Boozist

Pepsi daiquiri is the only way to celebrate National Rum Day

pepsi daiquiri

pepsi daiquiriIt’s National Rum Day! Can you hold in all those joyful emotions? Personally my liver is force-fed excitement like foie gras. Forget the frozen drinks and Cuba Libres, we’re celebrating with a cocktail that’s ten time as obscure and twenty times as wonderful… a Pepsi daiquiri.

Don’t go! I know what you’re thinking. I must be out of my GDMF’ing mind. You might recall though the post about Julia Momose creating a bunch of cocktails using Pepsi’s craft cola line, 1893. They couldn’t have been better, and one of them is making another appearance to celebrate the most holy of holidays.

Kola Daiquiri
By 1893 Top Shelf Bartender Julia Momose, Chicago, IL

  • .5 oz Plantation OFTD Rum
  • 1.5 oz 1893 Original Cola
  • .75 oz Lime Juice
  • .25 oz Rich Demerara Syrup (2:1)
  • 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake all ingredients with the exception of the cola in a tin with ice. Pour into chilled Nick & Nora or small coupe glass. Top off with 1893 Original Cola and garnish with a manicured lime swath.

Peach Gin & Tonic recipe will make your night just a little bit fuzzier

A Pepsi daiquiri is my current favorite appetizer, even ahead of bacon-wrapped anything. The rum content might seem low but the alcohol content is high. Momose used Smith and Cross, which is a Naval strength rum packing 114 proof. Because this is Boozist though I bumped it up even further with the 138-proof Plantation O.F.T.D.

OFTD is the product of Plantation’s master blender, Alexandre Gabriel, calling in reinforcements. He brought in six titans of the tiki world to collaborate, including David Wondrich, Martin Cate, Paul McGee, Jeff Berry, Paul McFayden and Scotty Schuder. The result might just be the best cocktail rum in the game today.

Hemingway Daiquiri recipe honors a historic boozist… sort of

According to the TTB, OFTD stands for Old Fashioned Traditional Dark. As the story goes though, it actually stands for “Oh fuck, that’s delicious,” in honor of David Wondrich’s exclamation when tasting the final product for the first time.

If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend picking up Wondrich’s Imbibe!. If you need to taste before you buy, which I promise you don’t, you can find plenty of his articles on Esquire. He’s made a living off cocktail history, though I doubt he’ll dabble in the Pepsi daiquiri.

David Wondrich Imbibe! book