Raspberry Daiquiri Cocktail
A great rendition of the quintessential daiquiri cocktail, this raspberry one is a keeper.
While I will often throw together concoctions in my kitchen, I also enjoy days while I use someone’s recipe and love the results. Case in point is this Raspberry Daiquiri Cocktail.
When I received the revised and expanded second edition of the book ‘Market Fresh Mixology‘ by Bridget Albert and Mary Barranco from the publisher, I was totally enthused with finding something to make and share with you.
I love using fresh, seasonal ingredients in my cocktails and this book seemed right in line with that philosophy.
It’s another book that separates cocktails into the seasons of the year and I like that; expecting that fresh and hopefully even local ingredients will be available during each season at the market there are cocktails specific to that bounty.
When it was time to discover a cocktail that spoke to me, it was too easy; I saw the word Daiquiri and it was all over.
It might have said Strawberry Daiquiri but I’ve been know to punt and this was no exception. Raspberries in the fridge said so.
The original Daiquiri consists of white rum, lime juice, and simple syrup, shaken and strained into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished with a lime wedge.
The drink was created by Jennings Cox, an American engineer who managed the Cuban properties for two American companies (credit as co-creator is also often given to a Cuban engineer named Pagliuchi).
Gin was the preferred spirit at the time but finding himself with none on hand and guests on the way, Cox reached for local rum.
He assumed (and probably correctly) that his guests might not find the local product particularly palatable so he added sugar and lime juice to the mix and a classic was born.
It should come as no surprise that a rum drink in Cuba should have a connection with the author Ernest Hemingway.
The one cocktail deviation considered appropriate by purists is the Hemingway Daiquiri; a cocktail with both grapefruit and maraschino cherry juices that lends itself to a drink with a pinkish hue.
One can only wonder if this is why so many bars have ruined the quintessential daiquiri with too much neon pink something or another.
Daiquiris were one of the first cocktails that I ordered after coming of age to drink (legally!) but I long ago gave up on sampling most daiquiris and blame those sugary sweet concoctions made available at most bars.
Seeing this derivation inspired me to try again and I’m glad I did! The authors have revised the original recipe to include strawberries and a bit of orange liqueur which I liked.
The addition of a tart fruit worked with a bit of sweetness.
As it turns out, my bounty meant switching out strawberries for raspberries and I had to add a bit more sugar than specified.
Not so much to make it syrupy sweet but just to cut the puckery tartness of the raspberry and lime combination. I tried it without sugar and think my lips are permanently formed for whistling!
I really loved this book; near and dear to my heart beyond the cocktails are the infusions they’ve included.
I can’t wait to try Strawberry-Rosemary this spring and the Pirate Berry Infusion this summer where blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are combined with dark rum and cinnamon syrup.
Their suggestion to make a cocktail with that infusion and lemonade is on my list to share as soon as the first warm day of summer is upon us.
Share one of the authors toasts of spring while serving this to your guests; this one made me chuckle!
May we be happy and our enemies know it!
Raspberry Daiquiri – A Classic Revisited
Ingredients
For the Rim:
- Sugar
- Lime Wedge
For the cocktail:
- 6 raspberries
- ½ oz orange liqueur
- 1 ½ oz white rum
- 2 bar spoons 2 tsp superfine sugar (put granulated sugar into your blender for a minute to make it fine)
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- Whole Raspberries and lime wheel for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the Glass
- Spread the sugar evenly on a small plate; rim the edge of the glass with the lime wedge and dip it into the sugar. Set aside.
- To make the cocktail
- In a cocktail shaker or mixing glass; muddle the raspberries and orange liqueur.
- Add the rum, sugar and lime juice and fill the shaker with ice.hake well; strain into the sugar rimmed glass.
- Garnish with raspberries and lime wheel.
Totally divine… one of my faves!
I agree with Holly. You should have your own Friday Cocktails Book. I will even taste test all of the recipes. Tell me when 😀
Ooh that would be fun. The testing. You know I have no desire to do a book. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? Seems it is the dream of every blogger…but moi! 🙂
I totally agree with Holly. It would be awesome if you decided to publish your own cocktail book. It would be wonderful to have such a book.
Well, if there was one book I might consider, it would be cocktails. I simply love making and photographing them! Drinking them ain’t half bad either. 🙂
What a delightful way to start a weekend with this drink. You know I am still waiting for you to decide to publish your own cocktail book, right? It would be gorgeous!!
I will put that on my list right under finishing unpacking and building a new cocktail website! Thanks Holly; appreciate all the kind comments; especially since I wasn’t crazy about this photo! 🙂
Although the classic daiquiri is my favorite, some of the fruit ones can be pretty good (even the frozen ones, if made with decent ingredients — it’s always all about the ingredients). I’m not sure if I ever had a raspberry daiquiri — this looks terrific. Perfect for Friday! Thanks.
Decent ingredients is the key for EVERY cocktail. Don’t even get me started with using triple sec versus orange liqueur! 🙂
I think a daquiri was probably the first cocktail I ever had. We used to mix a can of limeade, a can of rum and a can of water-I think-now that third ingredient escapes me. In any case, we would put these in a freezer thermos and take my friend’s pontoon boat out onto the Kankakee River and float away. Those were the times! I still love daquiris and yours look much better than what we drank. Must admit they were good though!
Yeah…that’s coming back to me too…we should have a #TBT and try those along with wearing some bobby socks. 🙂
This was one of my first drinks too along with a tequila sunrise and a Harvey Wallbanger. Those were obviously the days when calories didn’t count. This is a beautiful drink! I wish I had a pitcher of them.
I could make a pitcher easy enough; we’ll do that to celebrate warmer days! I don’t know if I’ve ever made a daiquiri before and not sure why not but it sure carries a lot of memories.
We must be of the same generation because the daiquiri was my first legal drink too. I’m sure mine had strawberries because I wasn’t particularly fond of alcohol (at first). This looks good but I would have to have enough sweetener so that my lips didn’t perpetually whistle. 🙂
Well that pucker came when I decided to try it before sweetening at all; you know just to see how much it needed. More than 1 tsp that’s for sure!