Recipe
- Pineapple pulp (leftovers from extracting the juice)
- Smoky Islay scotch
- Juice your pineapple by blending in a blender and straining.
- Reserve the leftover pulp, and combine with Ardbeg 10 (or other Islay scotch). I just eyeballed it until the mixture was about the consistency of wet sand.
- Let it sit overnight (8-12 hours), and strain through a mesh strainer. I had to “press” it through with the back of a spoon to get all the liquid out. The remaining pulp should be like a dry paste.
- Chill in fridge (be patient) and enjoy – as delicious as it is at room temperature, it’s even better chilled
(note: my pineapple was also very ripe, almost overripe, so it was even less acidic to begin with. If you use a fresher pineapple, try to remove as much juice as you can to minimize acidity)
About
I was juicing pineapple the other day (such a chore), and was left with the dry pulp that had lost the magic bright acidity that makes fresh pineapple juice infinitely better than canned. Rather than toss it, I decided to experiment and dumped some smoky Islay whisky (Ardbeg 10) into a jar with it overnight, and strained.
I fully intended to make a cocktail with it, but once I tasted just how delicious it was on its own, I couldn’t put it down. Pineapples are quite a soft and “wet” fruit, so when you use it for infusions, a lot of the juice and sugars will inevitably leak into the spirit. In this case, it produced a tropical, sweet, yet smoky and viscous dram of liquid golden sunshine. All the complexities of the scotch remain and it doesn’t taste too “watered down” by fruit juice; rather, the honeyed richness from ripe pineapple pulp just coats the core peaty goodness in a sumptuous layer. VERY impressed, and highly recommend this combo. Great to minimize waste as well, so don’t toss your spent pineapple pulp!