Blue Hawaiian Cocktail

This cocktail was invented in the late 1950s in what was still the United States Territory of Hawaii. It was in August of 1959 that Hawaii became the 50th state. There are variations to recipes for this cocktail.

Ingredients (per drink):

1 1/2 ounces light/white rum
1 ounce blue curaçao
2 ounces pineapple juice
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
3/4 ounce cream of coconut
pineapple and a cherry for garnish

Mix together the rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice, lemon juice and coconut cream; pour into an ice filled glass. Garnish with one or two pieces of pineapple and a cherry.

WORD HISTORY:
Ocular-This word is related to "eye," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Ocular" goes back to Indo European "okew/okw," which meant, "to see." This gave Latin the noun "okulus," which meant, "eye." This produced the adjective "ocularis," meaning, "belonging to, or having to do with the eyes." This was borrowed into English as "ocular" in the early part of the 1500s.    

Piña Colada

Back in the late 1970s, singer and songwriter Rupert Holmes released a song with the lyrics, "If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain..." Well, the name of the song upon its original release had nothing to do with "piña coladas," because its was called, "Escape." We in the public knew the song because of its reference to piña coladas, and so the record company and Holmes amended the song title to, "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)." The song and the drink were VERY popular!

The "Piña Colada," which literally means, "strained pineapple" (see Word History, below) was invented in Puerto Rico in the 1950s. As with many a popular invention, there is not total agreement as to this drink's naming, or more precisely, when the drink was given its enduring name. This is a very tough drink to make, as it will require you to be able to pour liquid, add ice cubes and then.... to push a button on a blender to make the blender operate, and then... to push another button to make the blender stop. There are college degrees issued for being able to do these difficult maneuvers, but unfortunately, I flunked out. I kept pushing the wrong buttons and it took me most of a semester to find out the buttons that operate the lights in the room are not the buttons that operate the blender. They have to make things complicated. Damn! And I wondered why the lights kept going off and on. 

Ingredients (per drink):

2 ounces light (white) rum
2 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces coconut cream
pineapple chunks
maraschino cherries
1 cup ice cubes

Put the rum, the pineapple juice, the coconut cream and the ice cubes into a blender. Blend until smooth. Garnish with pineapple chunks or slices and a maraschino cherry or two. You can adjust the ingredient amounts to suit your own taste. Hey! The lights just went out. Well, habits are hard to break. Cheers!
 
I've seen all kinds of glasses used over the years for Piña Coladas (short, tall, squat, narrow), so use what you have or what you think makes a nice presentation, if you are serving guests.

WORD HISTORY:
Colander-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, and part of even its later history is a little shaky. It goes back to the Latin noun "colum," a type of "woven wicker basket or fishing net used for fishing." This brought about the additional meaning, "sieve," and produced the verb "colare," "to strain or to put liquid through a sieve." This produced Latin "colatorium." This passed into Latin-based languages of the western Mediterranean in various forms, but while English borrowed a number of words from Latin-based French, this does not seem to be one of them. It was borrowed by English in the 1300s, "perhaps" from Spanish or Catalan "colador," but with an "n" inserted because of either misunderstanding or easier pronunciation in those times? It had several spellings in English originally, all with an "n" ("coloner," "cullender," for example).       

Puerto Rican Eggnog: Coquito

This coconut flavored "eggnog" is a drink for the Christmas holiday season among Puerto Ricans. While it is often described as "eggnog," not everybody includes egg yolks in their recipe. There are some other variations among recipes, too, as, for instance, some people make it with coconut milk, some use cream of coconut (as I've done), and some use both.* Light colored rum, also called "white rum," or "clear rum," is the preferred type of rum for this drink. Rum production is one of the main industries in Puerto Rico, which is a United States territory, and a great deal of Puerto Rican rum is sold on the mainland of the U.S.    

The canned cream of coconut might vary slightly in the number of ounces, depending upon brand name. Some people make larger batches of "coquito," just prior to the holiday season, putting it into bottles, and leaving it to "cure" for a couple of weeks before drinking it. 

Ingredients:

2/3 to 1 cup light (in color) rum
1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
(optional) 2 egg yolks 

Add all ingredients into a bowel and whisk it well, or better yet, put the ingredients into a blender and blend until very well mixed. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, at least, but it is better if left in the frig for 6 to 8 hours. Serve in glasses topped with or without some whipped cream and a little sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

* Cream of coconut has a higher fat content than coconut milk and much of the liquid is extracted (as for coconut milk); thus, it is much thicker, and it is usually sweetened a bit.  

WORD HISTORY:
Cask-This word, related to "quash" (a word borrowed by English), has a difficult history, but it seems to go back to Indo European "kuet/kwet," which had the idea, "to shake." This gave Latin "quassare," which meant, "to shatter, to break into pieces, to split up," which passed to Latin-based Spanish as "cascar," with the same basic meaning. This produced the noun "casco," which initially meant, "shard or piece of pottery." This then came to mean "helmet," "perhaps" from the idea of pottery having formed a vase or jar, which resembles a helmet, because the word also meant, "jar, bottle, vat." Helmets were also used to cook food, or to hold food or drink. This was borrowed into French as "casque," with the same meanings. English borrowed the word in the mid 1400s, with the meaning, "container for liquids, often alcoholic types of liquids."