Hotel Nacional Special Cocktail

Substitutes:

• Gold Rum: If you don't have gold rum, use light, dark or even spiced rum. You can also try using vodka: it will have a different depth of flavor, but it will still work in this cocktail.
• Apricot Liqueur: You can prepare this cocktail using any type of apricot brandy. Alternatively, peach schnapps or apricot syrup can be used if apricot liqueur isn't available. They both offer a fruity sweetness that complements the other ingredients.
• Cane Sugar Syrup: If you're out of cane sugar syrup, you can make your own by dissolving equal parts cane sugar and water over low heat. Regular white sugar syrup also works for this recipe.
• Fresh Lime Juice: You can use bottled lime juice in a pinch, but the flavor will be less bright and fresh. Another option is to use fresh lemon juice for a slightly different citrus kick.
• Angostura Bitters: You can use orange bitters instead or simply leave the bitters out altogether; it will slightly alter the overall flavor of your drink but will still make for a delicious cocktail.

Making a Pitcher of Hotel Nacional Special:

• Scale: To make a pitcher that serves 8, multiply all the ingredients by 8. That would be 12 oz of gold rum, 8 oz of pineapple juice, 6 oz of fresh lime juice, 4 oz of cane sugar syrup, 2 oz of apricot liqueur and 8 dashes of Angostura bitters.
• Mix: Combine all the ingredients in a large pitcher. Add ice and stir well.
• Serve: Strain to remove the ice, serve immediately into chilled coupe glasses and garnish each glass with a pineapple slice or a lime wheel. If you have some leftovers, be sure to keep it in the fridge (make sure no ice cubes are left inside) in an airtight container.

Making it Non-Alcoholic:

• Gold Rum Substitute: Use a non-alcoholic rum substitute; these are available and do an excellent job mimicking the rum flavor. If you’re feeling crafty, you can also make your own dark rum substitute by infusing together rooibos tea and a bunch of spices of your liking (vanilla, cinnamon, clove, allspice and banana are always a good way to start). Mix all the ingredients together, add hot water, cover and let it infuse for at least 3h (the stronger the better, so if you have time let it infuse overnight. In that case, you can either let it rest in the fridge once the liquid has cooled down). Give it a taste, adjust the spice level if necessary and strain it once you’re happy with the result. Stored properly (in an airtight container in the fridge), this “tea-rum” can be kept for up to a week.
• Apricot Liqueur Substitute: Use apricot syrup as a substitute for the liqueur.
• Angostura Bitters: You can add a drop of cinnamon and/or clove essence to your drink or substitute the sugar with cinnamon syrup to mimic the spicy kick of the bitters. Also note that a few dashes of bitter in an otherwise alcohol-free drink won’t raise the overall ABV of the drink. The drink will indeed chemically contain a drop of alcohol, but won’t make you intoxicated at all. Depending on your reason for not drinking alcohol and your degree of tolerance on the topic, you can choose to omit the bitters or to include them in your preparation.
• Proceed As Usual: Use these non-alcoholic substitutes instead of the regular ingredients, follow the original steps, and enjoy a non-alcoholic version.

Making it Vegan: