Pineapple Cocktails

Pineapple juice does something no other common mixer does: shaken hard, it produces a genuine foam, because the juice is full of proteins and fine pulp. That is why a shaken pineapple drink looks like it has egg white in it and why tiki bars lean on it so heavily.

It is also both sweet and sharp at once, which lets it stand in for part of the sugar and part of the citrus in a recipe. Against rum it is the whole tropical canon; against tequila or vodka it makes a lighter, less obvious drink.

Canned is fine and often better than fresh, because it is consistent. Fresh pineapple varies enormously in sweetness and will change the balance of a drink you have made before.