Classic Daiquiri
The perfect sip for a beach read.
by Erin Henderson
One of my summer reads is The Editor, a fiction novel by Steven Rowley, the author of Lily and the Octopus. Fans of Rowley’s – of which their are many (I think almost all of his books are national best sellers and are generally picked for famous people’s book clubs) – will love, adore, and cherish this fictionalized portrait of a bust-out newbie author and his editor … Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
For me, one of the more interesting elements of the book is Jackie’s penchant for cocktail hour. The fact that this little detail is what caught my attention will come as a shock to absolutely no one. I love, love, love books with clearly defined scenes involving food and drinks. Fiction or not.
You may also like: Watermelon Mint Daiquiri
As dreamed up by Rowley, Mrs Onassis is quite the bartender, and since Rowley clearly did his research on the former first lady’s life, maybe she really was, though I seem to think she would just have people to do that for her. Anyway, in one of the early scenes between the main character and Jackie, she whips up a few champion daiquiris from expensive rum she had rolling around in her office desk drawer and a few limes she swiped from the Doubleday cafeteria. And she hands him his drink on a demure silver tray – as one does when drinking in the office.
Not long after, Jackie invites our protagonist for a weekend at her famous Martha’s Vineyard beach house, where she welcomes him with a bright red Cape Cod – a straightforward highball of vodka and craberry juice with a wedge of lime. When they clink glasses, fictional Jackie says to her young author, “when in Rome.” I must admit this irks me a bit. Martha’s Vineyard is as Cape Cod as Nantucket. Which is to say it’s close, but no cigar. I doubt Jacqueline, who was once the wife of the most powerful man in the world, then the wife of the richest, would make such a gaff.
Try this next: Picher Gimlets
Classic Daiquiri
This can easily be turned into a pitcher cocktail for a crowd. Simply multiply the number of drinks by the ounces needed and add one teaspoon of water per drink to make up for the dilution that comes from shaking.
Makes: 1 drink
Bartender level: well…. you’ll never be as good as Jackie O making magic out of cafeteria limes, but you can try.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz light gold rum (most recipes call for white, but I prefer a light gold as it has more interest and flavour without overwhelming the nature of the daiquiri.)
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- ¾ oz simple syrup (if you really want to be authentic use Demerara sugar or coconut sugar)
How to Make It:
- Fill a cocktail coup with ice and place it in the fridge to chill whilst you prep and make the drink.
- Into a shaker filled with ice, pour the rum, lime juice, and syrup. Shake until the tin frosts up and you get an ice cream headache in your elbow. About a count of 30.
- Dump the ice from the coup.
- Strain the shaker into a chilled coup and serve.
*to make simple syrup, dissolve equal parts sugar into water over low heat (eg. 1 cup sugar into 1 cup water), allow to cool and store in the fridge.
