Recipe

• 3 parts white rum

• 2 parts coconut rum (e.g. Malibu or Coco Bay)

• 2 parts blue Curaçao

• 3 parts pineapple juice

• 2 parts sparkling water

Shake the first four ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Add the sparkling water and a cherry.

Two important things happened recently.

Number one: I bought a bottle of blue Curaçao. This is a curious liqueur made with oranges, a lot like Cointreau and other triple secs, but a bit less strong and inexplicably blue. There's really no reason for me to own a bottle except the colour, but I've seen enough exciting-looking drinks that I had to get some.

Number two: it was sunny. This doesn't happen a lot in St Andrews, and I immediately went searching for tropical, summery drinks to enjoy in my garden during lockdown.

After searching through some disgraceful recipes on the internet that seem to be about 90% lemonade, I found something worth trying here. The photo is obviously a complete fake (how can anything look that clear when it's based on pineapple juice?) but I made a couple from the recipe and it's delightful! Really it's more turquoise than blue, but it still looks pretty, and it has a refreshing and fairly adult taste, reminiscent of caribbean beaches and tropical lagoons (at least, in my imagination, having never been to either).

Cocktail umbrellas really aren't designed for this type of glass, but they're always fun, so if you want one you can anchor it in the cherry to stop it falling out or blowing away. Try it yourself!