Green Eye Daiquiri

St. Patty’s Day is upon us and it’s time once again to bring out the green drinks! I recall a St. Patrick’s Day past when a former coworker shared a story of tinting milk green at his house only to meet with resistance from his kids who wouldn’t drink it. Darn kids. But we grown-ups welcome an excuse to shake things up a little during this looong winter and have some fun.

There’s always green beer and the green minty concoctions, but for something that’s a variation on the traditional theme, try a Daiquiri. Daiquiris, which became all the rage in the 1940s, were a favorite of the famed writer Ernest Hemingway. This would be delicious sipped on the porch at his home in Key West, no doubt. Ah. I can imagine the warm breeze and sea air. I toured his house when in Key West on my last warm weather vacation, which was too long ago—five years now. So the name of this drink is appropriate for me in another way, too, as the green-eyed monster may come out when I think of others enjoying jaunts to points south.

In this recipe by mixologist Kathy Casey, which appeared in Drinks magazine, just a touch of French-made green Chartreuse, with its extracts of 130 plants, adds a sophisticated and unique flavor. We think Papa Hemingway would have approved. Cheers!
 

Green Eye Daiquiri

Makes 1 cocktail

2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/8 oz. green Chartreuse
2 oz. Appleton or other light rum
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
Garnish: fresh thyme sprig

Place thyme in a cocktail shaker and crush with a muddler. Fill shaker with ice and measure in sugar, Chartreuse, rum, and lime juice. Shake vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with thyme sprig.
 

Mary Subialka is the editor of Real Food and Drinks magazines, covering the flavorful world of food, wine, and spirits. She rarely meets a chicken she doesn’t like, and hopes that her son, who used to eat beets and Indian food as a preschooler, will one day again think of real food as more than something you need to eat before dessert and be inspired by his younger brother, who is now into trying new foods.