Well, here we are…again. While we may still get a surprise snow storm, it would appear that Spring has, indeed, sprung. I normally look forward to this time of rebirth and growth, but something this year has me longing for a few more days of sweaters, mulled cider and maybe the odd cashmere scarf. I admit it, I am just not quite ready to start a new season. So, I walk the hills of Stately Monkey Manor and stare from the peak as the daffodils begin to peek out with a bit of pique, if you will. I will enjoy the changes to come, but I am just not there yet. So, with the memory of forced wordplay fresh in our minds, won’t you join me now as we stand and make, the Green Banana.

This one comes to us from the mind of Leandro DiMonriva, the famed bartender who ran The Varnish at Cole’s French Dip in Los Angeles for many years before creating The Educated Barfly, which is where I first discovered his work. It is an original brought about by the desire to combine the earthy base of bananas with the lighter flavor of Matcha Powder made from shade grown, green tea leaves. This one also has an unusual base spirit, Aguardiente de Cana. I have a special place in my heart for this “Fire Water” made with green sugar cane juice. It can be a little harsh, like a baiju or moonshine, but has a unique flavor that is not quite rum, while still bringing an herbal “green” flavor reminiscent of rhum agricole. It is interesting stuff and I am curious to see how it plays with the other ingredients.

Speaking of ingredients, this is another of those cocktails that requires a little pre work before we can mix, so step back in time a day or two and add roughly equal parts, I did 250 grams, of banana peels and superfine sugar to a glass jar and let sit for 24-48 hours before straining to remove the solids. You have just made Banana Oleo Sacchrum, which is divine and particularly nice over a little vanilla gelato or drizzled on pound cake or in a cocktail like the one we are about to make. It keeps for a couple of weeks refrigerated, so I always make a little extra for treats. There is also a great cinnamon variation I use in the Bananas Pajamas cocktail that you might want to try sometime..

Now that you have completed all that pre-work and returned to the present day, grab your shaker tins and toss in 2 ounces of Aguardiente de Cana, I went with some Paute Zhumir from Ecuador; 1/2 an ounce of banana liqueur, I chose Tempus Fugit Creme de Banane; 3/4 of an ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice, 1/2 an ounce of our Banana Oleo Sacchrum and an egg white before sifting in 1/4 teaspoon of Matcha Powder. Give that a good dry shake, before popping your tins apart and adding some artisanal ice and giving this one a slow reverential shake to the beat of Uncle Iron singing “Leaves From The Vine” to remind us that every end is also a beginning. When your tins are well chilled, strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a little sprinkled Matcha Powder for good measure.

Damn, but isn’t that lovely. The banana and the herbaceous kick from the aguardiente are right up front, nicely balanced by the lime. I like it, a lot. That combination of creme de banane and oleo sacchrum comes off almost like banana bread, not heavy, but certainly comforting. The matcha gives a great color and really hangs around in the finish. This drink has got a lot going on in spite of the fairly simple ingredient list and I kind of love that.

This drink hits my current mood on a lot of levels. I am looking at Spring like a green banana laying on the counter. I know it is going to be good, just not yet. It’s also got me thinking about rebirth and small changes. See, the secret is, I made this drink incorrectly the first time and did not love it. The recipe I grabbed just said “rum”, so I made it with rum. A perfectly wonderful rhum agricole by Rhum JM, that certainly fit the described flavor profile. The drink worked, it was “fine”, a little astringent and not what I had anticipated. Still, it worked well enough, I mean I had already taken the picture and cleaned up. Digging a little deeper and discovered that the “rum” specified was not a rum at all, but that South American fire water rite of passage, Aguardiente de Cana. So, instead of just leaving well enough alone, we went back into the bar and remade the drink, spilling matcha powder everywhere in the process. This time it was sublime, perfectly lovely in every way. So what is my point?

Unlike New Year’s Day on the calendar which falls in the middle of winter, Spring is actually a new beginning, a chance to start over and get it right this time. The trees are budding out, flowers begin to bloom, the yard begins to remind you of all the work to come. Nature is starting over and rebuilding from what was left at the end of the cycle. We can do that too. As the season changes, we can take a long look at what is left to us and decide whether or not to just keep on doing what we have been or do we take the opportunity to try and build something new and hopefully better. Maybe that is where my trepidation comes from. The whole world is starting over, beginning a new cycle and here I am with things in my life that don’t work as well as they once did. I am generally a happy-ish person, but there are plenty of things I have outgrown that are still hanging around, holding me back. Old habits that no longer serve who I have become, outdated beliefs that need to be challenged, mirrors that must be stared into if I am going to try to continue the path to be an honest and good human.

We get the opportunity to reinvent ourselves every single day, and if we are going to grow, we have to. As the saying goes, today really is the first day of the rest of your life and if there is something you don’t like about where that life is headed then today is a great time to make some changes…and that is frightening. Just imagine who we could be if we just let ourselves grow into our potential. They say that the best time to plant a tree is ten years ago and the second best time is today. The key is the action, making the decision and a change. So, if you want to harvest the green bananas of your future self, get out there and plant that tree. Ok, I know bananas don’t grow on trees, and although they are a monocot, they aren’t a grass either, so get out there and plant that herb. Yeah, bananas are technically a herb. Weird, I get it. The much belabored point is, if you want things to be better in the future, you have to begin in the present and since the entirety of nature is out there reminding us this is a time for new beginnings, maybe we should take the hint. Hopefully, that will help us stay safe, stay hydrated and stay sane, my friends.