Live Like A Star

From the Setai Hotel in Miami comes one of Cowie's favorite cocktails, the Chili Passion. "It's alive with flavor and sweet and spicy on the palette," he writes.

1 oz. cranberry juice
1 oz. orange juice
2 oz. Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay Passion Fruit Rum
1 oz. passion fruit puree
¼ oz. fresh ginger juice (½ cup ginger per two cups of water, brewed slowly—do not boil—for fifteen to twenty min.)
8 to 12 seeds of red Thai chili pepper, 3 to 4 pieces of chopped-up chili, and 1 red Thai chili pepper, sliced, for garnish (slice it so it adheres to the glass!)
Nutmeg for garnish.

Combine all of the juices, puree, rum, and the chili pepper seeds and chopped-up chili. Add to a cocktail shaker two thirds full of ice. Shake for fifteen seconds, strain, and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with the sliced red chili pepper by attaching it to the rim of the glass, or simply float the chili in the drink (do not eat the chili). Top with a dash of nutmeg!

Portions adapted from Colin Cowie Chic: The Guide to Life As It Should Be ($20; amazon.com). To be published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, and available in stores and online December 31, 2007.