Lately, I’ve been researching savory cocktails. It’s not that I have anything against sweet\fruity drinks. I just don’t find them particularly compelling. And overly sweet beverages? I cannot stress enough how much I dislike them. A drink should have a lot more going on than just sweetness. You’re not popping a straw into a Capri-Sun after all. I do like the taste of alcohol, I don’t need it to be masked. But savory cocktails take things even further. They don’t just balance the sweet with the alcohol burn. They put the sweet in the back seat in favor of notes of feta brine, pickle brine, tomatoes, celery, and/or fish sauce. And if this all sounds gross to you, I promise it is not. Plus, they double as an appetizer, which is just economical. Today’s Bloody Mary Spritz definitely fits the cocktail/appetizer description.
Oh! Tiki culture, you morally confusing beast. I love your bright colors and unabashed tackery. But I’m troubled by your cultural appropriation of Polynesian mythology and imagery. To say I’m conflicted about tiki culture would be an understatement. But having said that, I have to admit it fascinates me. It’s a bizarre mash-up of misinterpreted cultural symbols and mid-century American aesthetics. It’s strangely beautiful, there’s no getting around it. So, when you isolate tiki culture from the unfair stereotypes it places on a minority, it’s not difficult to see its charms. But is it a given that it should be seen as its own stand-alone cultural phenomenon? No, not necessarily. So, before we get to the frothy, blue fun that is Blue Hawaii Granita let me be clear: Tiki culture is not to be mistaken for Polynesian culture. Okay, I feel marginally better, let’s press on.