This savory, fresh and colorful drink was inspired by Adam Seger of Nacional 27. It has its roots in the Bloody Mary, but skips the vodka, subbing in cachaca, a distant cousin of rum. Raid the summer garden for cherry tomatoes and basil in season!

2 ounces Sagatiba Pura, or another cachaca

3 or 4 cherry tomatoes

2-4 fresh basil leaves

2 wedges of lime

2 1/2 ounces tomato juice

Hot sauce, to taste

Worcestershire sauce, to taste

Salt

Muddle cherry tomatoes and lime in a shaker. Add salt, Worcestershire and hot sauce, basil, tomato juice, cachaca and ice. Shake well and serve in a long glass garnished with basil.

So, kittens, what I will want to know are things like how hard or easy it was to prepare, how you served it (and to whom!) and most of all, how you liked it. Photos and videos are welcome, but your comments will suffice. This is all happening March 3, so don’t dilly-dally! I’ll be expecting to hear results on the 4th. Thanks awfully much to Kara Newman, author of the cocktail book Spice and Ice. She contributed this recipe, and instigated the whole virtual cocktail party idea in the first place. Be sure to pick up her book at Barnes & Noble or www.amazon.com for even more unusual and delightful creations!

While you may have your heart set on drinking Hurricanes on Fat Tuesday, have you given much thought to the morning after? A Bloody Mary will get you back into fighting shape and back at your desk before you can say “show me yer boobies.” For a fun and festive twist, try one of these variations:

* make a green Bloody Mary using tomatillos and green Tabasco. For garnish, alternate yellow bell pepper and purple onion strips folded into a “C” shape.

* or,  make it yellow-gold by liquefying roasted yellow heirloom tomatoes; spice it up with bottled West Indies or Cajun hot sauce. Then, you guessed it, garnish with purple and green.

For the complete recipes, pick up a copy of Grocery Gardening by JeanAnn Van Krevelen. My Calypso Mary (the yellow one) and Verde Mary (the green one) can both be found in the tomato chapter.