CHIPOTLE WATERMELON MOJITO Cocktail Recipe

  Living in Arizona can be a challenge, especially in the summer when our temps hover in the triple digits. And that old chestnut, "it's a dry heat" doesn't apply during Monsoon season where nature adds humidity to those high temperatures! One needs a tall, chilled drink for some relief from that kind of weather and I had some watermelon .....

CHIPOTLE WATERMELON MOJITO

INGREDIENTS: 1-1/2 Oz. White Rum
1/2 C. Watermelon, Cubed
1/2 Lime, Sliced then Quartered
5 - 6 Fresh Spearmint Leaves
1 Tbsp. Simple Syrup
3 Dashes Chipotle Sauce
Club Soda
Crushed Ice

GARNISH: 1 Watermelon chunk, 1 Lime wheel

TOOLS: 1 Long (tall) glass, Muddler

DIRECTIONS:
Add the watermelon, lime, mint leaves and simple syrup to your tall glass and muddle to release the juices and the aroma of the mint.
Add your rum and your favorite chipotle sauce (I like Cholula), give the cocktail a quick stir.
Fill the glass with ice.
Top off with the club soda.
Add a straw and garnish.

Why the hot sauce when it's already too hot outside? Because watermelons taste great with a little hot sauce and hot sauce actually helps cool your body down.

Yep. It's that easy! Sadly I was forced to drink mine in my air conditioned house ...



Enjoy and Cheers, M'Dears!  

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CHERRY BASIL MOJITO Cocktail Recipe

  I had a few fresh cherries left over  from my Cherry Peach Whiskey Rickey and I wanted something quick and easy to whip up because I was hot, tired and ready for a cocktail. I needed something tall, cool and really refreshing which was also pretty easy and nothing is more refreshingly easy than a Mojito.

I also wanted to console myself because, once again, my work schedule had precluded me from attending Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. I was feeling very sorry for myself indeed. Cherries and rum are a great way to put paid to the doldrums, especially if you add chocolate covered cherries (and leftover peaches from my Grilled Peach Rum Mimosa) to the mix!



Within minutes I was ensconced on my deck sipping away and feeling way considerably less sorry for myself. If you need a little pick-me-up from your doldrums try this drink!



CHERRY BASIL MOJITO

INGREDIENTS:
1-1/2 Oz. White Rum
1/3 C. Fresh Cherries, Halved and Pitted
Fresh Basil Leaves
2 Dashes Chocolate Bitters
3 Tsps. Mint Infused Sugar°°
Fresh Lime, Sliced and Quartered
Club Soda
Crushed Ice

GARNISH: Sprig of Basil, Homemade Maraschino Cherry

TOOLS: Pint or Collins glass, Knife, Cherry pitter, Muddler, Bar spoon

DIRECTIONS:
Place the cherries, basil, mint sugar and limes in your glass and muddle together with a cocktail muddler (or the handle of a wooden spoon) until the cherries have released their juices.
Add the white rum and stir.
Fill your glass with ice then top the drink off with club soda and stir again.
Garnish with a sprig of basil, and or mint, add your Maraschino cherry to the rim and serve.

Enjoy, and remember this one next time you have cherries and need to chill out! P. S. If you like Mojitos and pineapple check out how to make my Grilled Pineapple Mojito on my YouTube channel.  
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GRILLED PEACH RUM MIMOSAS

  With peaches and grilling being in season I had an urge to combine both into a new summer cocktail. I love peaches with rum so that's the road I went down. I wanted to use my Diplomático Reserva Rum in the drink so I thought I'd also marinate and glaze the fresh peaches with some rum as well. Who doesn't like a double dose of rum?

But I wasn't wasting any of the Diplomático in a marinade that would grill off so I used my stock dark rum in the marinade. If you have unlimited supply of Diplomático Reserva, by all means add it to the peaches too. And call me, I'd like to be friends with anyone with an unlimited supply of  Diplomático Reserva Rum!

To get started you have to marinate, then glaze and grill the peaches for at least an hour. Here's the recipe for that marinade/glaze:

RUM MARINADE and GLAZE

2 Oz. Dark Rum
1/4 C. HONEY
1/4 C. White Sugar
3 Tablespoons Dark Molasses
1 Tablespoon Cooking Oil
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
Dusting of Freshly Grated Nutmeg
4 Fresh Peaches, Pealed, Pitted and Halved

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the ingredients together then add the peaches and allow to marinate for a minimum of an hour.
Preheat your grill to medium high.
When your grill is ready place the peaches flesh side down and grill for 3 - 8 minutes. The time will depend on how hot your grill is and how close the peaches are to the heat. Stay on top of them and check for nice grill marks and caramelization every minute.
Flip your peaches over, brush with marinade and continue to grill and baste for another few minutes. Be careful, rum is flammable!
When the peaches are tender remove from the grill, cool then set aside until you're ready to mix your drinks.

If you're using these as dessert, you don't have to peel the peaches. Because I was going to be using them as a cocktail puree I did.

GRILLED PEACH RUM MIMOSA
(Makes 3 cocktails)

INGREDIENTS:
1-1/2 Oz. Diplomático Reserva Rum
4 Oz. Grilled Peach Puree
3 Tbsp. Egg White
2 Drops Orange Bitters
Chilled Dry Champagne
4 Tsps. Honey
Ice GARNISH: Fresh Peach Slice, Dusting of Nutmeg

TOOLS: Blender, Cocktail shaker, Champagne goblet

DIRECTIONS:
Chill your glass(es) in the freezer.
Add the rum, peach puree, honey, orange bitters and egg white to your blender and blend until smooth.
Transfer this cocktail to an ice filled shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds, watch for your shaker to frost over.
Pour 2 ounces of your mimosa style into each chilled Champagne goblet.
SLOWLY top off with the Champagne, being careful not to overfill because the bubbly and the egg will create a foam which can overflow.
Garnish with a fresh peach slice.
Dust with a teeny bit of nutmeg and enjoy!  
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DAIQUIRI COCKTAILS

 

A DAIQUIRI COCKTALE

 Once upon a time ...
"... a group of American engineers who had come into town from the Daiquiri mines were imbibing their favorite drink in this restful spot. It was one of those wonderful rum concoctions made from Ron Bacardi. A jovial fellow by the name of [Jennings] Cox spoke up. ‘Caballeros y amigos, we have been enjoying this delicious mixture for some time, but strange to admit the drink has no name. Don’t you think it is about time something was done to extricate us from this sad predicament?’ It was unanimously agreed that the drink should be named, without further procrastination. There was silence for several minutes as each man became immersed in deep thought. Suddenly, Cox’s voice was heard again, 'I have it, men!  Let’s call it the Daiquiri!' And so it was christened."
~  Miami Herald of March 14, 1937

Thus starts the tale of the Daiquiri, a beloved beverage of presidents and paupers, authors and aristocrats, movie stars, miners and mariners. The Daiquiri is a simple drink with an auspicious past.

Though a somewhat similar potable known as Grog* was being quaffed by sailors many decades before as a preventative for scurvy, the Daiquiri's creation is credited to the above mentioned Jennings Cox. Its history is less nebulous than most famous drinks and its recipe has been fairly definitive from the very beginning. It's a simple, three ingredient cocktail of rum, fresh lime juice and sugar (a member of the Sour family) and, luckily for us, Cox actually wrote his original version down:

The modernDaiquiri Recipe:

From the frozen favorites of Hemingway novels to the fruit flavored slushy renditions found in nearly every tropical vacation local to today's bespoke recipes from craft cocktail bars, the Daiquiri has endured a century of cocktail trends. Despite being dragged through the abyss of cheap rums, defiled by sad pre-made sour mixes and being forced through frozen drink machines for the tourists and spring break crowd, the Daiquiri has managed somehow to remain a noble beverage of humble origins that lends itself to countless variations and interpretations.Below are a few of mine.
VARIATIONS on the DAIQUIRI:
BANANA DAIQUIRI
BING CHERRY DAIQUIRI BLACKBERRY DAIQUIRI
BLUEBERRY DAIQUIRI
CANTALOUPE DAIQUIRI (aka Orange Is The New Black Daiquiri)
COCONUT DAIQUIRI DRIVING MISS DAIQUIRI The HEMINGWAY DAIQUIRIS LAVENDER KIWI DAIQUIRI MANGO DAIQUIRI
PEACH DAIQUIRI, Frozen
PEACH SOUR DAIQUIRI (Unblended) PRICKLY PEAR DAIQUIRI
RASPBERRY TARRAGON DAIQUIRI SPICED BANANA DAIQUIRI FROZEN STRAWBERRY BANANA DAIQUIRIS
"His limes were gently squeezed with his fingers lest even a drop of the bitter oil from the peel get into the drink; the cocktails were mixed (but not over mixed).... The stinging cold drink was strained through a fine sieve into the glass so that not one tiny piece of ice remained in it. No smallest detail was overlooked in achieving the flawless perfection of the drink." ~David Embury, The Fine Art of Making Drinks, 1948
FYI: National Daiquiri Day is celebrated yearly on July 19th.
* Grog was originally made with water or a weak beer and rum with the lime being added later to keep the drink fresh, it had the added benefit of acting as a preventative for scurvy.

DAIQUIRI PRINTS, CLOTHING & GIFTS

Updated 7-2022

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HEMINGWAY SPECIAL & PAPA DOBLE DAIQUIRIS

Ernest Hemingway loved Daiquiris and there are two versions associated specifically with him, The Papa Doble and the Hemingway Special. The two drinks are very similar, varying only in the ratios and in the mixing of the drink. 

Though Jennings Cox is deemed the creator of the Daiquiri, Havana bartender Constante Ribailagua, aka The Cocktail King, is credited for having both perfected the original daiquiri and creating the original frozen Daiquiri at the famed El Floridita bar (The Temple of the Daiquiri) in pre-Castro Cuba.

While Hemingway was in Havana to write he frequented the El Floridita and was introduced to Ribailagua's Daiquiri. Hemingway loved it but, being a diabetic, requested his Daiquiris without sugar, so Ribailagua obliged him with one featuring Maraschino liqueur for the sugar substitute and the Hemingway Special was born. Hemingway liked doubles so dubbed his the Papa Doble. 

It's said that Hemingway would often drink a great number of Daiquiris in one sitting, reports listing from 12 to 16 in one session. Though Hemingway was admittedly a heavy drinker, because he suffered with diabetes I would question these claims. Even though the processed sugar had been removed in his Hemingway Specials, alcohol itself converts to sugar in the bloodstream, not to mention the converted sugars from the grapefruit juice. Not only that, take a gander at the rum measurement, a whopping 3 and 1/2 ounces! Multiply that by just ten and you have and 35 ounces of rum. That's nearly 4 and 1/2 cups of rum, and that's 2 to 6 drinks below what the stories profess he drank! This large a number of drinks would surely have put anyone with diabetes in or near a diabetic coma. Hemingway also had liver problems and high blood pressure, both of which are also exasperated by alcohol intake. But it makes for a nice story.

Whatever the myths that surround Hemingway and the Daiquiri, it is truth that he loved them, often including references to them in his writings.

Papa with his favorite Daiquiri in hand.   The Papa Doble Daiquiri
(Hemingway's own name for a double Hemingway)    3-3/4 Oz. White Rum
2 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice
2 Oz. Fresh Grapefruit Juice
6 Drops Maraschino Liqueur   Blend well with chipped ice in a cocktail shaker and serve in a large chilled goblet.  

The Hemingway Special (The Hemingway Daiquiri)
(What the tourists are probably served)   2 Oz. White Rum
1 Tsp. Grapefruit Juice
1 Tsp. Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice   Hand chip (Frappé) some ice, add to shaker, then add remaining ingredients.  Shake well, then pour contents of shaker into a chilled cocktail glass filled with crushed ice.   To be perfectly honest, neither of these would be a favorite of mine. The Papa Doble is way too strong and neither were sweet enough for me, but I really did like the addition of the Maraschino liqueur and I used Luxardo's brand. To make this enjoyable for myself, and because I'm not a diabetic, I added about a tablespoon of simple syrup to my Hemingway Special and then was quite happy. Then I added one of my Homemade Maraschino Cherries with a lime wheel as garnishes because we all know I like my cocktails with some geegaws.   He was drinking another of the frozen daiquiris with no sugar in it and as he lifted it, heavy and the glass frost-rimmed, he looked at the clear part below the frappéd top and it reminded him of the sea. ~Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream  
  Updated 7-2018 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY  

COCONUT DAIQUIRI Cocktail Recipe

It may be summer time, and a perfect time for a creamy, icy cold Daiquiri, but this recipe was really inspired by a discussion of Game of Thrones and how Jon Snow was constantly reminding everyone in the world of Ice and Fire that "Winter Is Coming!"

Poor guy was totally obsessed and then got killed by some Night's Watchmen and not even a White Walker. Bummer, he was (is) one of my favorite characters!  But, like nearly every conversation I get involved in during cocktail hour, somehow there's always someone who suggests I should "make a cocktail for that!" So I did.

The demise of Jon Snow was sad and shocking (and obviously not really gonna happen), but it didn't stop any of us from enjoying this lovely coconut beverage while summer is still in full bloom here in Arizona and no White Walkers are lurking behind the Saguaros. Lizards, bunnies, quail, a few friendly snakes and cocktail leeches, yes. White Walkers, no, they can't take the summers here. The recipe is a simple tropical riff on a classic Daiquiri, blended to a lovely mound of coconut cocktail joy. I've even provided a virgin, slightly lower caloric version for non-imbibers who prefer their cooling coconut in a mocktail, though it's not as luxurious as the boozy beverage.   And, now that Winter Has Come to the lands of Ice and Fire we're all going to need a few drinks ...   The Winter Has Come COCONUT DAIQUIRI 
INGREDIENTS: 1-1/2 Oz. Diplomático Reserva Rum 4 Oz. Cream of Coconut, I prefer Coco Lopez (Do NOT use coconut milk!) 1-1/4 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice 1 Cup Ice 
GARNISH: Toasted, flaked, fresh coconut and/or Lightly crushed pearl cake decorations for rimming plus some chocolate covered coconut flakes to represent the Dragonglass (aka obsidian aka the only thing that can kill a White Walker.)
TOOLS: Jigger, Juicer, Blender, Coupe glass 
DIRECTIONS: Rim your glass on the outside edge with some cream of coconut, then dip in the toasted coconut flakes or the crushed cake pearls then chill your glasses in the freezer. Place the rum, cream of coconut, lime juice and ice in the blender and pulse until smooth and creamy. Pour into your chilled glass, add the Dragonglass aka chocolate coconut flakes and serve.   VIRGIN COCONUT DAIQUIRI  3 Oz. Coconut Milk 1 Tbsp. Cream of Coconut 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract 1-1/4 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice Flaked Fresh Coconut, Toasted   Proceed as you would with the alcoholic version.   And remember ....  
  Updated 7-2018 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY  

CHERRY PEACH WHISKEY RICKEY COCKTAIL

I love taking advantage of seasonal ingredients in my cocktails, it's a great way to bring freshness and intense flavors to happy hour. It's also a way to bring healthy to happy hour, something that's a large part of my cocktail mission. When I got my hands on some early cherries and some beautiful peaches all I could think of was muddling them in a glass and splashing booze all over them. Everyone else might be thinking pies or fruit salad, but not me, I make a beeline to the bar.

My only problem was what spirit to use. I'd had a particularly long, stressful day and wanted to taste the booze in my drink but still enjoy the tang and sweetness of my ripe cherries and peaches. I waffled back and forth between rum and whiskey, both being good playmates for cherries and peaches, but finally settled on whiskey because it has an effect on me much like a good massage that ends in a gentle kiss. This was exactly what my body and soul needed and just what my two ripe, juicy drupes called out for.
I picked Gentleman Jack because it's a slightly sweeter version of Jack Daniels. With forward notes of caramel and vanilla, a fruity taste on the palate and a soft burn, it seemed a good match for my sweet summer fruits and my mood. Jack did not disappoint, he was a gentleman ... and a heck of an 80 proof masseur.

The CHERRY PEACH WHISKEY RICKEY
INGREDIENTS: 2 Oz. Whiskey 8 Fresh Cherries, Pitted, Sliced Half a Fresh Peach (minus 1 slice for garnish), Peeled, Cubed 1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar Juice of Half a Lime Soda Crushed Ice
GARNISH: Fresh Peach Slice, Bourbon Cherry
TOOLS: Old Fashioned glass, Measuring spoons, Juicer, Muddler, Jigger, Bar spoon
DIRECTIONS: In an Old Fashioned Glass, muddle the cherries and the peaches with the brown sugar and the lime juice. Add the whiskey/bourbon then fill glass with ice. Top off with soda, stir, garnish and enjoy. I did.

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