daiquiri variation (daren swisher)

2 oz Bacardi Ocho Rum
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Panela Syrup (*)
3 dash Coffee Cordial
10 drop Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.
(*) Panela is a raw sugar derived from evaporated cane juice (boiled but not centrifuged) popular in Latin America.Two Mondays ago, I attended the Daiquiri Dossier event at Shore Leave in Boston hosted by the Rum Reader. The site's Ben Schaffer acted as moderator to a panel of Kyisha Davenport of the BarNoirBoston hospitality collective, Ryan Lotz of Shore Leave and other spots in the Traveler Street Hospitality group, Nika Orlovsky of the Baldwin Bar, and Daren Swisher of Daiquiris & Daisies. The panel discussed what an ideal Daiquiri meant to them, what were the ranges of acceptable variations to still feel like a Daiquiri, and what was the ideal balance for each of them. There was also a mention of Boston's tie in with the Daiquiri including the Daiquiri Time Out (I did chime in with observations mentioned in that link where I interviewed DTO founder Andrew Dietz). Over the course of the discussion, seven different Daiquiris were served as composed by the panelists using the sponsors' rums. Three of these seven were rather classic combinations of rum, lime, and sugar of some sort, but the other four had other sweeteners, juices, or accents like bitters. My favorite of the bunch was the one crafted by Daren Swisher as a riff of the Captain's Blood; I was able to track the Captain's Blood back to the 1947 Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide as 1 1/2 oz Jamaican rum, 1/2 oz lime juice, 1 tsp Angostura Bitters. Here, Daren besides using Angostura Bitters utilized a darker sugar as well as touches of coffee cordial. This Daiquiri variation yielded caramel and coffee aromas. Next, caramel and lime notes on the sip sailed into rum, coffee, and allspice flavors on the swallow.