Community Cook
Lisa Piec’a Pineapple loves making tasty refreshing drinks from local ingredients. What better time to make thirst-quenching creations than when the humidity and heat are high and monsoon merriment is bubbling?
By Emma Lupin
This time of year happens to be pineapple season, which is also Lisa’s favourite fruit. This is no passing phase – Lisa pays permanent homage to this sweet treat with an impressive life-sized pineapple tattoo on her back. She also has a large collection of kitsch home ware, vintage costumery, and a fat stash of pineapple trivia.
Lisa’s love for pineapples formed in her childhood growing up in South East Queensland, an area well known for pineapple production. Family favourites included frozen pineapple, and mint and pineapple punch at their booze-free parties.
Lisa moved to Darwin several years ago with a dream to start a pineapple farm, but found a career in community services, lured indoors by air conditioning and salary packaging. And she loves Darwin, with its small-remote-city quirks, do-it-yourself fun, friendliness and the amazingly cheap bus service.
Luckily, pineapples grow easily in the Top End, so Lisa’s been able to hone her cocktail skills at various gatherings. Imagine drinking one of her signature Frothy Refreshers down on a humid, stormy night, by a suburban Darwin pool with friends? Alcohol optional...
Frothy Refresher
Makes 4-6 drinks
Spiked Version
- ¾ cup tequila
- 1 ¼ cup pineapple juice
- ½ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup local honey or other liquid sweetener, like agave or rice syrup
- 1 summery style, lightly-flavoured beer
- ½ teaspoon smoked salt (normal salt also is fine)
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chilli powder, such as sumac or paprika
- Mint and lime to garnish
Method
Grind salt and chilli together in a mortar and pestle, and tip into a small dish. Brush the rims of your glasses with piece of lime and dip in the salt mix.
Blitz the tequila, juices and sweetener in a blender until you get a good frothy mix. Divide between the glasses and top with the beer. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and sprig of mint.
Un-Spiked Version
Replace tequila with extra pineapple juice, then use either non-alcoholic beer or omit sweetener and add ginger beer.
Tips!
Make it authentic and source your ingredients from our bounty of produce markets. You want all the ingredients super-cold – it’s even better if the juices are frozen.
