One Drink, Five Ways: Rum and ginger beer

The Islands | Light and Stormy

A Brett Favre lob from the Brooklyn Museum, this petite Caribbean spot serves some of the borough's best incendiary jerk chicken and shrimp awash in fragrant coconut sauce. While most patrons wisely call ahead for takeout, diners willing to brave snail-like dinner waits can commandeer the tree house-like upstairs and glug BYOB. Sure, a hoppy IPA pairs well with fiery food, but we instead order house-crafted sorrel. We mix the tart, purplish beverage made from hibiscus flowers with white Bacardi rum, resulting in a "light and stormy." ($3 for the sorrel drink)

Verdict: 2 stars. Although The Islands gets bonus points for the home-style punch, the sorrel lacks the backbone to stand up to the rum's alcoholic assault—or maybe we're just bad bartenders.

The Islands (803 Washington Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; 718-398-3575)