Pineapple Juice Pre-90's (Smooth Cayenne)

[TikiSaint]

New user and registered to make this post. I’ve been slightly acid-adjusting my pineapple juice lately, and it’s changed the way I think about pineapple in cocktails. My understanding is that pineapple was generally less sweet and more sharply balanced before the 1990s, and that brighter profile fits drinks in a way that many modern pineapples simply don’t.

Straight, it tastes better to me. In cocktails, especially tiki drinks, it tastes better too.

The Painkiller is the most interesting example. With so much pineapple juice in the drink, you’d think the adjustment would barely matter, but it really does. It turns the drink from simply sweet and tropical into something more balanced, more intentional, and closer to what the cocktail is supposed to be.

For me, the result is clear: I acid adjust all my pineapple juice going forward. It is worth the extra step because it improves the juice on its own and makes pre-90s cocktails taste more balanced, especially the tiki drinks I’ve tested so far. Newer drinks might be geared towards the current sweet pineapple juices, but I'll be doing further testing.

I did searching and didn't find anyone who has done the math and configured a precise recipe to mimic the pre-90's pineapple juice. I wonder how many people would be willing to try this. If you do, I'd love to see what people think. For me, it's, dare I say, revolutionary.

I've attached a document that shows the 3 methods, with the first being the best.

 

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

Interesting. I have not heard of this before. Most everyone has limes kicking around. I'll have to give this a shot!

-and welcome to the forum!

 

[TikiSaint]

Thanks. I included limes as the 3rd method for anyone who doesn't want to get the acids and scale, but it wouldn't be quite as good as the first two options, but a nice place to start since the lime juice is in precise measurements (rather than adding in extra juice randomly to help balance).

 

[Lagoon of Mystery]

The pineapple cultivar primarily farmed did indeed change in the 1990s to a sweeter, less acidic fruit that appealed more for fresh eating. And pineapple consumption has dramatically increased because of it. The same thing has happened with oranges over the decade (they were more tart 60 years ago, as were grapefruit). I hadn't thought about that aspect, because I'm not a deep thinker, but the acid level would indeed significantly affect the flavor of all those pineapple-forward cocktails invented in the 50s and 60s. That also explains the insistence on "unsweetened" pineapple juice in so many recipes, a product that I've never actually seen on store shelves. Naturally sweet pineapple would eliminate the need for this, but I can see a market niche for such a product pre-1990s.

Here's a video I found on YouTube that's primarily about pink pineapples, but in giving background on this rare fruit the video does explain the evolution of pineapples as a crop and market, relevant to our discussion here:

 

[TikiSaint]

Interesting video. You could think about these things for too long. I don't want to have to adjust every little ingredient I use. I don't know how much of a difference there is compared to other fruits and citrus since they don't seem to typically make the drinks too sweet, at least not as much as pineapple juice can change the profile.