Caribbean Soda

 We bought some coconut milk (water) today as a last Caribbean treat   Usually we drink it out of the shells, which is by far the earth-friendlier option (and it looks really cool), but today as I watched the man fix the drink in front of me and mix it with sugar and ice, I thought, Hmmm, maybe it would actually taste good that way.  And, oh boy, it does!  The guy who lives up at the end of our street takes the tops off of the coconut with flourish: he taps the top with the knife, causing a little splash to come out, then sweeps the top off in one swift motion.  Normally this is the point when they hand it to me, but today I asked for the last fancy step.  He poured sugar into the shell and stirred it with a spoon, then put it in a cup with ice.  Wow, it's like the taste that soda is going for.  Delicious!