Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Daiquiri Days

Happy Friday! This week I’m featuring an often overlooked spirit in my bar: Rum. I don’t really know why, but I usually don’t have rum on hand. I was out at the liquor store the other day re-stocking my rye and a bottle of Smith and Cross caught my eye. I decided to make an impulse purchase of it since I recall some recipes calling for it specifically. Plus, I’ve been kind of in a rum/daiquiri mood lately. That’s because of the history desk calendar I have. The other day there was an entry about Ernest Hemingway getting injured during WWI. Quick side note. I send those pages to my family in a group chat, and my sister set me up for an excellent Hemingway joke:

Anyway, I found a twist on a daiquiri called the Jamaican Daiquiri. I figured this was a good way to give the Smith and Cross a go, so I went for it:

1.5 oz Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Rum

0.75 oz lime juice

0.75 oz simple syrup

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until cold and double-strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Distinct rum aroma on this one. I thought there would be more lime, especially with the entire wheel garnish, but there isn’t much to speak of here. Not the worst thing mind you, just where I thought this was gonna go.

Oh that is refreshing. The first thing that got me is just how ice cold this is. I know, it was shaken which chills it almost immediately, and it was poured into a coupe straight from the freezer, but that is what hit me first. A perfect start to this, especially on a hot summer day.

The tartness from the lime is the first flavor that gets you. At first, it would seem like that flavor is going to dominate, but it mellows out rather quickly with the simple syrup helping in that regard. With the mellowed citrus attack, that’s when the rum’s natural flavors start to shine. I hadn’t had Smith and Cross before, so before I made this I wanted to try it neat to get a good baseline. The flavors of the rum are mellowed a bit, but I can still get a good taste of the clove and cinnamon spice notes coming through, along with some of the other tropical fruit flavors (namely mango) that I can still slightly pick up on, now that I know what I’m looking for.

The finish is a mix of the rum flavors, with some of the lime still hanging around. The lime lasts the longest, and leaves a bit of an aftertaste that stays on the palate after you finish a sip. Which I think is a good thing. It’ll keep you from going back to the drink too many times, and this is an easy drinker on a hot summer day. I’ll absolutely be making this again, and I think I need to keep some Smith and Cross in my bar as a go to rum. It’s great to mix, and great to sip. Not to mention easy on the wallet.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)