Recipes

Cocktails to prolong the enjoyment of a long weekend. 

Cocktails to prolong the enjoyment of a long weekend. 

At the end of a summer day, when the air is thick with heat and weighs down stems and branches - there is not much else to do in our lethargy, but to sit back in a shaded garden, or to serve ourselves a drink inspired by one.

Presenting House Cocktails. While we honor the complex art of cocktails, sometimes you just want a drink that makes itself.

Presenting House Cocktails. While we honor the complex art of cocktails, sometimes you just want a drink that makes itself.

Presenting House Cocktails. While we honor the complex art of making cocktails, sometimes you just want a drink that makes itself.

The simple act of running a lime wedge around the outside rim of a glass and rolling the rim in salt can make all the festive difference to a drink, and, also, to your mood.

Ākulikuli: A coastal herb (Sesuvium portulacastrum), known in many warm regions, somewhat like wild portulaca.

Taro: A tropical Asian plant of the arum family which has edible starchy corms and edible fleshy leaves, especially a variety with a large central corm grown as a staple in the Pacific.

Pomelo: The largest of the citrus fruits, with a thick yellow skin and bitter pulp which resembles grapefruit in flavor.

Moro Blood Oranges: the most commonly found pigmented citrus in Hawaii. This one is a favorite in both taste and appearance. 

Java Plum: a South Asian tree Syzygium cumini (family Myrtaceae), cultivated for its fruit and as a shade tree. 

If you are feeling particularly ambitious we invite you to garnish this cocktail with the smoke from strawberry guava bark. Cover to infuse cocktail and enjoy an adventure for the senses. 

We are usually quite capable of pushing ourselves to the limit, and infinitely less skilled at knowing how to come down. Luckily, the effects of fast living might be remedied if only we granted ourselves a few moments of liberating uselessness and the odd unhurried afternoon—an occasion which simply asks that we ask nothing of ourselves. Setting aside some time to quietly observe the world around us is perhaps today’s most valuable form of therapy.

After a long day at work or a list of to-dos, it seems understandable—healthy, even—to resign to a feeling of not being bothered. An end-of-day cocktail, for instance, need not be fussy. Forget the stainless steel drink shakers and spindly mixing spoons—they will only need to be washed later. Locate an old lime wedge left in the back of the fridge. Rinse the closest glass. Laziness is our best shot at conserving energy for the occasions in life that need it most.

There’s so much we don’t know about each other. It’s easy to fill even our closest relationships with small talk. But we get much more out of honest conversation—not only someone else’s perspective, but a chance to redefine how we see ourselves. If we’re lucky, we might be able to change someone’s mind through discussion, but it can be even more gratifying to have our own changed every once in a while.