Kenya’s Holiday Dawa

With the Holiday season falling in the kickoff of what is also known as cold and flu season, it makes sense to me that I feature a drink that is “Medicine”. The word Dawa, is Swahili for “Medicine”. Never heard of a Dawa? Some of you may have actually already had one and didn’t realize it. A Dawa cocktail is a drink made of Vodka, Ice, Lime, Honey and White Sugar that reigns supreme in Kenya. It’s the African Answer to the Caipirinha, a cocktail famous in Brazil. The great part of this cocktail is that the original version doesn’t have any extreme ingredients. Most of them are easily accessible or may even be in your kitchen right now. So like many other good things at the Holidays, we are putting a special spin on this Kenyan cocktail by infusing it with some familiar flavors.

Dawa obtained it’s medicinal name from back in the 19th Century when British Colonial still had rule over Kenya. Travelers would drink the potent cocktail to allegedly protect their digestive tracts from Malaria. Truth be told, the drink actually has no real medicinal properties. But The Carnivore restaurant in Nairobi is credited with giving the cocktail it’s name claiming that it “gets your stomach ready for the meal”.

The drink itself is simple and similar to other cocktails like mojitos and it’s sibling cocktail, the Caipirinha. The ingredients are muddled and combined and served over a good amount of ice.

For the Holiday Dawa, I took 1 quart of Vodka, whatever kind you want, and infused fresh ginger in it. That process is simple. Peel and slice some fresh ginger and just let it sit in the vodka itself. How much you want to put in is really up to you and how strong of a ginger taste you want. I’m a huge ginger fan so I loaded a good amount in.

After a week, the vodka was good to go. If you don’t want to take this route or it makes you nervous, there is ginger infused vodka available at any liquor store. Get a few small bottles and give this a try! If you like it, then impress some others with making your own. The great thing is that you can do this with any flavors.

This cocktail is so simple to make so I’m not going to add more fluff to this article. All you need is Vodka, Cranberries, Mandarin Oranges or Regular Oranges, Honey, Ice and A sprinkle of Brown Sugar.

I hope this puts a warm, Holiday twist on a simple classic. Many of us enjoy Vodka in simple cocktails and this one is super easy. Make it look easy, especially during a time where we need to focus our energies in several different directions. This is also one that you can make in a big batch and then simply serve over ice! However you want to enjoy it, the important part is that you do just enjoy it as well as the rest of this truly unique Holiday Season.

Kenya’s Holiday Dawa

Serves 4

• 1 Quart Vodka
• 5oz Root Ginger, Peeled and Sliced
• 2 cups Fresh Cranberries
• 3 Mandarin Oranges
• 2 tsp Honey
• Brown Sugar for Sprinkle
• Ice

Place sliced ginger in quart of vodka and infuse for 1 week. If you do not want to infuse or are shorter on time, purchase ginger flavored vodka from your local liquor store.

In cocktail shaker, pour in 8 oz of vodka, 1/2 cup cranberries, zest of 1 mandarin orange, 1/2 tsp of honey and ice. Shake vigorously.

Pour over fresh ice in glass and sprinkle with brown sugar. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve and enjoy!