Comments on: The Four Gospels: The Daiquiri

By: The Pegu Blog

The Pegu Blog — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:52:28 +0000

[...] get a well crafted blend of rum, lime, Luxardo, and grapefruit on the rocks if you were to order a Daiquiri there, I don’t care. Merely feast your eyes on their new dress code, and raise your glass [...]

By: AlchemistGeorge

AlchemistGeorge — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:53:58 +0000

I’ve found that Embury’s recipes tend to really highlight the flavor of alcohol which is why his ratios might seem extreme, if that is to your taste then you must use a *flavorful8 white rum, which eliminates the ubiquitous Barcardi. We use Flor de Cana.

La Floridita #3, the Hemingway Daiquiri is a favorite of ours, we’ve tried about a dozen variations on the recipe, remembering that drinks used to be far less sweet than today.

For a drink whose recipe was repetitively published by the bar where it was invented, the Hemingway Daiquiri and Papa Doble have a lot of variations, we’ve yet to try all (both?) the ‘take the juice of half a grapefruit’ variations, that’s for our next backyard party.

By: M.

M. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:31:22 +0000

Cheers!

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:21:29 +0000

Andrew,

The best I’ve tried so far (for Daiquiris) was some 10 Cane. But if you want more advice (lot’s more) follow the link to Rumdood’s site. He actually knows whereof he speaks with rums.

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:19:15 +0000

Matt,
You told me that conversation once before. Are you still the willing dungeon slave of the one guy who knew what you meant when you asked for “Rum, lime juice, and some simple syrup”?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:01:56 +0000

@Doug:
Nice post Although I prefer to add more juices, almost 1 rum: 1 juice ratio.

Do you have any recommendations for rum?

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:51:23 +0000

A good question.
Fortunately, I have connections.
I’ll get back to you!

By: dbeach

dbeach — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:57:46 +0000

@Doug:
Yeah, half a grapefruit seems extreme, but remember that recipe also calls for almost four ounces of rum (it is a double, after all). Still, it’s a lot. I generally use about 3/4 oz. each of lime and grapefruit (in my experience that would be about 1/8 of a ruby red grapefruit) to go with 2 oz rum and 1/4 oz. maraschino. That sort of splits the difference between the recipes, I think. And like I said I really like grapefruit.

I would also be interested to know what sort of citrus, not only grapefruits but also limes, they were using at the Floridita back then. Who would know something like that?

By: Matt Robold (RumDood)

Matt Robold (RumDood) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:02:14 +0000

The Daiquiri is the Holy of Holies when it comes to rum cocktails. The abominations of slurpee machine glop that people drink today are just horrid indicators of how badly we’ve lost our way.

I can’t even count how many times I’ve had the following conversation:

Me: I’d like a daiquiri made with Rum X please.
Bartender/Waitress: We don’t serve blended drinks.
Me: A daiquiri is not a blended drink.
Bartender/Waitress: Look, what I mean is that we don’t have a blender.
Me: A daiquiri is not a blended drink.
Bartender/Waitress: Huh?
Me: Give me rum, sugar, and lime juice in a glass with ice.
Bartender/Waitress: Lime? You mean sweet & sour?
Me: On second thought, I’ll have a club soda.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:17:08 +0000

Half a grapefruit seems pretty extreme to me. At that point, I think we’re losing Daiquiri status.
I have another question about the Hemingway that didn’t occur to me until after this post was written: What kind of grapefruit did they have back then? What did they use?
There would be a world of difference if you used the juice of half a big yellow grapefruit, as opposed to half of a modern, small, pink grapefruit.

By: dbeach

dbeach — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:06:13 +0000

Just a comment on the Hemingway daiquiri. The Floridita recipe for the Hemingway is similar to yours, specifying only a teaspoon of grapefruit juice. (Recipe here.) But it does not seem that is how they actually made them for Papa. Hemingway biographer AE Hotchner, who actually drank daiquiris with the man described Floridita bartender Constante's recipe as "two and a half jiggers of Bacardi White Label Rum, the juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, and six drops of maraschino, all placed in a electric mixer over shaved ice, whirled vigorously and served foaming in large goblets." Now obviously it's tough to say how much lime that is; I've seen some small limes in Mexico and they might have had the same ones in Cuba. So maybe that was only around an ounce or so of lime. But the juice of half a grapefruit would be at least two ounces, I think. Anyway, much more than a teaspoon. When I originally made this drink I used something like your recommended 1/4 oz. of grapefruit, and it didn't make sense to me. What's the point of putting that little in? You couldn't taste it; it was just a daiquiri sweetened with maraschino instead of sugar. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Nowadays I usually put equal amounts of grapefruit and lime, which I admit is pretty juicy. But I am a grapefruit fiend.

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:18:51 +0000

I’d never much gone for Daiquiris before I had a Hemingway Daiquiri at Details here. I always had gone with the very basic recipe before, and that bored me quickly, especially since I always made them with Bacardi. It’s fun how you can just add little grace notes and get so much more interest without really changing the intrinsic character of the drink.
So, how do you make yours?

By: Stevi Deter

Stevi Deter — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:29:03 +0000

Nice post, Doug. For all my rambling about being a gin fiend, the drink I most often make at home is a daiquiri. It’s a real shame so many people think it requires a blender and that “lime daiquiri” is a flavor you have to specify.

Which is why I make it at home instead of ordering it out!