how to make a classic daiquiri at home
Daiquiri, a classic cocktail with white rum. One of the easiest cocktails to craft, yet it can turn out to be one of the most difficult ones. The main feature of the cocktail is the balancing of flavours. A little less or more of any single ingredient can ruin the cocktail. Even shaking the cocktail excessively can result in diluting it and making it watery.
It is named after the town of Daiquiri, located in the southern part of Cuba, where it originated in the late 1800s. Made of just three simple ingredients, including the rum. The other two are sugar and lime. In bar items, if it’s a combination of lime and sugar, we refer to it as a sour mix. That is how we have the other sour cocktails. The whiskey sour, brandy sour, etc.
Daiquiri was initially served in a tall glass. A glass filled with ice to which a lime was squeezed and sugar was added. Over which the white rum is poured. It later settled on the current serving style. Where the cocktails were shaken and strained over a cocktail glass, the entire process of making the cocktail may seem simple. However, the real challenge lies in retaining the flavour of each ingredient without allowing any to overpower the others. This includes water from the dilution of the ice while shaking. Since there aren’t any intense flavours like strawberry, mango, etc., it gives you a very delicate line of balance to work with.
daiquiri and flavours
Usually, most people prefer a flavoured daiquiri over the classic. With flavours coming, it gives us a little extra liberty by reducing the risk of it going wrong. Don’t get me wrong here, it’s just that a mango daiquiri is a much easier cocktail to craft than a classic daiquiri. The skill required is still top-notch. Everyone knows how a mango tastes, but very few will know the classic taste. The entire classic is at the mercy of the bartender. Here, since there is no mango flavour, lime and sugar play the lead flavour role. Where the flavours overpower the rum in a flavoured daiquiri, in a classic, the rum flavours also have to kick in. Now, this is where skill also kicks in 😉
cocktail Ingredients
- White rum
- Lime wedge
- Sugar Syrup
- ice
Equipment required
- Cocktail Shaker
- Measuring jigger / Peg measure
- Hawthorne strainer
- Cocktail glass
classic daiquiri reciipe
- Take a cocktail glass and chill it with ice
- Squeeze 3 to 4 lime wedges and drop them in the shaker
- Add 15ml sugar syrup to the shaker
- Fill the shaker with ice and add 50 ml of white rum to it.
- Close the shaker and shake well
- Open the shaker and strain the cocktail using a Hawthorne strainer over a chilled cocktail glass.
A classic daiquiri has always been one of my go-to cocktails. But the chances of it going wrong are also immense. You could fall in love with it instantly if its flavours are well-balanced. If you get a taste of sweet and sour, with a hint of floral notes, followed by a not very long-lasting flavour reminiscent of the floral notes of the Bacardi. Making you want to sip it one more time. Ladies and gentlemen, you must for sure have your hands on a perfect Daiquiri