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Wayne plays “Vanna” with the Sky Juice that failed our taste test. |
Once upon a time, in a land I used to call home, Columbia Gorge Hotel was known for its legendary, multi-course brunch. In a seemingly falsetto vice, my waitress there offered, as she held a silver pitcher high aloft my pancakes. “Honey from the sky?”
No, I replied. It just struck me as silly, and too sweet.
However, when “Lonely Planet’s” Bahama guidebook mentioned ‘sky juice’ as an intriguing Nassau drink, curiosity prevailed. All the more so when I saw a bottle of chilled “Mr Do It Nice” for sale, at a time I was hot and thirsty.
What is Bahamian sky juice? Urban Dictionary claims “there is no official recipe,” but at the very least it has coconut water and some sort of alcohol, generally gin.
What did I think?
It tasted nutmeg-y. a bit like a thin eggnog, with a nasty alcoholic taste to it, quite different than a creamy, smooth but brandy-spiked eggnog. While I can’t judge all sky juice by my one encounter with “Mr Do It Nice,” my one encounter rather sucked. I was hot, and thirsty, as was Wayne. We split the 16-bottle, yet neither of us finished it.
If a friend whose tastebuds I trusted told me I just got a bum taste, and either fixed me one or told me where a yummy one could be had, I’d give it another go. Otherwise, no, even with a coy name like “Mr. Do It Nice.”
Maybe someday, I would consider giving this food.com recipe a go. I’d skip the cinnamon and probably buy a good coconut water, rather than find and drain 4 coconuts, unless I acquire a machete and the skill to use it, and young cococnuts are readily available. The recipe….
Chocolati’s Bahamian Sky Juice
Ingredients:
4 ripe coconuts
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup gin
3 tablespoons sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup gin
3 tablespoons sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Directions:
- Using a screwdriver (or awl) and a hammer, poke through the eyes of the coconuts, and drain out the liquid through a strainer into a mixing bowl. There should be a total of about 2 cups. Set the shells aside.
- Add the evaporated milk, gin, sugar if using, cinnamon and nutmeg to the coconut water. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Refrigerate the mixture until cold, at least 2 hours, or cool mixture down with ice.
- To serve, carefully pour the mixture through a funnel into the reserved coconut shells. Insert straws.
Serves 4.
Dear Dana,
As the producer of Mr. Do-It-Nice Sky Juice let me first apologize that my product did not appeal to your taste buds. However, as the ONLY manufacturer that bottles Sky Juice made with only fresh coconut water from the Bahamas, I have had rave reviews from my fellow country men and women. So I consider it a success, as who best to judge. After all I wouldn't go to India and try to tell them how to cook curry. If you don't like it, don't drink it. It's not for the weak of heart anyway. Your publicizing of your dislike is both uninformed and distasteful. But I guess anyone can put anything on the internet. By the way, if you are thirsty, try drinking water….
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Mr. Do-It-Nice Sky Juice it would be a very dull world if we all liked the same thing.
Nor do I expect all readers to agree with my opinion.
In the case of Mr. Do-It-Nice Sky Juice, perhaps the reason it didn't fit with my tastebuds perhaps is exactly as you say — I'm not Bahamian and perhaps I do have an overly Americanized palette. That said, there were a number of native Bahamian (like conch https://www.galleywenchtales.com/2013/06/reconsidering-conch-on-head.html) and other native foods I tried and loved (like and Mofongo https://www.galleywenchtales.com/2013/05/mofongo-food-love-puerto-rican-style.html in Puerto Rico).
BTW I do happen to universally love curries, though confess, it is true that if in India, I might find one I didn't like. It is possible I would blog about it as my own experience. Part of my credibility is that I am honest about my own experience; good bad or in between.
When I hear others experiences are different than mine, I will often blog about that; honestly embracing alternative views.
As the producer of Mr. Do-It-Nice Sky Juice I expect you to be proud of your product and kudos to you for making it available bottled, thus more readily available, portable and even exportable. I am glad you have customers who love it. I just am not one of them. Most of my readers are also not Bahamian; they're mostly American. So, if the taste is so distinctly a Bahamian acquired taste, they too may find their tastebuds similarly impacted.