Drink of the Week for Sunday, April 4, 2010

Located right in the heart of Hanalei town, Bar Acuda offers a relaxing yet classy atmosphere, world-class cuisine and an exotic drink menu. Any lover of sweet martinis should try the “Saigon Kick,” a dangerously delicious drink made with Vietnamese vodka Kai Lychee.

Kai Lychee vodka uses yellow blossom rice, cultivated in remote Vietnamese villages, to produce a triple-distilled spirit. The 600-year-old recipe includes infusing the vodka with the exotic Vietnamese lychee fruit. The result is liquid history.

Bartender Eugene Crane started working as a dishwasher at Bar Acuda three years ago. The Kaua‘i-born-and-raised man worked his way up the ladder, and now charms the good-looking wahine who come to his bar every night.

Eugene, a Cherokee-blooded warrior, plans to travel around the world, working as a bartender and meeting people from different cultures.

His friends say this beer-lifter bloke is a bona fide matador when it comes down to poker playing. Whatever Eugene and his friends are betting — be it their clothes or vodka shots — is better left unsaid, even if it happens thousands of miles away from Vegas, where he could easily clean up at a poker table, or so we are told.

Saigon Kick

2 ounces Kai Lychee vodka

Splash of lime juice

Splash of pineapple juice

Kiss of prosecco

Orange zest

Wild heart

Throw the vodka, the juices and the prosecco together with ice into a shaker, and… shake it up. Shake some more, doing the Cherokee ceremonial dance.

OK, that’s not really necessary, just be wild at heart while doing it, like in everything else in life. Now strain the drink into a martini glass, garnish with an orange zest and pau (-wau).