I got some beautiful rambutan grown at OK Farms in my Hawaii Eco box and fresh calamansi lime from my pal Kerri. I have been squeezing calamansi lime juice into my water everyday to keep me hydrated and focused while I work from home.

After I finished work for the day, I decided to make a cocktail with the rambutan and calamansi. I found this recipe for a Rambutan & Lime cocktail online and decided to try it out. I didn’t have palm sugar so I substituted brown sugar in its place. I squeezed the juice of about five calamansi into a glass with the sugar. I added five peeled, seeded, and chopped rambutan to the glass and since I didn’t have a muddler, I proceeded to smash the rambutan pieces with my potato masher. I let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes so that the calamansi juice and rambutan would start to blend nicely. When I was ready for my cocktail, I strained the juice mixture into a glass, added some ice, and added a shot (or two) of vodka to my glass.

Too bad my vodka wasn’t a local one — I’m sure it would have paired nicely with the locally grown fruit juices in the cocktail. Living Hilo Style.