THE OFFICIAL COCKTAIL OF SYDNEY BARSHOW 2010 – THE ORIGINAL BACARDI DAIQUIRÍ

For the very first time Sydney BarShow will have an official cocktail for Australia’s biggest week of bar business, networking events and celebrations – The Original Bacardi Daiquirí.

Sydney BarShow is proud to announce The Original Bacardi  Daiquirí as its inaugural Official Cocktail – perfectly suited to this year’s rum focus due to the all new Rum Shack.

2010 also marks a special year for this iconic classic cocktail. It has been 100 years since the Daiquirí left Cuban shores to find fame in barrooms the world over. To celebrate this milestone Bacardi have released a special heritage bottling of Bacardi Superior Rum complete with a 100 year old label and bottled at the original alcohol strength of 89° proof (44.5% a/v).

Enrique Comas, a member of the Bacardi family says: “Bacardi Rum inspired many classic cocktails like the Original Daiquirí, and to be able to commemorate such an enduring and popular drink through a limited edition bottle of Bacardi Superior Rum, is very special.”

Bacardi Daiquiri 100th Anniversary Celebration - Official Barshow Cocktail
OFFICIAL BARSHOW LAUNCH PARTY

Date: Sunday, September 19

Time: 7pm – 10:30pm

Venue: Marble Bar – Level B1/488 George St, Sydney

Bacardi are hosting the Official Sydney BarShow Launch party for 2010, with added cause for a little celebration of their own. It has been 100 years since the Daiquiri left Cuban shores to find fame in barrooms the world over and in true Bacardi style this party will celebrate the Bacardi Daiquiri journey, whilst tipping its hat to the Cuba of yesteryear with a period themed celebration. As the Daiquiri party marks the launch of BarShow week the guys at Bacardi thought they would introduce a little fancy dress theme to kick things off in style. Guests are encouraged to come dressed in classic early 1900’s attire with a limited edition centenary bottle of Bacardi up for grabs for the best dressed. Invitations are limited.  Email daiquiri@bacardilion.com to register* for an invite or speak to your Bacardi Lion representative

*Please note registration does not guarantee an invitation.  You will be notified by 10th September on whether you have been successful

The Bacardi Original Daiquirí Story

In 1898, a US mining engineer by the name of Jennings Stockton Cox first conceived the original Daiquirí. Cox was managing the copper mines in the town of Daiquirí, Cuba on the outskirts of Santiago de Cuba.  Mining in the tropical climate was hot work, but fortunately Cox came up with a refreshing remedy. Simply by picking a lime from a nearby tree, squeezing the fresh juice into a glass, adding sugar, crushed ice and the local Bacardi Superior Rum a classic was born.

News of Cox’s refreshing cocktail creation quickly spread throughout Cuba, but in its early years the Bacardi Daiquirí was a rare pleasure enjoyed mainly by the island’s residents and occasionally visitors to its shores. Cox was the main driving force behind its early fame. He would frequently share his cocktail with friends, colleagues and acquaintances, most famously at the Hotel Venus bar in Santiago de Cuba, where on one memorable night the name ‘Daiquirí’ – named after the town – was chosen for his creation.

It wasn’t until one historic day in 1910 when Cox invited visiting US Navy Officer Lucius W. Johnson to share a cocktail or two with him that the Bacardi Daiquirí was finally on the road to worldwide fame and classic cocktail status.

Johnson so enjoyed this new creation that he took the recipe for the Daiquirí and plentiful supplies of its key ingredient, Bacardi Superior Rum, on his voyages around the world beginning with a journey back home to the US where Johnson famously introduced the first US bartenders to his new discovery at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C. It was an occasion which is recognised to this day with a plaque in the Daiquirí Lounge of the Club honouring Johnson’s place in cocktail history.

Back in Cuba in the 1920s, the famous ‘La Floridita’ bar in Havana created original variations on the classic Bacardi Daiquirí with different fresh fruits added to Bacardi Superior Rum. These twists by the early cocktail pioneers are now recognised as classics in their own right and even today the Daiquirí continues to inspire mixologists across the world to innovate with Bacardi Superior Rum.

So How do you Make the Original Bacardí Daiquirí?

There are many different recipes claiming authenticity and many videos of varying quality. Perhaps the best cocktail video of the Daiquirí that we’ve come across is from the True Originals series. Launched in November last year, the series is all about celebrating the culture of the bartender and the amazing characters that exist in our world.

‘The Samurai’ embedded below has generated a lot of discussion on blogs and in cocktail forums since its release. It’s a great video, talking to the history, quality and the charm of this classic cocktail. Whilst you may have your own specifications on how to make this drink in your bar, we’re sure you’ll be able to take away something from this.

The Original Bacardi Daiquirí

60ml Bacardi Superior Rum

30ml freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons of caster sugar

Add ingredients into a cocktail shaker and stir to dissolve sugar. Add blocked ice and crushed ice and shake vigorously until the shaker frosts up and is very cold to the touch. Pour and fine strain into quality glassware and present with or without garnish for a simple, yet sophisticated, appearance.

Bacardi Superior Rum Heritage Limited Edition

To celebrate the Bacardi Daiquirí cocktail and the centenary of its first, landmark journey around the globe Bacardi Superior Rum have released a Heritage Limited Edition bottling.

Produced in the beautiful Destilería La Galarza in Mexico by Maestro de Ron Bacardi, José Sánchez Gavito, the bottle design is inspired by a 100-year-old bottle of Bacardi Superior Rum. But it’s not just the label which is a work of art.

“I have been responsible for creating Bacardi Superior Rum for more than 30 years,” explains Sánchez Gavito, “so when I was asked if I would like to create the spirit for this very special limited edition bottle, I considered it to be the most extraordinary recognition and appreciation of my work. If that wasn’t enough, to then also have my signature printed on each bottle as testament to its quality is a dream I could never have imagined.”

“The greatest challenge was to ensure that when creating the spirit with the same alcohol strength as it was around 100 years ago: 89° proof (44.5% ABV), it would, like all Bacardi Superior Rum, have the same flavour profile as it did in1862 when it was first blended by Don Facundo Bacardí Massó. After much work and many tastings I achieved just that and when I tasted the spirit for the first time I fell in love with Bacardi Superior Rum all over again.”

The bottle is presented with a cork style closure designed to closely match the original 1910 bottling. Each bottle of Bacardi Superior Rum Heritage Limited Edition also comes Individually presented in wooden case containing a leaflet celebrating the Original Bacardi Daiquirí.

Only 7,500 nine litre cases have been distributed worldwide with a strictly limited supply being available in Australia. Stay tuned for info on how to get your hands on a limited edition bottle.

Bacardi Superior Rum – A Brief History

Created by Don Facundo Bacardí Massó in Santiago de Cuba in 1862, Bacardi Superior Rum was the world’s first premium, aged, white rum due to Bacardi Massó’s innovative rum producing techniques. Bacardi Massó used a proprietary yeast known as La Levadura Bacardi (still used to this day), blended two distillates (a lighter ‘redestilado’ with a more robust pot still ‘aguardiente’), pioneered oak aging and introduced charcoal filtration to produce what has become the world’s most successful rum brand.

The unique taste of Bacardi Rum inspired cocktail pioneers to create some of the world’s most famous drinks including the Mojito (1862), the Daiquirí (1898) and the Cuba Libre (1900). For almost 150 years the art of creating Bacardi Rum has been handed down from one Maestro de Ron Bacardi to another, each employing their years of experience and expertise to handcraft this legendary rum to ensure that it remains the same today as it did was when it was first blended in 1862.