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What: Plums range in skin color from yellow-green to red to black-purple—but they also vary in flesh color. We asked Matt Ficke, bartender at the Columbia Room, for a drink that would put a red-fleshed variety on display. He suggests adding them to a caipirissima—a caipirinha made with white rum instead of cachaça, the Brazilian spirit typically used for the drink. Any fruit works with the rum-lime-sugar base of the drink, but plums’ mix of sweet and tart make them ideal.
How to Buy: Skin color does not correlate with flesh color, so ask your fruit vendor to point you to red-fleshed plum varieties. Reid’s Orchard at the Mt. Pleasant and Bloomingdale markets has Methley plums for $5 a pint. Plums will be available through the end of summer. Fruit should be tender, not firm.
How to Make: Slice one plum and quarter half a lime. Place in a cocktail shaker along with 1 oz. of simple syrup and press to mix with a heavy spoon or muddler. Add 2 oz. of Rhum Agricole, or any white rum. Fill with cracked ice and shake. Pour entire mixture into a glass and serve, garnishing with a slice of plum.
Photo by Phoebe Connelly