With the weather finally heating up, we're going crazy for everything coconut! From the super-hydrating water to the luscious meat inside, coconuts are chock-full of refreshing flavor -- and lots of restaurants are taking note. Check out a few great coconut-driven cocktails being shaken up at some ultra-cool NYC spots.
For an unexpected twist on a traditional Tom Collins, the Phil Kallins from Mission Chinese Food never fails to delight. Served in a Chinese soup bowl, the Asian-inspired drink is a riff on a creamy Tom Kha coconut soup and made from gin, coconut, kaffir lime, ginger, fried chilies and sesame oil.
The Lucky Bee on the Lower East Side shakes up the lightly spiced If You're Lucky -- fresh coconut water with clove, star anise, and cinnamon-infused rum -- and delivers it in a young coconut. Though it comes with a straw, the friendly staff might just give you a spoon to scoop out the tender flesh (if you're lucky).
Simply called "Coconut" on its lengthy list of inventive cocktails, ZZ's Clam Bar in Greenwich Village shakes up a tropical treat of Trinidadian rum, acacia honey and smoked cinnamon and serves it in a real coconut on ice.
Another winner from that local favorite for Sichuan heat and spice, Mission Chinese Food delivers Dr. Jacoby's Coconut. The refreshing elixir of scotch, coconut, green tea, pineapple and lime juice finished with a togarashi salt rim is just the thing to cure any warm-weather blues.
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