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Cocktail History
The A Coy Decoy is a modern cocktail that was created by Chris Coy at The Inferno Room in Indianapolis, Indiana. The recipe is considered to be tiki but calls for two botanical gins as the base spirit instead of rum and pairs them with grapefruit liqueur, pineapple, lime, and floral bitters.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
London Dry Gin: This is a type of liquor made with juniper berries, botanicals, and alcohol. We used Ford’s London Dry Gin because it has a classic botanical flavor with notes of coriander and grapefruit. For a mocktail version of this drink, try MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the gin.
Grapefruit Liqueur: This is a liqueur made with grapefruit, herbs, sugar, and alcohol. We used Tattersall Distilling Grapefruit Crema Liqueur because it’s high quality and has a bright flavor. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Monin Premium Ruby Red Grapefruit Syrup in place of the grapefruit liqueur.
Pineapple Juice: This is the liquid juice of a pineapple. We used freshly squeezed pineapple juice.
Lime Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lime. We used freshly squeezed lime juice.
Cucumber Gin: This is a type of a gin made with cucumbers, juniper berries, botanicals, and alcohol. We used Prairie Organic Spirits Cucumber, Mint, & Lime Gin because it has a refreshing flavor. For a mocktail version of this drink, try MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin infused with cucumber in place of the gin.
Citrus & Chamomile Bitters: This is a food product made with lemon, lie, orange, grapefruit, chamomile, botanicals, herbs, and alcohol. We used Bittermens Boston Bittahs.
Lime Wheel: This is a slice of lime that has been cut into a wheel shape.
Mint Sprig: This is an herb. We used Mojito mint.
Orchid Blossom: This is the flower of an orchid plant.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. We used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. We used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.
Chef’s Knife: This is used to cut larger fruits and vegetables into slices for the garnish. We used the OXO Good Grips 8-Inch Chef’s Knife.
Pineapple Corer: This is used to remove the core of the pineapple before it’s juiced. We used the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Pineapple Corer.
Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. We used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.
Juicer: This is used to juice citrus, fruits, and vegetables. We used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer for the citrus and the Hamilton Beach Large Juicer for the pineapple.
Tasting Notes
The A Coy Decoy starts with the familiar aroma of mint and has a dry, herbal flavor that’s made up of strong gin notes mellowed out with a bit of pineapple sweetness, and goes down with a finish of tangy grapefruit, slightly bitter florals, and a lingering tartness.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: As a confession, we originally misread this recipe and used four entire dashes of the bitters, which made for a very herbal and frankly unpalatable mixture. Once we realized our mistake, we dialed the aggressive bitters back to the appropriate amount, and the A Coy Decoy ended up being a recipe that’s still dry and herbal but very tasty, complex, and not overly fruity.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐
“This drink was an interesting mix! Although I wouldn’t normally place it into the category of tiki, it had a ton of intrigue, much of which was brought on by the Boston Bittahs, in my opinion. The first time we made this we did use dashes after misreading the recipe, and it had a strong bitter flavor. If you’ve ever had the Boston Bittahs, you’ll know they’re easy to overdo. I remade it correctly, and it was much more palatable! Although it didn’t really check the traditional tiki boxes of ‘fruity’ or ‘tropical,’ it definitely was crushable in its own way. As long as you know going in that you’re getting a slightly dry, complex, and herbal drink rather than a bright and fruity pineapple mix, you’re sure to be pleased.”—
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐
“Alex says it was the amount of bitters used that threw the flavor balance off for this recipe the first time we made it. That ended up being the case because it ended up being more palatable the second time around. I still didn’t like how the bitters mixed with the tiki template though, to be honest. The chamomile used in that ingredient was intriguing but felt pretty out of place to me and quite literally made the recipe too bitter on the swallow, no pun intended. The A Coy Decoy was admittedly interesting on paper, but it didn’t land for my palate.”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from Easy Tiki: A Modern Revival with 60 Recipes by Chloe Frechette.
Add London Dry Gin, grapefruit liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, cucumber gin, bitters, and cubed ice to shaker.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Strain into a highball glass over fresh cracked ice.
Garnish with lime wheel, mint sprig, and an orchid blossom.
Ingredients
Directions
Add London Dry Gin, grapefruit liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, cucumber gin, bitters, and cubed ice to shaker.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Strain into a highball glass over fresh cracked ice.
Garnish with lime wheel, mint sprig, and an orchid blossom.
Make It a Mocktail: Use MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the London Dry Gin, Monin Premium Ruby Red Grapefruit Syrup in place of the grapefruit liqueur, and MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin infused with cucumber in place of the cucumber gin to try a booze-free version of this drink.
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More Tiki Cocktails
If you like this tiki-inspired cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:
Wishful Thinking: A sloe gin and rhum agricole cocktail made with ginger syrup, lime juice, absinthe, Angostura aromatic bitters, and a mint sprig
Tia Mia: A mezcal and rum cocktail made with lime juice, orange curaçao, orgeat syrup, a lime wheel, a mint sprig, and an orchid blossom
Junior Colada: A pineapple rum cocktail made with coconut liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, coconut soda, and pineapple fronds
Caribe Daiquiri: A rum cocktail made with pineapple juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and a lime slice
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