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Writer's pictureBamboo Sam

The Banana Daiquiri

Farm to glass at its best...



I know what you're thinking, "Could there be a girly-er drink that's not blue?" Yes, there are many, but I understand your concern. If you (like me) first met the typical banana daiquiri served for the last 20 years, you met a noxious concoction of Sweet & Sour mix, Banana liquor, well Rum and some fool probably dropped a cherry in it. That, my friends, is to a Banana Daiquiri what a bass boat is to a 30-foot live aboard. They both float but in such different styles as to attract a totally different crowd.


ripe bananas
The riper the better!

So, how do we make a banana daiquiri worth drinking? First, start with higher quality ingredients. Being a daiquiri it's a fairly simple drink so nothing makes a bigger difference than the quality of you ingredients. First of all use fresh lime juice, as in, squeeze it out of a lime yourself. Nothing bottled will taste the same due to pasteurization and/or preservatives. Next ditch the banana liqueur and get an actual banana. The riper it is the better. They keep getting sweeter as the turn black and become "mushier" (yes, that's is the technical term) both of which make for a better drink. The ones that are too mushy to eat are where it's at!


Essentially that's it. The rest is ice, simple syrup, and rum. As for the rum, you want to go light in flavor as not to overpower the fruit flavor. The recipe I use (included below) calls for Puerto Rican rum and I personally use Cruzan White. I've also tried it with El Dorado 5 yr Demerara Rum (which is excellent BTW). It's a bit more rum forward but that rum has a sugary finish that suits the banana particularly well IMHO. Either way, the drink will fall somewhere between neutral (using a just-ripe banana) to sweet (with an over-ripe banana).


Unlike a lot of Tiki drinks the banana daiquiri actually uses a reasonable amount of rum (1 1/2 oz) so you could have a few without too much trouble. However, I'm reminded of a trip to Mexico that I took some years back where my wife and I kept visiting this beach bar and having these drinks called a Dirty Monkey. After a few days I realized that with exception of some ceviche I hadn't really eaten much. However, I felt fine which was a bit confusing. As I had this thought I was watching the bartender make me another Dirty Monkey (w/a tail this time) when I noticed that he put most of a banana in it. This, of course, meant that I had been eating about 8 bananas a day sooooooo, that was my last Dirty Monkey on that trip. All of that to say that you'll probably fill up on bananas before you do rum. I recommend thinking of what you want next while you sip...



Banana Daiquiri

Source - Mariano Licudine of the Mai-Kai Restaurant

  • 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

  • 1/2 ounce sugar syrup

  • 1 1/2 ounce Puerto Rican rum

  • 1/2 ripe banana


Cut the banana into thin slices and combine all with 4 ounces of ice in a blender. Blend until smooth (at least 30 seconds). Pour into a chilled Coupe Glass.

Serving Notes - I tend to put these in a single serve container on an industrial grade blender my wife bought (1500 watt Ninja). 30 seconds on that bad boy and its liquid that you can sip in a coupe glass (think poorly strained martini). However, in a standard blender (or perhaps by choice) it will be more frozen (think Piña Colada) in which case you'll need to serve it with a straw. With a straw garnishes are banana with a cocktail cherry pinned to it with a cocktail pick. Served as a straw-less sipper I'd drop the garnish as to keep it from splashing the drinker when they turn up the glass.

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