Snake Eyes cocktail recipe

Let’s play a game. You think of a Caribbean cocktail and we’ll guess what you’re picturing. Cool? Okay. You’re imagining a brightly coloured, slushy delight in a tall, icy glass, complete with pineapple-cherry garnish and tiny paper umbrella. Close, right? While this isn’t wrong, what the locals drink is much less flamboyant – simply Scotch and coconut water. In fact, in Puerto Rico, this drink is as popular as the Piña Colada. Snake Eyes falls somewhere in the middle, with an inspired twist in the spirits department. But don’t let that rattle you – Snake Eyes has the kind of bite you’re sure to like.

Created in 2021 by Ally Marrone and Robby Dow of Brooklyn bar Grand Army, Snake Eyes scales back the coconut water (see our top tips below), and substitutes Scotch for smooth, smoky mezcal. These ingredients combine with banana liqueur, sugar syrup and fresh lime in a salt-rimmed glass, with a lime wedge garnish, to produce a deceptively complex cocktail that suits just about any occasion. Caribbean inspiration, American design and Mexican spirit, this is what great mixology is all about. We’ve made a few further tweaks to the original recipe to get it just how we like it. Trust us, this cocktail is the only snake eyes you’ll be pleased to see staring back at you.

This cocktail may hint at a mezcal Margarita, but it's got its own thing going on. In fact, it reminds us of a good mullet (the hairstyle, not the fish), with business in the front and party out the back. Mezcal, lime and a salt rim shows that it means business, and coconut water, sugar syrup and banana liqueur get the flavour party started. It may sound a little off-kilter, but it couldn’t be more balanced. You know how planet earth has a wobbly axis? Snake Eyes is a bit like that. A little left of centre, but it works. That’s its nature, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

And while the term ‘snake eyes’ can refer to the worst possible result, we don’t see how that applies here. This drink’s tropical profile, underpinned by all those smoky, salty and zingy flavours, makes for lip-smacking stuff.

The key to a great Snake Eyes is to avoid over-dultion. These tips will help you in that department.

Tip number one? Use cubed ice. Crushed ice melts too quickly, whereas cubed iced will avoid immediately over-diluting the cocktail. Plus, it helps Snake Eyes to switch modes from ‘island in the sun’ to ‘lounge-bar sipper’.

Tip number two: Don’t shake the cocktail too vigorously. You want Snake Eyes to pack a punch, and you want that punch to land, so take it easy with the shaker.

As for our final tip, while the original recipe uses 60mL of coconut water, we found that sticking to 30mL keeps the drink bright and deliberate. Any more than 30mL of coconut water can – you guessed it – over-dilute the cocktail. Less coconut water is better for the drink’s overall clarity and vigour. That said, different brands of coconut water are going to vary in flavour, so play around with them to find what suits you.