and then I mixed: Harmattan

Sorry, sorry, sorry!  It's been longer than it should have.  All I can do is apologize.

Maybe I can sweeten the deal with something exotic and intoxicating.  Yes?  Oh, goody.

Think of a Dark and Stormy gone truly tropical.  Inspired closely by the Monsoon that fueled me to victory at the grown-ups' spelling bee at Highland Kitchen... I present you the Harmattan.  Say it with me: HAR-mah-tahn.  As in, har-har, how do you like this 2-month-long plague of dust in the atmosphere?  With harmattan season coming up in a month or two, I thought this name would be topical.

Do take the time to find ginger beer over ginger ale.  It's much stronger in flavor, prickling like the dry dust.  Mango juice is a promise of spring to come, when these fruits will ripen again.  And the chili pepper - well, Ghanaians like it hot.

After I took the photos, I had another thought.  Try rimming the glass in cinnamon-sugar for another slightly spicy and further dust-colored accent.

If you want to make it really local, switch the rum for Ghanaian akpeteshie - a liquor distilled from palm wine or cane sugar.  (And please, go read that Wikipedia article.  It's the finest of Ghanaian journalism.)  Barring that, just go for some classic dark rum.  Luckily, I got a lovely bottle during a visit to Mauritius.

Harmattan

serves 1
prep time: 5 minutes

ingredients:

2 oz dark rum or akpeteshie
2 oz mango juice
4 oz ginger beer
1 fresh green chili pepper
red pepper flakes or ground bird's-eye peppers (optional)
cinnamon sugar, for rimming the glass

directions:

Pour the alcohol into a highball glass.  Add the mango juice and ginger beer.  Add ice if desired.  Stir.

Slice the chili pepper lengthwise, squeeze a little juice into the cocktail and stir again, using the pepper as a stir stick.  Drag the pepper over the rim of the glass, then dip in dusky cinnamon sugar.  Garnish with chili pepper and flakes/bird's-eye, if desired.

Serve on dim, dusty days to match the color of the sky.