Poolside says it all. It’s where we’d rather be right now…but instead on this 90 degree day, we’re sitting on the couch. Since you’re probably doing the same, why don’t you join us and make the best of it by popping on a loop of the window scene in Trader Sam’s on YouTube and mix up this cocktail while you unwind from the work-from-home day.

This bold and full flavored recipe comes from the Tiki Modern Tropical Cocktails book by Shannon Mustipher. We chose this recipe for 2 reasons:

1. It was photographed beautifully, so it immediately caught our attention.

2. It called for banana milk. Finally something else to do with bananas besides make banana bread!

While the Piña Colada may have been the inspiration for this cocktail, it definitely has a lot more complex flavors to it. As lovers of creamy drinks like the Piña and the Chi Chi, we were really interested to see how the introduction of all these fruity, spicy, warm flavors came together.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1oz Navy-Style Rum
.5oz Cachaca
.5oz Ginger Syrup
.5oz Banana Milk
.5oz Papaya Juice
.5oz Lemon Juice

To start you’ll want to prepare a few of the key ingredients at least 2 hours before you plan on indulging in this treat.

Ginger Syrup Recipe
Combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and 4oz of fresh ginger (peeled and sliced) in a pot and bring to a simmer. Let it steep for 45 minutes before straining and cooling.

Banana Milk Recipe
Peel 1 ripe banana and cut into chunks to freeze. Later combine frozen banana, 1 cup water, .5 tsp of vanilla extract, 1 tsp of honey or sweetener, 1 tsp of cocoa powder, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding more water if needed.

Now that you’ve spent some time prepping, let’s get back to the cocktail! Take all your ingredients and combine them into your blender with ice. Give it a quick spin and pour into a a glass. Finally, garnish with fresh lime zest!

As labor intensive as that may have been, it was absolutely worth it! So, if you happen to have all the ingredients and the time to make yourself some Ginger Syrup and Banana Milk, we strongly recommend sippin’ on the Poolside while lounging on your couch this weekend.