Heart of Stone Daiquiri

So we are officially in Spring! ...but New York has failed to receive that memo and we are stuck in what seems like perpetual winter.  I am hopeful it will warm up soon so I can start drinking warm weather cocktails. like the daiquiri, one of my favorites.  I ran across the Heart of Stone Daiquiri (adapted from Leo Robitschek) recently, a cold weather take on an otherwise amazing summer drink.

Ingredients:

1 ounce white rum

3/4 ounce amontillado sherry

1/2 ounce apricot liqueur

1/2 ounce lemon juice

1/4 ounce 2:1 simple syrup (I used demerara gomme syrup)

1/4 ounce allspice or pimento dram

Add allspice dram to a coupe and swirl to coat the glass.  Discard any excess.  Set glass aside.  Add remaining ingredients to a shaker with ice.  Shake well.  Strain into coupe.

I would like to make one very quick point about white rum.  Rum is distilled from various sugar products.  In my opinion, some of the best white rum is distilled directly from sugar cane, as opposed to molasses, like many rums are.  If you have a choice then splurge for rum made from sugar cane, which you may see called "rhum agricole".  The depth of flavor provided by rhum agricole is worth the extra few bucks.

This drinks is fairly straight forward, but I am glad Leo Robitschek, one the best bartenders and bar managers in New York in my opinion, developed this cocktail.  It still has that lightness and tartness which make daiquiris the perfect summer drink, but layers on top of it subtle wintery flavors.  The sherry adds nuttiness, the apricot liqueur obviously adds a stone fruit flavor, and the very little allspice dram adds a wintry spice element to it which is difficult to pin down but is completely necessary to this cocktail.  Enjoy!