lost in laos

1 1/2 oz Plantation 5 Year Barbados Rum
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup
3 oz Coconut Milk
4 slice Cucumber

Muddle the cucumber. Add the rest of the ingredients and ice, shake, and double strain into a Collins glass with ice. Garnish with cucumber and a cherry, and add a straw.

Two Thursdays ago, Andrea and I traveled over to Sichuan Garden II in Woburn for dinner. For a drink, I asked bartender Ran Duan for the Lost in Laos. Ran described how he was inspired by Luc-Lac's tequila-cucumber Ramos-like Fizz, the White Buddha, and he crafted his own riff using some of the flavor elements. Instead of cream and egg white, he used coconut milk; while regular coconut milk would work, Ran opted for a canned drink available at Asian food markets that had a lighter body.
The cucumber garnish contributed greatly to the drink's nose. The lime on the sip mingled with the creaminess of the coconut milk. Next, the swallow proffered the great flavor combination of rum, cucumber, and Green Chartreuse. Overall, the balance was a touch on the sweet side so perhaps cutting the simple syrup amount in half would appeal to drier palates (the coconut milk drink might be sweetened a bit too), but the flavors definitely came together quite well.