Make This Cocktail for a Taste of Lamu

A good dawa is harmony between sweet and tangy. You should feel the buzz of the vodka coursing through you without tasting its potency.

Lamu Old Town on any given day: narrow alleys brim with people going about their daily lives, shopping, cleaning, groups of men reading newspaper front pages or playing bao at Mkunguni Square. We all press ourselves against the walls to make room for donkeys whenever one approaches. I dart in and out of art galleries and kanga shops. Cool down from the December heat with an ice-cold tamarind juice I buy from a street stall and keep walking to nowhere in particular until I get to the waterfront. I’m next to Moonrise, “the best restaurant” on the island, according to reviews, I may as well try it out. The first thing that grabs my attention on the menu is the dawa. The Swahili word for medicine is the inspiration behind the coast’s most famous cocktail. I’ve had it in Zanzibar and Mombasa. They were terrific until my first sip of Moonrise’s dawa, a harmony of the lime, honey and vodka used to make it. For my second dawa, I go to the bar and watch it being prepared.

Turn two limes into quarters, put them in a tumbler, add a drizzle of honey while asking your ancestors to guide your hand so the honey doesn’t make your drink sweet. So, three to four tablespoons. Muddle gently. Get the lime juice without turning this into lemonade. Next, top up with a handful of crushed ice, add two shots of vodka and no other spirit but vodka, swirl gently and serve. Enjoy.

Use vodka if you want the Moonrise experience.