Mittie Hellmich - Paradise on Ice: 50 Fabulous Tropical Cocktails

Whatever modern-life obsession youve chosen to pour yourself into, admit it, youre secretly yearning for an easy, breezy seguean escape hatch from your kinetic, mind-reeling urban existence. What you wouldnt give for a taste of life in the languid lane, for the feel of fine sand beneath your feet, for a day of sun-drenched meditation on whether to crack open a coconut or gather seashellsall chased with a liquid ambrosia so rich it registers way off the Richter scale of decadence.

Paradise on Ice cant buy you an airline ticket to the Bahamas. But these tropical tonics can transport you straight to that hammock of the mind: a palm-festooned island of white-hot beaches where an unexpected romantic rendezvous unfolds under a night sky so packed with stars that youre looking for the dance floor. In other words, whatever your fantasy, this slim volume has it covered.

Enter drinks from the paradise zone. Here youll find such sublime classics as the refreshing mojito, with its vivacious Cuban crush of fresh mint, lime, and rum; and the sultry Dark and Stormy, a Bermuda specialty of molasses-rich island rum and bubbly ginger brew; plus a slew of fruity-licious elixirs made with every tropical juice known to Tarzan and Jane. And that doesnt even begin to address the world of frosty daiquiris, zesty margaritas, and creamy pia coladas. What you have here, in a coco-nutshell, is a repertoire of libations to lounge by.

The most intriguing tropical drinks are inspired by the innovations in todays savvy mixology scene. As local supermarkets have gone global, the variety of exotic traveling fruits and juices has opened up the exploration of a whole new palate of flavors, from the strawberry-honeylike guava to the densely sweet mango to the delicately fragrant lychee. When combined with traditional tropical spirits and liqueurs, the result is a rethinking of the classics and a whole new wave of fun recipes. A gin martini with a whisper of passion fruit, for example, will be the buzz of your next summer party. Or, consider giving your friends a taste of island euphoria by mixing up a frosty pitcher of papaya margaritas infused with the heavenly scent of Damiana liqueur.

When youre in the mood to play the adventurous alchemist, try whipping up some sumptuous homemade infusions for adding depth and complexity to your drinks. Steeping aromatic ingredients like pineapple or ginger in rum, tequila, or vodka creates a whole new level of delicious flavors. These infused liquors add a lush dimension to such contemporary creations as the Madagascar Mood Shifter, a West Indies spin on the margarita using tangerine juice and vanilla-infused tequila, or use them as a springboard for your own creations. Dont worry if your high-school chemistry course ended in a literal blast. The infusions are simple to make and well worth the effort.

Naturally, this collection pays homage to those legendary figures whose personal quest for the perfect thirst quencher effectively catapulted the magic of the tropics onto the cultural landscape. Paradise on Ice offers tongue-tingling re-creations of the sassy Brazilian caipirinha; the Hemingway daiquiri, created at El Floridita, the writers favorite Havana watering hole; and the Ramos brothers Gin Fizz, a frothy Gulf Coast drink tinged with orange water. Youll discover the madness behind the methods in the tiki zone, where Don the Beachcomber sprung the notoriously potent Zombie and Trader Vic Bergeron unleashed the equally powerful mai tai on an unsuspecting world.

Such signature drinks return us to the spirit of the fantasy-driven Polynesian pleasure domes of the West Coast in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Among them was the first Trader Vics, where the upscale clientele sucked on Samoan Fog Cutters while contentedly cocooned in a dcor blueprinted from the South Seas. The elaborate libations had a reputation for holding enough spirits to light a tiki torch and enough plastic flora and fauna to give birth to the whole notion of kitsch. At the ultra-glam Cocoanut Grove, another hot spot, the famous and infamous alike created fodder for gossip columnists as they moved to the rumba beat of the Xavier Cugat Orchestra, all the while keeping cool with a barful of exotic cocktails.

Ultimately, this collection of sun-kissed elixirs captures the spirit of the tropics without you ever having to leave your backyard. From papaya margaritas to mandarin daiquiris to spirit-free fruit smoothies, these inspired concoctions are guaranteed to make your summer dance party, beach blanket bash, suave soire, or moonlight encounter the next best thing to a breezy island existence.

In Paradise on Ice, the modern tropical cocktail has arrived. Let the funand the limbobegin.