The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess
El Floridita
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The "Floridita" Cocktail gets its name from the Floridita bar in Cuba. If you glance through various cocktail books, you will most likely find a variety of different drinks that go by this name, I'm not sure which one should be considered the original version, but this particular one I find to be quite delightful. You'll also learn about how to make homemade Grenadine in the process. (And as to the name of this drink using the masculine "El" instead of the feminine "La"... I've been told that while the establishment takes the feminine name of "Floridita", in Spanish the bar itself is masculine, and thus "El" should be used. At least that's what I've been told.)
Comments on This Episode
I love rum. Rum is such a great, flavorful spirit. Tonight I was winding down from a family member’s 75th Birthday celebration / Labor Day weekend get together. I looked through my small but ever growing liquor collection and saw that I had all the makings for El Floridita.
What an awesome cocktail ! The tangy lime in combination with the rum and the hint of chocolate at the end is fantastic !
Thank you for sharing this excellent recipe.
To ask a boringly practical question about vodka as a preservative in simple syrup and home-made grenadine: How long will it keep in room temperature? And roughly how much vodka to syrup do I need?
Sorry about the dull questions. Must remember to ask something more “food for thought"-ish next time =)
Alex,
I haven’t done an exhaustive study on the topic. I made simple syrup once without adding any vodka and saw that it eventually started growing black specks… so on the next batch I added about an ounce and a half of vodka to a pint of simple syrup, and haven’t seen any more signs of black specks.
-Robert
I’ve made a few fruit syrups, but not grenadine. I appreciate the great advice on how to seed a pomegranate!
My question is this: When making a raspberry or pineapple syrup, should it be done in the refrigerator for 24 hours, at room temperature for less hours, or simmering on the stove for 30-45 minutes as you suggest with the pomegranate? And while I’m on the subject, how about using this method with other fruits such as papaya, mango, blackberry, strawberry, etc?
Blair,
My preference when making flavored syrups, using fresh fruit, is to simmer the fruit in the simple syrup, although other methods work too, and because each method has a slightly different result, there might be some fruit where each of them might work better.
The Floridita is one of my favorite cocktails, but as I point out in the episode it is very important to measure carefully. I’ve had this drink made by bartenders who were just eye-balling the ingredients, and it was pretty bad.