Over-The-Top Shareable Scorpion Bowl Cocktail Recipe

The scorpion bowl dates back to the 1930s, making it one of the older tiki drinks. It was the brainchild of legendary Tiki bartender Trader Vic Bergeron, who encountered a similar shareable drink in at a bar in Honolulu. While the Hawaiian cocktail was made from fermented ti plant liquor, Bergeron's adaptation included rum, gin, brandy, fruit juices, and the classic tiki mixer orgeat. While Bergeron eventually simplified the drink, developer Patterson Watkins, in true tiki spirit, prefers her scorpion bowls fully loaded. This recipe is just as fruity and boozy as the original and has 14 ingredients, including three liquors, five mixers, and six different garnishes.

"Sharable cocktails are especially fun," says Watkins. "There's just something silly and whimsical about the whole ordeal." This is especially true if you add the optional flaming "volcano" in the middle. While scorpion bowls are pure joy all on their own, their sweet-tart flavor can also be the perfect accompaniment to a spicy meal. If you want to throw a tiki party, you could pair the cocktail with a pu pu platter that includes spicy chicken potstickers, crab rangoon, egg rolls, and shrimp toast.

The cocktail is made from a combination of dark rum, brandy, gin, orgeat, grenadine, lime juice, orange juice, and pineapple juice. What really takes it over the top are the garnishes: cinnamon sticks, maraschino cherries, pineapple chunks, orange slices, lime slices, and edible flowers. Trader Vic's used to use gardenias, but you can substitute carnations, chrysanthemums, marigolds, or even dandelions as long as they are clean and pesticide-free.

Fill a large pitcher one-fourth full with ice.

Add the dark rum, Cognac, and gin to the pitcher.

Add the orgeat, grenadine, lime juice, orange juice, and pineapple juice to the pitcher.

Stir to combine.

Pour the cocktail into a scorpion bowl or punch bowl.

Add the cinnamon sticks, cherries, pineapple chunks, orange slices, and lime slices to the bowl.

Garnish with the edible flowers. Pour the high-ABV alcohol into the "volcano" section of the scorpion bowl, if desired.

Carefully light the alcohol in the center on fire, if using, and serve.

The original version of orgeat, which dates back to 18^th century France, was made with barley. Today's orgeat, however, is usually an almond-flavored syrup with a sweet, nutty flavor. It's been an ingredient of tiki cocktails since the very beginning and can be found in such classic drinks as the mai tai, fog cutter, and the scorpion bowl. While orgeat may not be stocked by every grocery store, you might find the mixer in a liquor store with a larger selection, and you can, of course, order it online.

Homemade orgeat is pretty easy to make, as well, especially if you start with premade almond milk as opposed to grinding the nuts yourself. Just simmer one part unflavored almond milk with two parts sugar, then take the pan off the heat once the sugar is dissolved. Add almond extract for extra flavoring (about a tablespoon for each cup of milk you used), along with a dash of orange flower or rose water to give your orgeat a slightly floral note. Some orgeat recipes also call for the addition of brandy, rum, or vodka to extend the shelf life, but the booze isn't necessary if you'd like to save some syrup for use in a mai tai mocktails or to add nutty flavor to a virgin colada.

If you want to mix up the liquid component of the scorpion bowl ahead of time, it will only get tastier after a night in the fridge. Leave out the ice, though, since you won't want to dilute it. You could also keep it in the freezer, since freezing and thawing won't damage the drink. In fact, if you freeze the boozy blend in ice cube trays, you could even make scorpion slushies. This would also be a great way to use up any leftovers.

The garnishes, however, are a different story. While the cherries, pineapple, and cinnamon sticks will be okay after an overnight soak, the citrus won't because the zest will become bitter and impart unwanted flavor to the drink. Even if you just slice the oranges and limes ahead of time, they're likely to dry out. As for the edible flowers, these may wilt if they're picked too far ahead of time, and if they no longer look pretty, there's little point in adding them. For these reasons, the citrus and flowers need to be last-minute additions to the scorpion bowl.