Favorite Tropical / Boat Drink?

Dennis_DeYoung said:

Here's the thing - this is an amazing drink category. It's essentially the 'good yummy' drinks category.

In this category the Mai Tai is really undeniable. My three favorite drinks are: Manhattan, Mai Tai, Daiquiri.

The unfortunate reality of the modern world is that no one really knows what any of these things are.

Mai Tai is
2oz Jamaican Rum
1oz Lime Juice
.25 Strong Simple Syrup
.5 Curacao (which basically just isn't available in the form it originally existed in)
.5 Orgeat

At my illegal bar we made them:
1.5oz Smith and Cross
.5oz Zaya 12 year (which the whole formula has now changed)
1oz Lime
.75 Orgeat (made it)
.5 Curacao (we got a good --40%ABV-- triple sec and added Regan's Orange bitters and some sugar - it's the closest you can get).

The recipe you should use for a daiquiri is:

2oz Flor de Cana 4 (white)
1oz lime juice (.75 if you like less tart)
1tbsp SUPER FINE sugar (if you don't use superfine it doesn't dissolve right)

If you do this and shake it, double strain, then serve it up, it is incredible.

---

One of the really difficult things about drinking in the USA is that after prohibition cocktail culture got destroyed in America.

I mean, we had a 12 year or whatever ban on it and during/since that time so much has changed. Booze changed proofs, tastes changed, brands went out of business, etc...

Basically bartender went from a guild-style profession to a tips-driven crowd management profession.

99% of bartenders you will encounter literally don't know how to make 10 drinks correctly. It's a weird state of affairs.

I'm not a cocktail nerd because I love being fancy (many 'craft' cocktails, I abhor), but just because when you have drinks that have been correctly made they make sense and are good. For me it was like 'oh wow, THIS is why this exists. oh, damn, it's good'.

One thing me and my snobby cocktail friends like to do is go to bars and order daiquiris and just see what we get. We have a collection of pictures. If the bartender asks for guidance we just say 'oh, whatever you think is best'. It's insane to see the variation.

Because the actual drink is CUBAN STYLE RUM (Daiquiri Beach in Cuba is what the fucking drink is named for), fresh lime juice and sugar. And that's it. It's an interesting perversion that it has come to mean something else to people.

I think we are in an interesting time for drinking. It's kind of like what happened to food over the past 30 years. We came out of the hell that was the 70s where everything was canned and the American dream was to have everything be microwaveable, frozen or instant...

Drinking is still mostly in that state. But it's changing pretty rapidly (as food did) because there is some recognition (you see it here) - you don't have to be a category expert to understand that whatever they serve as a daiquiri at Applebees isn't as good as it should be.

YellowSnow said:

creepycoug said:

I got you yella!

I’ve long wondered @creepycoug if the Cuban Bicardi was better than the current Puerto Rican stuff.

YellowSnow said:

Dennis_DeYoung said:

Pitchfork51 said:

I hate the bullshit when they do line juice and agave nectar and tequila and call it a margarita.

Need real orange liquer bitch.
Then it's good.

I've said this before, but it's NOT A MARGARITA if it doesn't have orange liqueur.

The word for a 'sour' (which is a drink with lemon/lime juice in it) that is sweetened with orange liqueur is a DAISY (because typically they would appear yellow).

The TEQUILA version got the SPANISH name for DAISY: Margarita.

Anything else is a Tequila Sour.

So I've been on the a quest for the perfect pour man's orange liquor and have to give the Patron Citron 2 thumbs down. It's way too dry compared to Cointreau which is the best stuff to use in a Marg. I should have know better since Parton is a product geared towards douche canoes like Sark.