Country Living Cooped Up Cocktails: The Daiquiri
Join me for another round of drinks on Cooped Up Cocktails with Country Living Magazine on their IG Live, this Friday, April 24, at precisely 2 pm PT/5pm ET. This week, we are going to keep it reeeeeal effortless and make a classic Daiquiri. There really isn’t an easier cocktail to make, and for all its simplicity, the Classic Daiquiri is HECKING TASTY. You need three things: rum, lime, and sugar. That’s it. But of course, I’m going to show you how to mess with it a little if you want to customize it. And I’m also going to show you how to make a Hemingway Daiquiri variation, because WHY NOT. And yes. There will be a mocktail version.
But let’s back up one sec. You might be scratching your head because you are used to seeing a different kind of daiquiri out in the wild. You know the one I’m talking about: frozen, pink, usually served on a tray poolside? Nothing against that kind of daiquiri (dang, I miss poolside daiqs), but this is a different kind of daiquiri. Some would say this is THE ONLY type of daiquiri. But I’m really not mad at either.
Enough chitchat. LET’S MAKE THOSE DRINKS.
Here’s what you’ll need to bring if you’re going to make the drink with me live (2pm PT/ 5pm ET, tomorrow, April 24th):
To make the drink, first pick your sugar situation. If you’re using granulated sugar, add both that and the lime juice to the bottom of a shaker and stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Add ice, and then add rum, and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe or small wine glass and garnish.
If you’re using any sort of simple syrup, add all ingredients into a shaker with ice, shake until chilled, strain into chilled glass, and garnish.
Feel like stepping this basic drink up a notch? Try adding a half tablespoon or so of fresh herbs to the bottom of your shaker and muddling briefly before adding your other ingredients. Mint, lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme, or even lemon balm would work great for this. Use what you’ve got! When you strain the drink into your glass, pour it through a fine mesh strainer to filter out the herb bits.
Looking for a mocktail version? I got you.
If you are using granulated sugar, add it plus the lime juice into the bottom of your shaker and stir until sugar is dissolved. Now add ice and tea, and shake until chilled. Strain into chilled glass and garnish.
If you are using simple syrup, add all ingredients to a shaker with ice, shake until chilled, strain into chilled glass, and garnish.
As with the cocktail version, feel free to add about a half tablespoon of fresh herbs to the bottom of the shaker and muddle briefly before adding the rest of the ingredients. Strain cocktail contents through a fine mesh strainer into your glass.
Now let’s make a Hemingway Daiquiri. What’s a Hemingway Daiquiri, you ask? Well, it’s the way that Ernest Hemingway preferred to drink his daiquiris. TRUE COCKTAIL HISTORY FACTS.
You’ll need a few extra ingredients for this, but they’re definitely worth it.
If you’re in a pinch and don’t have Maraschino liqueur, you can sub a little bit of grenadine into the recipe for sweetness (but the real Hemingway Daiq definitely requires the liqueur. The man liked his booze boozy.)
To make the drink:
In a cocktail shaker with ice, add ingredients and shake until chilled. Strain into chilled glass and garnish.
**If you’d like to do a mocktail version of this, I recommend swapping the rum for tea (as in the mocktail recipe above), and switch the maraschino liqueur out for grenadine.
Bring all your drink things and join me for Bawktail Hour live on Country Living Magazine’s IG at 2pm PT/5 pm ET so we can make these drinks together while the chickens peck at my ankles and make things more difficult than they need to be.