Today’s DOTD - Drink Of The Day - is a Piña Verde inspired by the anniversary of the premiere of legendary TV show Gilligan’s Island, on Sept. 26, 1964, 61 years ago today. The series ran for 98 episodes over three seasons from 1964 to 1967.
Created & written by American television screenwriter & producer Sherwood Schwartz, who also created The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island followed the exploits of seven characters stranded on an uncharted tropical island after a storm took over their boat during a three-hour tour from Honolulu.
Each week, viewers watched the unusual interactions of the strikingly dissimilar characters: Willy Gilligan, the hapless first mate of the S.S. Minnow; & his best friend, Captain Jonas Grumby, also known as “The Skipper; Thurston Howell III, a Wall Street millionaire, & Eunice “Lovey” Howell, his wife; Ginger Grant, a Hollywood movie star; Professor Roy Hinkley, Ph.D.., better known as “The Professor”; and Mary Ann Summers, a wholesome Kansas farm girl, who won her spot on the boat trip in a contest.
Plots for the show typically involved some plan to get off the island. Inevitably, Gilligan would mess things up - or his fellow castaways would think he messed things up - and they’d all continue to be stranded until the next episode.
But was there booze on Gilligan’s Island? Indeed, there was. Thurston Howell III was regularly seen drinking Martinis. So it stands to reason that distillation was one of The Professor’s skill sets. Howell even gave a Martini lesson in one episode and frequently sipped tropical drinks that looked like a Piña Colada out of a bamboo straw.
While it’s highly unlikely they had rum on Gilligan’s Island - so no Piña Coladas - they may have been able to make an herbal, sweet version of that legendary tropical drink, something like the Piña Verde, a Chartreuse-based take on a Piña Colada, which is today’s Drink Of The Day.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink:
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