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Sup’s! gettin’ his girl on today! You heard me. I’m in search of that inner-feminine that makes all men real men. Afterall I just spent a weekend with about 75 lovely ladies at CampBlogaway! I almost felt handsome...

So in honor of these powerful women bloggers I am going to slip into something pink and pretty and a little ticklish. If I had a pink boa, I’d wear it for inspiration.

That’s ‘cuz the girls at LoveFeast Table invited me to invent a cocktail to help get them through the Long Hot Summer (does it get hot in Minnesota??)

Now I know these girls. They have regular posts called Fancy Fridays. These include nothing but photos of pretty, flouncy, girly things. So I am going girly with this cocktail. Extremely girly.

Once I had my assignment I began to search out some illumination for my libation. Perhaps some pretty pink inspiration. But the truth is there is not much pink in my house. I have an old polo shirt that’s pink… but girly it ain’t.

So I turned my attention to the yard. Shazam! Look what I found. It is an epiphyllum in full fuchsia flush.  This is better than any ole pink boa!

Now epiphyllums are usually found in more tropical climes than Los Angeles. But this one seems to like the California lifestyle just fine. I mean really! Have you ever seen anything like this before? It’s almost obscene. Obviously this plant’s pink profusion is the perfect inspiration for my LoveFeast assignment.

First off, it’s pink. Obviously pink. But it’s the tropical association that really inspired me. So I decided to do a pink tropical interpretation of a classic cocktail. I decided to make it a bit ticklish too. Because summer cocktails should be fun!

I am calling it a Tickled Pink Tropical Island “Iced Tea”. It’s inspired by the classic Long Island Iced Tea, but the addition of guava juice gives my version the pink-hued provenance of more balmy cartography. Perfect for summer. But I also added a big splash of club soda for that tickle I was looking for. Besides, “Iced Teas” of the alcoholic variety can be dangerously potent. The club soda lightens the load in this department and makes this drink a little more party friendly in my opinion. Because there is nothing uglier than a drunken Sup! gettin’ girly!

Now some purists claim that you should never mix gin and vodka. Which seems like sensible advice. But there is nothing sensible about this boozy beverage. This cocktail is all about summer indulgence. So it defies many of these standard taboos. Making it the ultimate warm weather party potion.

Despite the powerful wallop of rum, vodka, gin and  tequila– the flavors in this cocktail meld like a mellow August afternoon. The tropical guava juice, as well as the exotic orange flavors of Cointreau, blends well with the citrusy notes of gin and limejuice and that spicy kick of rum.

The funny thing about the original version of this cocktail is that it actually does taste like iced tea. My version tastes more like a glass of guava Snapple than a pitcher of the summer style sweet tea you sipped with your gramma on the front porch. But, I’m sticking with the iced tea moniker anyway.

Although it’s hard to know exactly where this libation got it’s start, it seems likely that this is another one of those prohibition era cocktails. The original version has a big splash of cola. In those days many bartenders added this splash as a disguise. Making whatever potent bootleg spirit they might be serving look like a long cool glass of harmless (and perfectly legal) iced-tea.

So here’s to summer. Here’s to LoveFeast Table. And here’s to Sup!, who doesn’t mind gettin' his girl on every once in a while! Especially if it's for CampBlogaway.

Tickled Pink Tropical Island "Iced Tea" serves 1 CLICK here for a printable recipe

• 1 oz Captain Morgan’s spiced rum
• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz vodka
• 1 oz tequila
• 1 oz Cointreau or triple sec
• 1 oz fresh limejuice
• 2 oz guava nectar (such as Kearns)
• 2 oz club soda (or to taste)
• Lime wedges as garnish

Pour all the ingredients into a large, tall 10-14 oz ice-filled Collins or Chimney style glass. Top with the club soda and gently stir. Garnish with as many fresh lime wedges as you like.

Variations:

Long Island Iced Tea: Replace the spiced rum with white rum and the guava juice with orange juice and the club soda with cola.

Miami Iced Tea: Replace the spiced rum with white rum and the guava juice with orange juice and the club soda with cola and the Cointreau with blue curaçao.

New England Iced Tea: Replace the spiced rum with white rum and the guava juice with orange juice and the club soda with cranberry juice.

SERIOUS FUN FOOD

Greg Henry

SippitySup