Cocktails for East Row Mamas: The Green Isaac Special

Green Isaac Special  |  Image Copyright East Row Mama

After a long day – whether that day involves working at home or someplace else – and whether that work includes a job that generates a pay check, or focused full time on making a peaceful, nurturing, healthy home for family – many of the East Row Mamas I know gratefully appreciate the chance to relax for a few minutes with neighbor friends and a cocktail.

One of the things I love about living in the city is that you can’t help but know your neighbors.  After all, you're living practically on top of one another because the houses are so close together.  With postage stamp-sized yards, like those here in Newport, urban mamas and papas spend a good bit of time together outside watching our young children race back and forth between porches. 

In spite of hectic family schedules, it’s a warm weather tradition on our street to pull out the lawn chairs and linger for a bit together in the evening after supper at least once or twice a week.  Being in entrepreneurial mode at our house, and often working funky, unconventional hours to get things done, I am especially grateful when I get a rare chance to join the crowd on my street.

Sharing a cold bottle of beer or a glass of wine is the usual plan, but every once in a while, someone decides to mix things up and share a simple, summery cocktail like a lemon drop, margarita, raspberry cooler, or sangria.

It’s raining today, and everyone is staying inside.  But I found myself in the mood for something that would feel like a fleeting moment of vacation anyway.  

With painfully limited bar stock on hand, I decided to get creative with what I had.  I found a lime in the fridge, along with a can of coconut water.  These went into a rocks glass filled with ice, along with some gin from the cabinet and a few drops of Angostura bitters.  When I tasted it, I knew it was too good to be original.  Someone, somewhere, had to have thought of this concoction before me.  I searched the ingredients online and, almost poetically, I discovered that my new favorite drink was immortalized by none other than THE Nobel Prize winning author, Ernest Hemingway.  I know, right?! How cool is that? Seriously!

 

 

“Where Thomas Hudson lay on the mattress his head was in the shade cast by the platform at the forward end of the flying bridge where the controls were and when Eddy came aft with the tall cold drink made of gin, lime juice, green coconut water, and chipped ice with just enough Angostura bitters to give it a rusty, rose color, he held the drink in the shadow so the ice would not melt while he looked out over the sea.”  -- From Islands in the Stream, by Ernest Hemingway, published post-humously in 1970

In the novel, this liberal twist on a Tom Collins cocktail is aptly referred to as a "Tomini."  In a recipe book published later that was inspired by Hemingway's vivid descriptions of food and drink, the mix is called a "Green Isaac's Special," named for Isaac Island, located just north of Bimini, in the Bahamas (Of course! We are talking Hemingway here after all).

My version is only slightly modified from the original.  I didn't feel like juicing a whole lime, and quickly squeezed just a couple of wedges into the glass instead.  I went easy on the bitters because the flavor is so powerful.  A little of that stuff goes a long way, and I really wanted to focus on the lime and coconut combination.  The result is divine.  The lime combined with the light flavor of the coconut water is so refreshing.  And the coconut water comes with little flecks of fresh coconut in it, adding another layer of interest to the glass.

I’ll be sharing this new favorite with the girls on my street when the sun comes out.  Enjoy one with your urban mama friends!

East Row Mama's Green Isaac Special

(unknowingly adapted from original version as published by the Cocktail Museum)

Fill a rocks glass with ice

Squeeze 3 juicy lime wedges over the ice

Pour in 2 ounces of gin (I like Seagram’s bumpy bottle – it’s tasty and unpretentious.  Plus, it's distilled just 20 minutes away in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and I like to buy local when I can.  But Tanqueray would be delightful if your day has left you feeling the need to spoil yourself.  If you must go authentic and true to Hemingway, then you'll have to splurge on Hendrick's.)

Coconut water

Fill the rest of the glass with coconut water (find it in the Asian foods section of your grocery aisle or at an Asian grocery store.  Make sure you choose coconut "water," not "milk!")

Add 2 drops of Angostura bitters

Stir and commence sipping immediately!