We can't disappear to a tropical island at the moment, but to make us all feel a bit better the team at Poor Toms distillery in Marrickville have trapped the spirit of a Piña Colada in a bottle of gin, like some sort of tropical genie.
They're the first to admit it's a "very silly gin", but taking a much-maligned resort cocktail and turning it into something you can drink at home, over ice, without the need of a blender is exactly the sort of creative energy we want for the second half of 2020.
They managed to achieve the pineapple flavour by using fresh juice in the still and then dehydrating the skin to concentrate the sugars and acids before distilling it. Coconut posed another significant hurdle, but the solution was threefold: toasted coconut chips, fat-washed ethanol with coconut oil, and fresh pandan leaves for that tropical herbal quality. You add the lime to the coconut, natch, and then a little allspice and nutmeg were the final spicy additions.
Now anytime you need to feel anywhere but here and banish the cold in your bones you can pour a nip and pretend your couch is a sunlounge and the heat lamp in your bathroom is the burning summer sun.
Want more local booze delivered to your door? These bars offer takeaway and delivery.