Aloha,

My friends at Paradise Cocktails sent me an email asking how to serve drinks in a coconut.  This is something I hadn’t tried before, but it sounded like fun.  So I did some research.  It turns out it is really pretty easy to hack open a coconut so you can use it as a cup.

The first thing you want to do is drain the coconut water.  To do that use a nail or punch to put two holes in the coconut.  The best place to do this is in the eyes of the coconut.  They are softer and easy to poke through using a hammer.

Next, drain the coconut water.  Be sure to save the coconut water it is delicious, and can be used in a variety of different cocktails.  I suggest you filter the coconut water to separate out pieces of the shell that may have fallen in.  You can even freeze the coconut water to save it for longer periods of time.

After the coconut is drained use a large knife and chop the end off.   Be sure to keep turning the coconut as you chop away the hard shell. This makes it easier to break open.  After a few minutes you should break through the tough shell.  You may want to do this outside.  We had pieces of coconut flying everywhere.

After that, wash out the coconut.  Then, it is ready to serve drinks in.  You can reuse the same coconut several times throughout the night. Just keep filling it.  

Coconut Water, Rum Cocktail

Since I had coconut water I decided to make a coconut water, rum cocktail. First add some ice to the coconut. Then add:

• 2 oz coconut water
• 1 oz white rum
• 1/4 of a lime

Stir everything together and serve.  This is a great simple cocktail.  The coconut water has a mildly sweet, yet refreshing, flavor. It is also slightly salty.  The rum and the lime really complement the coconut water.

Mahalo!

Damon