MxMo LXVI: Bein' Green

                                                      

This month's Mixology Monday theme, brought to us by the Wordsmithing Pantagruel blog, is the color green. Left open to interpretation, as long as "green" is featured, it sounded too fun to pass up.

Patong is reputed to be the party beach destination in, already famous for it's beaches, Phuket, Thailand. So when I decided to go with a Thai flavor theme for my drink, it seemed an ideal namesake. I'm an amatuer at creating drinks but I was pretty happy with the result. The W&N speaks loudly in this one but I like it so it worked for me. I had this image in my head of some guy in a small Thai village mixing this up with his homemade hooch and I imagined that hooch wouldn't be at all subtle so I wanted something that demanded attention without hiding everything else. I think I got that. The problem with being pretty new at this creating thing is confidence. I always wish I had a critique from someone with more experience before going public. But I didn't, so here it is...

Patong Swizzle
1 1/2 oz Wray & Nephew overproof rum
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz Thai syrup*
1/2 oz unsweetened pineapple juice

Swizzle with crushed ice, top with more crushed ice.

*Thai syrup
1 cup coconut water
2 stalks lemon grass, trimmed, sliced and crushed
4 kaffir lime leaves
1/2" piece fresh ginger, chopped
1 slice from a hot green chile
4 fresh mint leaves
4 fresh basil leaves
6 fresh cilantro leaves
sugar

Heat coconut water, lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger and chile at a slow simmer for ~5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and infuse for ~20 minutes. Blanch herbs in boiling water for ~10 seconds, shock in ice water and add to coconut water. Blitz everything with a stick blender and strain (I strained through a medium strainer, squeezed the liquid from the pulp through then strained it through a fine strainer). Measure the liquid and dissolve in an equal amount of sugar.