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The Pine Needle is a five-ingredient highball that ends with the instruction to vary it to taste, which tells you most of what you need to know. It is a house drink rather than a fixed recipe, the kind of thing built from whatever the well already has open.
Vodka and triple sec do the lifting, pineapple juice and sweet and sour mix fill it out, and a splash of 7-Up puts some lift on top. There is nothing piney about it despite the name, which is once again pineapple doing the work. The sweet and sour is what keeps it from collapsing into juice, since pineapple on its own is too round to hold a drink together at this volume.
Glass: Highball glass | Strength: Light | Serves: 1 | Prep Time: 2 minutes
Bartender’s tip: Take the instruction to vary it seriously, because the proportions as written lean sweet. The easiest correction is to cut the sweet and sour to an ounce and make up the difference with fresh lemon. Pour the 7-Up last and pour it gently down the side of the glass, since a splash of soda dumped straight in goes flat before it reaches the bottom. Build over plenty of ice and do not shake it, there is carbonation in here and shaking will kill it.
Ingredients
- 1 oz Vodka
- 1/2 oz Triple Sec
- 1 splash 7-Up
- 2 oz Pineapple Juice
- 1 1/2 oz Sweet and Sour Mix
