coconut water is the naturally occurring liquid found inside coconuts, especially when they are young and green. Sometimes called coconut juice, it is not the same as coconut milk, coconut cream, or cream of coconut, though it is often confused with all three. The people of coastal tropic communities around the globe drink the water straight from the coconut, which has often been chilled and opened with a machete by street vendors. In recent decades, coconut water has been packaged in aluminum cans, bottles, and Tetra Paks, making it available to consumers all over the world. Packaged varieties may sometimes contain bits of coconut pulp or added sugar.
Coconut water is subtle on the palate, with hints of grass, nuts, and salinity that are lost if it is paired with strong flavors. Nonetheless, in the Caribbean and the countries that border on it one will find it mixed with everything from the local rum to gin to tequila to scotch whisky. In the drink often called a Rum Coco, a simple highball found in various forms all around the Caribbean and Latin America, it is mixed with rum, lime, and sometimes sugar. Although coconut water is less commonly used as a mixer in Asia, in Sri Lanka there is a tradition of mixing it with Ceylon arrack, and one sometimes finds it mixed with various rice- or cane-based spirits in Southeast Asia.
As coconuts are abundant in many parts of the world with strong tourism industries, coconut water has often been employed in concoctions aimed at the tastes of tourists. Coconut water’s flavor is usually overpowered by the other ingredients in these drinks, such as in the variety of examples named Coco Loco, which might contain any or all of the following in addition to coconut water: rum, tequila, vodka, coconut milk, cream of coconut, lime juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, and grenadine syrup. The twenty-first-century cocktail renaissance has brought some more focused uses of coconut water, as some enterprising bartenders have achieved the trick of mixing it with various ingredients without entirely masking its natural flavor. See
See also tiki.
Ceylon Arrack. https://www.ceylonarrack.com (accessed February 25, 2021).
By: David Moo