The method
How to make it
Get a dry pan or grill ripping hot and char two pineapple rings until they have real black marks, about two minutes a side. That caramelized edge is the whole cocktail.
Salt half the rim of a rocks glass while the pineapple cools.
Chop one charred ring and muddle it in the shaker like it insulted your family.
Add tequila, pineapple juice, lime juice, orange liqueur and agave, then fill with ice.
Shake hard for 12 seconds and double strain over fresh ice, the muddled fruit stays behind.
Garnish with a wedge of the second charred ring.
The serve
How to present it
Rocks glass, half salt rim, a charred pineapple wedge with visible grill marks on the rim. The char should be seen and smelled before the first sip. Serve it next to anything that came off a grill and it looks like you planned the whole menu around it.
Make it yours
Swaps & variations
Mezcal instead of tequila doubles down on the smoke and it is glorious. No grill or pan time? A quarter teaspoon of brown sugar melted into the pineapple juice fakes the caramel note in a pinch. Frozen pineapple chars surprisingly well straight from the bag.
Keep pouring
