As I restart my cocktail series, I will begin with a rather simple cocktail. In essence it is no different than the regular daiquiri, with slightly different proportions and a pink syrup it is simply just rum, lime and sugar. The reason for me to start with this one is to describe what I think is important with a good cocktail. For me that fundamental necessity is good ingredients that tastes good. When it comes to syrups that are red there are a few possibilities like raspberry syrup and strawberry syrup. However, the one that is most commonly known pink syrup is grenadine. There are different kinds of premade grenadines and there are also different recipes for grenadine to be made at home. When I use grenadine, I make it myself. Because of the different recipes to make grenadine, it is important to know what you want from your grenadine. If you want something sweet that colours your cocktail, your best bet is a store-bought grenadine that is dyed with food colouring. If you want something that is quite red but tastes like pomegranates then your options would be a high-quality store-bought grenadine from a speciality store or make your own with pomegranate juice and pomegranate molasses, these usually tests quite good and gives a decent colour. Personally, what I feel is lacking from those kinds of grenadines is a brightness that I feel is present in pomegranates, which leads to my version of grenadine. When I make my grenadine, I use real pomegranates where I crush the fruit seeds around and simmer them with sugar and water until I have reached a level of sweetness I want. While it is not as scientifically made as the other versions may be, I base this off what I want the taste to be.
To taste test the grenadine you need a simple cocktail that will highlight anything in it that is bad. Here it is crucial to use a cocktail that is relatively “naked” in that it if you want much flavour, would be quite boring. When executed correctly with good ingredients the daiquiri might be one of the best cocktails there is, however, it highlights bad ingredients very well, which makes it the perfect cocktail to test ingredients on. So, of course, this is the cocktail I made with the grenadine. When I was about to have this cocktail, I was in the mindset that it will only be a variation of the daiquiri and it will be fine. The reality when tasting the cocktail was actually much more than that, the way I had made the grenadine elevated the cocktail from ordinary to fantastic. If I would have used a common store-bought grenadine, I highly doubt that I would have felt the same way about the cocktail, however, I have not tried that and cannot say anything about the taste if that.
My Recipe:
- 2 oz (6 cl) Rum you like
- 0.75 oz (2.25 cl) Grenadine
- 0.75 oz (2.25 cl) Lime Juice
Add ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake to chill and dilute the cocktail. Strain into a chilled coupe class, if you have a lime wheel, use that for garnish.