Despite unseasonably cool temperatures in the Northeast, it is after Memorial Day, and therefore officially Summer in my book. With that in mind I’m going to drink like it’s summer.  For that reason, I’m kicking off the Summer drinking season with a couple daiquiris. Put. The blender. Back. These are not some frozen, overly fruity concoctions. These drinks are the real deal. The Good Old Fashioned Daiquiri (from the New York City Cocktail Book) and The Hemingway Daiquiri (the recipe I used can be found here).

The Good Old Fashioned Daiquiri:

2 oz. Rum

Juice of 1 lime, freshly squeezed

3/4 oz. Simple syrup

Add ingredients to a shaker full of ice cubes, and shake it till you feel frostbite in your hands. Pour into a chilled, stemmed cocktail glass. (Use a wine glass in a pinch)

A perfectly balanced drink. Not too rum forward, and the lime and simple syrup keep each other in check. It is very smooth, and you can have a couple in one sitting without any worries of getting too drunk too fast. Also, given the three ingredients, you could scale up, make in bulk, and bring to the beach if you so desired. The only oddity I found with the recipe is it didn’t call for straining the ice while pouring. Next time, I’ll strain, and maybe add one cube.

Let’s see how Mr.Hemingway’s compares shall we?

2 oz. Light rum

3/4 oz. Fresh lime juice

1/2 oz. Grapefruit juice

1/2 oz. Maraschino liqueur

Combine all the ingredients in a Boston shaker or cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain the contents into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

I found this one to be a little more acidic. That could be my fault as I only own a 2 oz./1 oz.  Jigger, so I eyeballed the lime juice. However, the sweetness of the maraschino liqueur compliments the sour bite of the lime very well.  Like the Good Old Fashioned variant above, this one is refreshing and not very strong, which puts them both solidly into the dangerously delicious category of drinks. Plus this one is sugar free, so it’s got to be healthy right?

It was a tough call but I think I would give a slight edge to the Good Old Fashioned. The taste was smoother (again, that could be due to too much lime, or the grapefruit addition) and it was a bit easier to make since it is only three ingredients. It also has room for experimentation. The couple that contributed the recipe to the cocktail book suggests you use whatever rum you happen to have on hand. Light, dark, spiced. They all will work in that application.  The drink is still a daiquiri, but a different rum adds a different style. I think changing from a light rum in the Hemingway daiquiri would affect the drink in a negative way.

To sum up, the daiquiri is a delicious and scale-able cocktail that everyone should have in their repertoire for these (hopefully) warm summer months we have ahead of us.

(Banner image found here)