Lychee-Mango Martini

Some readers may have noticed that there was no new drink post this past week. The reason for this is that I was away. I went on a vacation/research trip to New Mexico, with Senior Research Assistant, (and sister,) Kerry. Although our findings include some really nice tequila-based cocktails, (to be posted soon!), this week's Greatest Drink in the World is The Lychee-Mango Martini, an absolute miracle of modern mixology.

The Recipe:

While chilling a large Martini glass, into a cocktail shaker, add:

- a 2 count of Svedka Citron Vodka,

- a 2 count of Mango Rum,

- a 2 count of Lichido Lychee Liqueur

- a 2 count of mango juice

- squeeze in the juice of 2 lemon wedges,

- shake energetically,

- strain into the now-chilled martini glass

- garnish with a wedge of lemon.

Joe's Notes: This week we have produced not only a drink that tastes and looks absolutely fantastic, but also something that may be good for you. The three fruits combined in this martini have some amazing health properties.

The Lychee, (pronounced either Lee-Chee or Lie- chee, depending on whhich side of the Atlantic you are reading this on,) has been harvested in China for over 4,000 years. It is a fruit packed with vitamins and nutrients, it aids digestion and is used as an aphrodisiac in China. It is considered the "love fruit." Because of all the health benefits of the Lychee it is often given to babies in place of a pacifier (or 'dummy' if you are reading this "across the pond.") This is not a practice that I would recommend given the size and shape of the Lychee it seems that it would be a choking hazard, maybe it is cut up first.

The Lychee, along with the mango, produces the antioxidants that fight the free radicals that are apparently attacking your body. Now, that is a strange name to call molecules. I always thought that the Free Radicals where the political Whigs in England that opposed the Tory party. I also have some recollection of free radicals being used in the very confusing and pointless Algebra classes at high school. Although admittedly I did spend most of my time looking out the window or trying to take a nap undisturbed by what appeared to me an equally bored teacher. That could be one of the reasons i am a bartender and not a mathematician. I did buy a book one time for my son titled "Fun with Math." The title attracted me to it as I felt it was a perfect oxymoron. Needless to say it was not a lot of fun.

Lets get back to the drink. Lemons also have some powerful healing properties. Most of us are probably aware that lemons are a good source of vitamin C and that they can benefit some one with a cold, the flu, sore throat and malaria. Lemons have also proved to be a blessing for mountaineers. In the cases of insufficient oxygen and difficulty in breathing lemon comes to their rescue. Edmund Hillary, the first man to put his foot on the top of Mt. Everest, has admitted that his victory over Mt. Everest was greatly due to lemons.

Last but not least, let us not forget the alcohol. The benefits of the consumption of alcohol has been debated for years. I believe that the consumption of alcohol, if it makes you happy, is a good thing. It can make you feel relaxed and can even remove some of the inhibitions that could be preventing you from meeting the love of your life. If alcohol makes you cry, fight or tell long and boring stories, stop immediately and consult with a trained physician, (at this point your bartender does NOT count as a trained physician!)

So pour yourself a Mango Lychee Martini and google the health benefits, and feel good about yourself and what you are putting into your body.

Joe the Bartender

Chris's notes: Thanks, Joe. And those nutrition classes seem to really be paying off!

This fruity little number is an AM eye-opener on par with the Mimosa! No, wait. This exceeds the Mimosa. That's right, I said it. (People just think because it has a foreign name the Mimosa is a foreign breakfast drink! NO! It's named after a flower similar in color! How deceptive!) The Lychee-Mango Martini, however, with it's honesty in name, has an equally energy-infusing blast of vitamin C along with a wider and more interesting spectrum of flavors! And although this cocktail is guaranteed to compliment any breakfast, it can be enjoy at any time of day or night as a pick-me-up with a that tastes great.

So don't be bullied into ordering a drink just because it sounds classy, order one that is! And from now on, let's eschew the unnecessarily foreign names; forget ordering a "Croissant." Get a Crescent Roll! Cul-de-Sac? It's a damned dead end!

And skip the Mimosa entirely and order yourself this little glass of sunshine; The Lychee-Mango Martini. You'll feel better about yourself.

Cheers!

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This week's completely unrelated, token video, (or is it "Tolkien video?") comes from Mr. Spock, (NOT Dr. Spock, the baby guru who, incidentally, recommends never, EVER jamming whole lychees into a baby's mouth,) but Leonard Nimoy with The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins!

Enjoy!

The Salem Sunrise

Ahhh, Spring here in Witch City; Salem, Massachusetts. The birthplace of The Greatest Drink in the World... This Week. And the city is all abuzz. From the Spring Fling, (an annual celebration of food, wine, beer, music and art! See sidebar,) to The Greatest Drink in the World... This Week's own contribution, The Salem Sunrise, (A.K.A. Sunset Over the Power Plant!)

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail shaker full of ice, add:

- a 2 count of Passionfruit Rum

- a 2 count of Mango Rum

- a 2 count of White Rum

- a "sploosh" of mango Juice

- a "sploosh" of lemon Juice

- a "sploosh" of pineapple Juice

- Shake "wickedly,"

- strain over fresh ice,

- Float Gosling Black Rum across the top,

- garnish with a slice of orange, and maybe some fresh apple.

Original Recipe by Joe the Bartender, Passage to India Restaurant, Salem, MA.

Joe's notes: 
To quote the lyrics from the great Dinah Washington "What a difference a day makes."

One day I am watching umbrellas scuttling past my window like an army of horseshoe crabs, and the next, shorts and t-shirts flow past as the temperature reaches the mid-seventies. On witnessing the first days of spring I immediately reel in this opportunity to introduce a good-weather drink: The Salem Sunrise. With its warming, exotic fruit-flavored rums and its summer-like fresh fruit-juice ingredients, I feel it epitomizes the change in seasons. The promise of summer makes me remember my summers as a young man.

Much of my young adult life in London was spent living, travelling and working under the streets of the city. I often felt like one of H.G. Wells' Morlocks. On the few occasions I did surface, I would head for one of the many parks in the city or maybe even for a seaside town .

For those of you unfamiliar with an English seaside town of twenty something years ago, allow me to give you a short description.

The attached beach would have two very different generations on display. The younger group consisted of skinny, milk bottle white young men in speedos and their accompanying girlfriends lying topless on towels, (usually borrowed bath towels from the guest houses where they where staying.) The girls would be smothered in suntan oil, trying desperately to get a tan from the weak sun intermittently peeking out from between the threatening rain clouds. The young men would kick a football about while drinking warm Carlsberg beer, (It was always Carlsberg) from a can. This would cause a chorus of profanities from the oil covered girls as they desperately tried to scrape the sand from themselves. It would also bring about threats of violence from the families on the beach as they would be shaking sand from their pies and sandwiches they where eating. English people for some reason always bring vast quantities of food with them to the beach. The football playing would stop every so often so the young men could pick up one of the young ladies and throw her in the sea. This would cause much laughter, screaming and yet again another string of profanities.

The second group was that of the older generation. They headed for the beach not so much for the sun but to get fresh air in their lungs. Many where from the city and it has been a long held belief in England that the sea air had healing properties. The women in this group would rarely take off any of their clothes, as the very thought of exposing naked skin was "Quite unnecessary". The men would roll their trouser pants up to the knees, strip off their shirts but opt to leave on their string vests. This, if they did get sun exposure left a very strange pattern on their chests and backs. Some men who where either bald or balding would wear a knotted handkerchief on their heads to prevent burning . The idea of putting on sunblock or even wearing a hat didn't seam to occur to them.

The seaside town would be full of people either walking about eating Ice cream, newspaper wrapped fish and chips or pickled shell fish floating in vinegar from a glass jar (strange but true). At the end of the day the pubs would be very busy. No A/C existed in the pubs.The sweaty, semi clad young men continued to drink their pints of carslberg alongside the same families that had earlier threatened them with violence. As the kids drank Coke from a bottle and ate packets of crisps, their dads would blatantly flirt with the young ladies. The mums would unwrap yet more sandwiches from their bags, handing these now warm and wilting offerings to the children as well as the ever-hungry young men. All is forgiven, and everyone has had a jolly good day!

Chris' notes: We had some absolutely incredible weather to usher in the spring here in Salem, and those tropical, fruity, rum-laced, "boat-drinks" are foremost on the minds of the educated panel of researchers and our knowledgeable conspirator, toastmaster, and mixologist, Joe.

Joe proceeded to show us why he is known amongst the Hekawi Tribe of the American Southwest as "Dances With Liquors," and whipped us up a local favorite and an early creation of his shortly after coming to Salem on the Mayflower.

The Salem Sunrise is a very rich, and thick drink, thanks primarily to the Mango and other juices, and the flavored rums, but the Dark Rum on top adds just the right balance. This is truly a warm weather masterpiece of a drink, (and will no doubt rock this summer!) and a great way to usher in the changing of the seasons!

Cheers!