To Serve Man
Rum

Three Dots and a Dash

Glass
Snifter

Donn Beach's Morse-code "V for victory" toast, rhum agricole, Demerara, honey, and allspice dram.

rum tiki classic mid-century shaken falernum allspice
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Ingredients

  • fresh lime juice (0.5 oz)
  • fresh orange juice (0.5 oz)
  • honey syrup (0.5 oz)
  • falernum (0.5 oz)
  • Angostura bitters (2 dashes)
  • allspice dram (0.25 oz)
  • aged Demerara rum (0.5 oz)
  • aged Martinique rhum agricole (1.5 oz)
  • crushed ice (1 cup)
  • brandied cherries (3)
  • pineapple spear (1)

Instructions

  1. In a shaker combine fresh lime juice, fresh orange juice, honey syrup, falernum, Angostura bitters, allspice dram, aged Demerara rum, and aged Martinique rhum agricole.
  2. Add crushed ice and shake briefly.
  3. Pour unstrained into a snifter or tiki mug filled with crushed ice.
  4. Garnish with three brandied cherries and a pineapple spear on a pick.

Sources

  1. Berry, Sippin' Safari (2017 ed.), Three Dots and a Dash chapter, explains the Morse-code "V for victory" naming and dates the drink to c. 1941 at Don the Beachcomber's, contemporaneous with the Allied "V campaign." ↩
  2. Berry, Sippin' Safari (2017 ed.), Three Dots and a Dash chapter, also documents the spec recovery from former Don the Beachcomber bartender Hank Riddle's surviving notes, since Donn destroyed his master recipe binder. ↩
  3. "Three Dots and a Dash." Vintage American Cocktails. https://vintageamericancocktails.com/three-dots-and-a-dash/ (accessed 2026-05-03), secondary history/naming reference. The Vintage American Cocktails spec uses a 1.5 oz gold rum + 0.5 oz añejo split rather than the canonical Demerara + Martinique agricole split; the file's measurement bill follows Berry's Sippin' Safari reconstruction, not this URL. ↩