What’s that you say? What about those crazy finger limes and exotic citrus that show up in the summer? Well, those are grown in the Australian winter of June and July. Those oceanic folks are crackers, putting their winter in the wrong months, calling large marsupials “skippy,” and having universal healthcare. Anyway, up here where water flows the right direction, our best citrus comes into season in the late fall and winter that we call "November through February". Those are the best months for citrus cocktails. Note your local grocer’s stock of tiny sweet oranges, vibrant blood oranges and, just a bit later you’ll see Texas oranges and grapefruits. The Nui Nui benefits greatly from bold, fresh and this time of the year, sweet citrus.

To consider the Nui Nui as a template, it basically has three flavors: citrus, baking spice and rum. And to truly enjoy this cocktail, start substituting those flavors with seasonal analogs.

Rum

No need to ever use 2 oz of just 1 rum. Whenever possible, blend your rums for a better cocktail. The spice flavors with hold down the base of this cocktail, so you needn’t rely too heavily on a dark rick rum, I’d instead to go with tropical flavors from Jamaican Rum, Cachaça or Agricultural Rums.

Spice

You can make vanilla syrup by buying fresh vanilla beans from a local spice store (your grocer likely sells old beans), gently simmering them and stirring in high quality Demerara sugar and letting cool. This mixture can be repeated with cinnamon. Both will not grow mold for almost 2 weeks in the fridge and won’t taste as fresh after a couple days. Conversely, but the syrups from a professional. For vanilla syrup, look for syrup in which you can actually see particulates of vanilla beans. Obviously B.G. Reynolds is designed to hold up in complex tiki cocktails. As for cinnamon, the original Nui Nui called for various secret "Don's mixes," that have since been decoded and are no longer secret. These mixes were pre-batched flavor compilations designed to add efficiency to the bar and prevent bartender’s knowing the real recipe. The recipe above basically contains that mix “exploded.”

Citrus

Get some. Get crazy. Meyer lemons are in season for you to blend with lime juice. Blood orange can be substituted for navel orange even though November Texan navel oranges might be the best an orange can be. Satsumas, though hard to juice and a mysterious sweetness when muddled into a cocktail. And the aromatic peel of a buddha’s hand is an intoxicating garnish. Drink all of the winter citrus.

You can basically riff on the Nui Nui if you have equal parts rum, spicy sweetness and citrus.

With all that in mind, this is how I would make a Nui Nui to get the best of winter flavors