Barracuda

History

Adapted from a recipe created in the late 1950s by Italian bartender Benito Cuppari while working on the Cristoforo Colombo cruise liner. Benito perfected his tropical cocktail in 1965 soon after moving to Bar Lido, one of seven bars onboard the new SS Michelangelo cruise liner and re-named it after the Barracuda beach club in Portofino which was managed by a great friend of his and during the 50s and 60s was one of Europe's most famous nightclubs. Benito and his cocktail won the Long Drink category at the 1966 Italian AIBES National Cocktail Competition held in Saint Vincent so also helping the cocktail's notoriety.

Initially served in half a pineapple shell, after marketing support from Galliano, this was upgraded to a souvenir ceramic pineapple and quickly became the ship's signature cocktail. Galliano's promotional pineapple mug was imprinted with the Barracuda recipe, also using two other products from the same brand portfolio.

2/10 Galliano Liqueur
3/10 Rum Palo Viejo
3/10 Pineapple juice
1/10 Lime or Lemon juice
1/10 sugar syrup or a teaspoon of sugar.
Complete with Champagne Brut Mercier, a lemon wedge and a Maraschino cherry.

Despite apparently being served at Trader Vic's in both London and New York in the 1970s, the Barracuda cocktail doesn't appear in any of Trader Vic's books, but it does feature in Stanley Jones' 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide:

BARRACUDA
Large Cocktail Glass or Pineapple Shell
SHAKE
1 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz Galliano
1 oz gold rum
1/4 oz lime juice
1/4 tsp sugar
Strain into glass or shell
Fill with champagne
Cherry & lime wheel