Honor Amongst Thieves is a modern Tiki concoction by Alex Renshaw, and can be found in the 2015 edition of Food & Wine: Cocktails. (The quality of recipes collected in recent editions of this anthology, incidentally, are far superior to what they put out in early days.) I was twigged to this particular entry by Boston’s Fred Yarm.

Did you know that Apple’s spellcheck does not recognize the word “amongst”?
I blame Tim Cook!

To be more on point, Honor Amongst Thieves is yet another of the modern Tiki drinks I’m focusing on this year that do not feature rum as the base spirit. This one goes with bourbon and cachaça as the spirits.

I have several notes on this recipe.
Fred gave this the full Tiki treatment, with ceramic mug, and a huge mint and edible flower garnish, but I prefer Alex’s original, modernist presentation. While the flavor profile of this drink is squarely in the Tiki zone (boozy/spicy/citrusy), the texture and the finish are less so. It lacks the unctuous mouthfeel of my usual Tiki vision, and the finish is much cleaner than is the Tiki norm. This isn’t a criticism, but if you dress Honor Amongst Thieves up like a Zombie, these characteristics are actually highlighted as incongruous.
The original recipe calls for 3 dashes of Peychaud’s on top as a garnish, but I omit it. I don’t think it is needed, and I just can never picture Peychaud’s as a Tiki ingredient. A personal failing on my own, I’m sure….
Finally, Fred doubles the simple syrup. If you want to go full Tiki with crushed ice, you will need that extra sugar.

Another reason to serve this in the original presentation is that it adds some nice variety when serving a bunch of different Tiki drinks. When every other drink you are serving is in in a hollowed-out pagan idol with a citrus plantation hanging over the rim, the Honor Amongst Thieves actually looks a bit exotic in comparison.

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