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How not to make a strawberry daiquiri!

I had once the apocryphal pleasure to get to know Kathy Casey. It was a Hoteliers Middle East round table and I was quite soon annoyed, due to the pink_cloud _world of Kathy and her partly bizarre understanding of mixology.
You have to understand, that she is a professional chef [however if I see her knife skills I am not so sure about that] - turned bartender.

Sometimes its difficult to be me - and I have occasional problems to stay diplomatic, if the topics become too peculiar. However I guess, that not exactly everybody hated me after this event…

A couple of weeks ago I was surprised to see Kathy on the small screen network. Truth has to be told - this online network signed on really great guys - Robert Hess, was the first one - but also Jamie Boudreau has his show and Jeffrey Morgenthaler did also several videos there.

Other than these 3 guys, I don't really vouch for the expertise for Ms. Casey. Please don't hate me - but lets just check out this video - featuring a Strawberry Daiquiri.


To be honest - I usually don't like frozen drinks. I think they had their time - but as a toast hawaii, it is better to forget it. "Unfortunately" I am still [despite my aversions] able, to make a much better FSD than Casey.
But lets have a look first:
  • Using whole limes is fine [doesn't really have a lot of advantage though] - but she should have cut out the white pith in the middle of the limes - bartender should show there pride.
  • "Coconut rum" [= in my words "the artificial coconut flavored liqueur monstrosity"]? It is a strawberry daiquiri? Otherwise you should have called it strawberry coconut daiquiri [and by the way - the alcohol is too low for a proper daiquiri].
  • Spiced rum? Sailor Jerry just taste like vanilla [oppose the fact, that Casey is talking about spice flavors]. And it has also too low alcohol.
  • The caster sugar is smart - I have to give it to her. If using caster sugar, instead of simple or rich syrup, you keep the mixture concentrated [without the dilution of extra water out of the syrup]. But due to the fact, that "coconut rum" is not "coconut rum" but "coconut liqueur" [this is just how it is] it will be über-sweet.
  • But then: egg white??? WTF??? She could have been able to get away with this, if she would have been able to explain why. But she didn't. The egg white just dilutes the drink even more. As it is a frozen drink, it will not improve the texture. But it will taste like a wet dog, as soon as it oxidized. 
  • Super strange.
But everyone can just criticize. But I promised, to know it better. So here we are.
  1. Use a proper rum. White is classic and would work. Golden is also not a bad idea. Don't use rum liqueurs - just don't.
  2. You can use fresh lime juice - no need to put the whole skinned fruit in it [but you can]. Don't worry - you won't taste the difference.
  3. Use a hint of maraschino liqueur. No not an ounce. Not even half an ounce. I am talking about 1 bar spoon - 5 ml. maraschino liqueur [despite the fact, that it is cherry liqueur] highlights the taste of strawberries and I have the unproven believe, that it also make the drink redder. 
  4. Use caster sugar. Or even better fructose. Why fructose? Because it is dissolving much faster than normal sugar and it is also sweeter. 
  5. Use frozen fruits. If it is strawberry time and you have beautiful ripe strawberries - still freeze them. Why? Because you are using less ice and more fruit - which result into a much more concentrated drink.
  6. If you have a good blender: use ice cubes oppose to crushed ice. Crushed ice [as usually suggested inby a lot of bar tutorials] carries much more surface water than ice cubes. Hence using crushed ice results in a much more diluted drink.
  7. Don't overblend. You have to keep the blender on, until the hard-frozen strawberries and the ice cubes are completely broken down. But every second after the perfect slush, will result into a less icy and more diluted drink.
  8. Don't use egg white. Don't grin stupid [or well - you can if you really want]. Don't dye your hair [at least not while you prepare a daiquiri].
  9. Forget step 1 to step 8; just prepare an absolute fantastic Classic Daiquiri [and this is shaken!]
Yes, you heard right - a Classic Daiquiri rocks! You will have a distinctive drink, which is absolutely timeless. But you won't have the mess and the 80's feel [which is in this case a good thing]. Learn from Jeffrey how to make one:

Comments

  1. Thank you,
    Finally a perfect frozen strawberry daiquiri .... I love the classic rum lime simple syrup version as well, but come fresh strawberry season there really isn't any other way to soak up all that strawberry rum goodness.

    ReplyDelete

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