The Essence of Simplicity

To quote a recent New York Times article by Pete Wells,  “If it’s purple and looks like it came from Mr. Softee, it’s not a daiquiri, no matter what the bartender says.”

David  Wondrich, in his regrettably out-of-print book Esquire Drinks, has the daiquiri as one of his four pillars of the cocktail world.  It is a little odd to write about the daiquiri, the essence of simplicity, a couple of years after writing about the more complicated Hemmingway Daiquiri, which contains two citrus juices and an extra screwball liquor.

The magic of the daiquiri (and what makes it a respectable cocktail, unlike those “blenderific” cloying concoctions from the 70s) is the balance between just four ingredients: rum, lime juice, sugar and ice.  Unfortunately most of the recipes I ran accross are a bit vague for my taste, specifying juice from 1/2 lime or 1 lime.  I just bought limes today.  They were 8/$1, really nice looking, but small.  For this reason I would prefer a volume.  So here’s what I have come up with…

The Daiquiri

• 3 oz. rum
• 1 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a wheel of lime.

I did deviate a little from the light rum used in daiquiris, which makes a fine drink.  Instead I used an aged rum from the Dominican, and a very pleasant substitution it was.   Must remember to thank the inlaws again for that nice little stocking stuffer.