Two Tiki cocktail recipes from Lily’s to make at home

Downtown Dayton restaurant changes to new concept and offers two summer cocktails to try in your own kitchens.

The right cocktail can elevate a mood and a meal.

Emily Mendenhall, co-owner of Lily’s, shares two very different cocktail recipes from the restaurant’s new tiki-inspired bar menu.

Here are two recipes from the menu that showcase Tiki flavors in very different ways and prove Tiki drinks are more than just rum, coconut, and pineapple.

Lime in the Coconut

An easy, delicious, tropical vacation in a glass

INGREDIENTS

1 ounce coconut rum (Lily’s uses Blue Chair Bay Coconut Rum)

Half ounce of vodka (Something local like Belle of Dayton Vodka is a great choice)

1 ounce pineapple juice

1 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice

Half ounce simple syrup (1:1 ratio)

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with light ice, shake vigorously, and then strain into a tumbler full of ice. Garnish with just about anything you like. Lily’s uses a lime wheel and an umbrella and float the wheel to make a kind of island in the cocktail, and also adds an edible flower for extra color and whimsy.

Lily's Black Pearl cocktail, a funky, dark rum and Fernet cocktail for a really, really, really adventurous drinker. ALEXIS LARSEN/CONTRIBUTED

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Black Pearl

A funky, dark rum and Fernet cocktail for a really, really, really adventurous drinker.

INGREDIENTS

2 ounces Cruzan Black Strap Rum (Mendenhall notes this is a super well-priced dark rum with tons of molasses flavor)

Half ounce Orgeat (sugar cane syrup with bitter almonds; Lily’s uses Giffard Orgeat)

Quarter ounce of Fernet Branca (an Italian bitter Amaro)

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with light ice, shake vigorously, and then strain into a rocks glass with ice. Lily’s garnishes with a strawberry cut into a heart (just cut a triangle from the center around the stem, then slice into hearts) skewered on a skull pick as well as a good amount of fresh mint leaves. Give the mint a quick “clap” between your hands to bring out the aroma before garnishing.


Contact contributing writer Alexis Larsen at alexis.e.larsen@hotmail.com.

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