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Bacardi™®© - Federal Glass Shaker Recipe

Third up is the Bacardi. I actually have Bacardi rum in the house so I won't run in to the trouble that some people have. (Okay so that's some person) Anyway, here is Bacardi: juice of 1/2 a lime
2oz Bacardi
one dash grenadine
shake with fine ice

Once again I did not have fine ice; I shook with regular ice-cubes. There are two questions I have when reading a recipe such as this. Firstly how much juice is in half a lime? Secondly how big is a dash? I was able to get 3/4oz from my 1/2 lime. This is typical. I don't know what would have been typical in the early 1970's when the shaker was new but I can't imagine limes have changed that much. (Correct me if I'm wrong). So 3/4oz it is.

The dash is a little stickier*. We're talking about syrup here. If it was Angostura bitters I'd keep shaking the bottle until I have nearly 1/4oz, but that's just me. (Not just me it turns out. Others too!) If it's Pernod or something a few drops will do. So what to do for my one dash of grenadine? Somewhere I read that a dash equals 1/32oz. I had been using my "dash" measuring spoon which is actually about 1/16 tsp. 1/32oz is roughly 3/16tsp so today I filled the spoon thrice! I may try this with other recipes and see if I prefer it to my past practice of 1/16tsp. Anyway the result was nice and pink. (I drink many pink drinks, how 'bout that?) Nice and pink but the drink itself wasn't really that good*. It makes me regret using all my Havana Club. In light of the next cocktail (Daiquiri) I'm especially disappointed that I have no Havana Club...

Perhaps I can breathe new life in to the Bacardi with vanilla, cloves and such. Perhaps not. I know it's fashionable to put down Bacardi but I truly don't care for it. Oh well, what are you gonna do? At least I was able to drink it and didn't send it down the sink! *UPDATE 12/24/2010: Even though I didn't care for the taste of this and I did not want a second it did whet my appetite! So, unsuccessful stand alone cocktail but successful aperitif. How 'bout that?

**UPDATE 02/12/2011: So, I guess fractions aren't my thing... The "dash" measure is actually 1/8 tsp. That changes things slightly. It does make it easier to acheive 3/16 though. How's that you ask? 2/16=1/8. (I'm sure I'm correct about that one) Plus one more sixteenth. Also with the "dash" spoon is a "pinch" spoon equal to 1/16tsp. 2+1=3. There you have the 1/32 oz dash!
Posted by Dagreb at 8:11 PM Labels: cocktail, Federal Glass, rum Dan Chadwick said...

Yes, a dash is usually given as about 1ml, or 1/32 of an ounce. 1/4 tsp is 1.25ml -- just over a dash. 3/16 of a tsp is 0.94ml -- just under a dash.

I just use 1/4 tsp spoon. I'm quite sure that both are more accurate than the recipe allows. If you're compulsive, you could not quite fill the spoon. This would be much easier than three 1/8 tsp measures, and probably more accurate by the time you consider the meniscus.

Or just go to Kindred Cocktails Measurements. ;)

11:35 AM, February 13, 2011 
It's funny that in my surfing earlier today I found a similar discussion on A Dash Of Bitters. I do like the idea of saving and reusing Ango bottles...

8:18 PM, February 13, 2011