The Classic Daiquiri

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How to make a Classic Daiquiri.

2 oz. light rum

3/4 oz. simple syrup (50/50 mix of sugar and water)

3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice

Just three ingredients. What could possibly go wrong?

It turns out that it’s easy to make a mediocre daiquiri, not so easy to make a good one.

1. You’ve got to get the right balance between sweet and tart. Limes vary in acidity so some are more tart than others; you have to taste test the lime juice and maybe scale back the juice to 1/2 oz. Some rums are slightly sweeter than others and if the lime juice isn’t too tart you may need to scale back the simple syrup to 1/2 oz. (Some recipes specify 1/2 oz. anyway.)

2. The distinctive notes of the rum you’re using can’t get lost. It’s a daiquiri, not a rum & Coke.

3. You add the ice after the ingredients because you need to shake the shit out of the mix to make sure the drink is well aerated. But because the ingredients are at room temperature this extended shaking is going to melt more ice than usual, and you’ll wind up with as much as 2 oz. of water (which is actually desirable). Adding the ice before the ingredients—which for most cocktails is the correct order—results in too much dilution.

4. Mathematically this results in 5 1/2 oz. of liquid, and to look like a proper pour the glass has to be a 6 oz. glass, ideally a coupe glass as shown. Anything larger and there’s too much of a gap between liquid and rim, which ruins the presentation.

5. The classic daiquiri is served straight up. The extended vigorous shaking results in small ice chips, and to avoid having them wind up in the glass the liquid has to be double strained, simultaneously using a Hawthorne strainer to catch most of the ice and a fine mesh strainer to catch the rest.

6. The glass has to be as cold as possible. Preferably it should be placed in a freezer and removed just before straining/pouring.

If you get all these details right, the result will make you understand what makes the daiquiri a classic. If not, not.

It took me four tries to feel like I’d produced a proper daiquiri, and totally worth it.

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