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Fun with mango nectar

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D
DrMig posted on Tue, Aug 2, 2005 1:15 AM

This is a work in progress, so please feel free to offer suggestions. I try every summer to create at least one new drink to serve to my friends, and I just realized today that summer is already half over (though this is San Diego, and the June Gloom just burned off a couple weeks ago--summer is just getting started here). So I decided to whip up something in honor of my friend Crazy Uncle Joe (not my real uncle). Joe loves mangoes, so mangoes needed to be involved somehow--beyond that I just went with what I had on hand. Anyway, here goes:

THE CRAZY UNCLE JOE

3 oz mango nectar (Trader Joe's brand)
1 oz creme de banana (Bols)
1 1/2 oz dark rum (I used Mount Gay Extra Old, because I had only a little bit left and I want to buy some more)
1/2 oz Grand Marnier
Optional garnish: 1 small banana, cut into 1 inch pieces and then frozen

Place first three ingredients into a blender with ice. Blend until slushy and pour into double old-fashioned glass. place a few frozen banana pieces into the drink (gently--you don't want them to sink to the bottom). Float Grand Marnier on top (it won't stay there, but you'll get some nice bubbling action as the room-temp liqueur descends into the frozen slush). Sip through straw.

Now, the taste test.

The first couple of sips didn't impress me. I thought the rum might be too heavy and was in danger of overwhelming the other flavors. But after a few more sips the mango and banana started coming through, along with random flashes of the Grand Marnier as it diffused through the drink. The frozen banana pieces help to keep the drink cold, but unfrozen would work as a garnish, too. Overall, it was a lot more tart than I thought it would be--I had lime juice at the ready in case it was too sweet, but I wound up not using it. Definitely worth drinking slowly, both to pick up on all the layers, and because it had a significant kick to it. More than one would have put me out for the night.

My verdict: It has potential, but it needs tweaking before I can go public with it. I think I'll try light rum next time, though all I have on hand is Bacardi, which tastes like lighter fluid. Any suggestions for a better light rum--or any other ideas--are most welcome.

A

I whipped this up a week or so ago and it was mighty tasty:

OUR MANGO IN HAVANA

1 oz Havana Club anejo especial
1 oz Coruba
4 oz Mango nectar
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/2 oz Falernum

Shake with crushed ice. Pour into a tiki mug.

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