A welcome drink - "Back of the Island"

I don’t know if cheating on my first recipe is a good start, but for the sake of sharing a delicious cocktail with you, I’ll take my chances.

You may have tried a cocktail with nutmeg before, but that was with nutmeg spice, the brown powder that comes from the ground seed of a nutmeg fruit.

While the yellowish-white fruit of a nutmeg isn’t considered a spice, it has similar taste, albeit with a citrus and sour flavor.  Very sour.  The kind of sour you don’t forget.  But nothing that adding sugar can’t handle.

The island of Penang, where we stay now, has proven that mix with the must try fresh nutmeg juice - a delicious frothy concoction of nutmeg fruit, sugar, and a preserved sour plum.  After planting so many nutmeg trees on the island’s hilly west side to get at the seed of the fruit, it was inevitable that the abundance of nutmeg fruit was put to good use.  

The main town, and sometimes the name used to refer to the entire west side of the island, is called Balik Pulau - a Malay term which literally means “Back of the Island”.  The perfect name for a tropical spice drink!

“Back of the Island” Cocktail (or Mocktail) by Season with Spice

For two servings, you will need:
Two fresh nutmegs – peeled, halved, and pit removed
1 cup of cold water
4 teaspoons of raw or white sugar (5 or 6 if you like your cocktails sweeter)
16 ice cubes
1 can of ginger ale
2 shots of rum (4 tablespoons)

The process:
1. Put 8 ice cubes and one shot of rum in each glass.
2. In a blender, add in the cold water, sugar, and nutmegs. Blend well.
3. Pour the mix through a fine metal strainer into a bowl. Then transfer the juice into each glass.
4. Top off with ginger ale, and stir.
5. Optional – garnish with lime or lemon, and drop the nutmeg seed into the bottom of the drink (for some reason I thought it would float, but it sinks like a rock)


If you don’t take alcohol, no problem, the drink is refreshing with or without rum.

Cheers!