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Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / Recipe: Floridita Daiquiri Revisited

Post #131519 by KuKuAhu on Thu, Dec 16, 2004 10:37 PM

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K

On 2004-12-16 19:54, I, Zombie wrote:

What do you suggest?

Well, I'm glad you asked because it was something I considered posting about anyway in a seperate thread.

I propose making tea. Sounds crazy but follow me here. We have a nice spice and coffee and tea shop in town (well several actually, but this one is particularly nice) that stocks a great supply of dried fruit peels, herbs, and of particular interest to me, blends of both along with spices.

They have several of the most exotic blends of botanicals in large bulk jars. the assumption is of course that these are herbal tea mixes. Well, when I got to thinking about infusions of alcohol, and gin production, it occured to me that many of these "teas" were remarkably similar in content to gin flavorings (minus the juniper of course).

As such, I have been buying small quantities of the ones that interest me, making a notation of what is in the mixture, and steeping them in rum.

I have yet to complete a batch of rum flavored in this way as I have only just begun this process, but when I do, rest assured that I'll post my results.

However, a similar process could be used to make exotic syrups of all kinds to experiment with. Since all one would need do is steep the hot water and botanicals in a pot until sufficiently flavored, strain, and then add sugar to the resulting strong "tea" in the same quantity as normal sugar syrup ratio of one cup to one pound.

The nice trick being, that just about anyone in a relatively cosmopolitan area or with internet access should be able to locate the ingredients to replicate any syrup you happen to invent and wish to crow about. A recipe that is totally unique in flavor can be made using homemade ingredients.

Let's face it, Don Beach and Trader Vic were no slouches when it came to experimentation. Why be limited only to the flavors prescribed by our forebears or those produced commercially when you can utilize nearly any flavor your imagination can dream up?

My cardamom sugar syrup was a great success in my humble opinion.

Using the Indian dessert "carrot halwa" as an inspiration, I made a drink with the following ingredients (forgive me for not remebering the exact quantities, I'd have to check my notebook):

"Tiger Flower"

light rum
carrot juice
butterscotch schnaps
cardamom sugar syrup
angostura bitters
fresh squeezed orange juice

A shaken with ice and strained cocktail with a nice orange tint and an earthy sweet spiced warmth. Served in a chilled martini glass.

I'll try to find the notes on this one and get anyone that wants to try it the info.

Ku Ku

[ Edited by: Ku Ku Ahu on 2004-12-16 22:40 ]