and some pineapple fronds, if you have them!).

For Freeze-concentrated Cheerwine Holiday Punch

Freeze one 12 oz can of Cheerwine Holiday Punch in a freezer-safe container until fully frozen.
Place a funnel on top of a measuring cup and put the frozen Holiday Punch into the funnel to slowly thaw. (The sugars and most of the flavors will melt first, leaving you with a concentrated cocktail-ready syrup).
Once 4 oz of concentrated syrup has melted into the measuring cup, remove the funnel and discard the still-frozen ice.
Bottle the freeze-concentrated syrup and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
If using a 2L bottle, simply freeze the entire bottle solid, and turn it upside down to thaw until you have ~22 oz of concentrated syrup.

Find it online: https://cheerwine.com/recipes/cardinal-pines/