Pinglan

Pisang Ambon is a bright green banana liqueur from the Netherlands, and it is the whole reason this drink exists. Put it next to Irish cream and milk and you get something that tastes like a banana milkshake and looks like nothing you would expect from that description, since the green fights the cream to a pale, slightly unsettling middle.

The original recipe is written in parts rather than measures, one to one to three, which is how drinks get passed around rather than published. That ratio is the useful part. Three parts dairy to one part liqueur keeps this firmly in the dessert lane and means the banana arrives as flavor rather than as sugar.

Glass: Cocktail glass | Strength: Light | Serves: 1 | Prep Time: 3 minutes

Bartenders tip: Keep the pour small, because a cocktail glass packed with crushed ice does not hold much and this is not a drink that improves with volume. Shake it cold and short, since Irish cream and prolonged agitation do not get along. Whole milk works better than skim here, as there is nothing else in the glass supplying body. If the green is too strange looking for you, a little more Irish cream pulls it toward a softer color without changing the taste much.