Transcript: La Floridita Daiquiri

Cocktails on the fly
Episode “La Floridita Daiquiri”

Alberta Strauss: Hi, I am going to teach you right now how to make a Daiquiri, and I am not talking about one of those sugary syrupy sweet crap that you might be calling a daiquiri, you know when your out partying or whatever in New Orleans. This is a classic daiquiri; it is from the La Floridita bar in Cuba. This is a great drink it’s made with fresh citrus. It doesn’t have any slushy in it, but some times you make a little cracked ice and some slushy but I am making it up in a cocktail glass. It’s just going to be fresh, tangy, delicious.
Ok and interestingly enough, I want to tell you a little historical story here. Legend has it that Hemmingway used to hang out in the La Floridita bar, and he would be downing these drinks when he was filming the old man and the sea. He would travel to another bar to have his Mojitos. But he would go to La Floridita bar to have his daiquiri. And it’s kind of cool that he was dubbed Papa Double there, and I really liked that.
He was dubbed Papa Double because he always insisted on having doubles. And I was always thinking kind of flighty double kind of had a nice ring to it, only instead of doubles. I think it would be, as my motto goes, one for you, two for me. So what do you think about that, flighty double. Ok, so anyway, I am going to see if I can get that to catch on.
But what we want to do is put some fresh lime juice in the drink. I know its crazy I bet there is no fresh lime juice in any daiquiri you have ever had. This is such a good drink. Ok so we put in about an ounce. Sometimes these limes aren’t too juicy. So you know what, that’s not an ounce, I am going to have to squeeze two limes in there, but we are looking for an ounce. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness gracious. They are really making me work for it. I am going to yell at my producer later. What’s with these non juicy limes! Give him a hard time.
But I love them. Ok so we need about an ounce of fresh lime juice. And then we are going to match that with simple syrup. Ooh there we go, there we go. Ok, and then we need some; well it would be nice to have Cuban white rum. But of course those who know the laws of this world won’t allow us to have any. But we have this fabulous rum, which is the spirit of Cuba. So in the spirit of Hemmingway I am going to put two ounces in there. Ok, so Papa Double. There we go.
And then after that we are going to have some of this fabulous, I love so much, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur. And that is going to be about three quarters of an ounce of the maraschino. Ok and we are almost ready to go, but flighty didn’t chill her glass. It’s always important to chill your glass. So let’s put some ice in this baby. Wow, try not to spill your ice all over the place, your kitchen or your mom will come in and yell at you, making cocktail.
Ok, so that’s chilling. And so we are going to add some ice to this drink. You know, I don’t know if Hemmingway is that great of a writer. I mean he is ok. You know I like the killers, that is a great short story. But as a writer personally he is not that hot in my opinion. But you know what his real legacy is? Something that flighty admires so deeply, is the fact that he is associated with pretty much every major drink of the 20th century. I mean the sidecar, the Bellini, the Mojitos, La Floridita daiquiri, the rotgut. Now I mean that is a legacy flighty can admire. That is something I would like to do, that I would like to leave.
Ok, here we go its time to shake, we are going to shake, shake, and shake. You have to shake like crazy, shake to a nice frothy, frothiness. Can you hear me? Frothy, I am looking for frothy. Om, now there is a little ice formation on the outside of the tin. Ok and then we got to get rid of this ice in here; hopefully your glass is nice and cold.
And then we are going to use this half a lime to edge the glass with sugar. And use bar fine sugar, because bar fine sugar is a little better tasting than normal granulated sugar. It really does make a difference in your cocktail. It makes your cocktail taste better for some reason. Flighty doesn’t know science, she just knows taste and she knows cocktails.
So we are edging our glass, ok there we go we got some bar fine sugar going. And we are going to pour in this lovely daiquiri. There we go, the daiquiri is in there. Ooh it’s looking good. Ok, and then all you got to do, is it’s a simple straight forward drink. Its not crazy like that frothy garbage, uh, I don’t even want to talk about it.
There we go, and float a nice little lime round on the top. Sometimes it is tasty to add a little grapefruit. I could throw this little grapefruit piece to the glass when you are shaking, get a little bit of grapefruit. It’s a nice little alternative to the classic La Floridita. But there we go, La Floridita daiquiri, Hemmingway’s favorite. Let’s give respect and props to Papa Double. Cheers, just remember, Flighty double? Trying to get that to catch on, whew, Flighty double, I like it.
La Floridita daiquiri:
1. Pour in 1 oz. of fresh lime juice
2. Match with simple syrup
3. Add 2 oz. of white rum
4. Add .5 oz of maraschino Liqueur
5. Add ice… and shake, shake, shake
6. Edge a cocktail glass with sugar
7. Staring into the cocktail glass
8. Float a lime round
9. Delicious