Across the Pacific: A Tropical Daiquiri with an Italian Twist

Hi everyone, welcome back to your Orgeat series. Today we're using our almond syrup to make two versions of a sour cocktail with a proper tropical vibe to it. There's gonna be rum, there's gonna be amaro, it's gonna be incredibly delicious. Let's dig into it. So if you need to catch up on the easiest recipe to make your own Orgeat at home, check out the link to our previous video below. We used it in the previous video to make two old-fashioned styles cocktails. Today we're going sour, but not any kind of sour. In the, across the Pacific, Caribbean meets the Mediterranean. There's gonna be rum, Jamaican rum, and there's gonna be amaro, Italian amaro from Sicily. So I'm a bit confused about the name because when you think Caribbean, Italy, the Pacific is clearly the long road, but it's okay to me. I also like the scenic road sometimes. If you have any clue about that name because I couldn't find any explanation anywhere, please leave it in the comment below. So this cocktail is essentially a take on the Daiquiri, which is always a very good start. This one is for the days you hesitate between tropical and aperitivo-style cocktails. So we're gonna start with the original recipe. We're gonna use two different rums for the base of the cocktail. The first one is Appleton Reserve, which I don't have, so I'm gonna use Appleton Signature. And the second one is Smith & Cross or any high-proof Jamaican funky rum you have in your bar. It's important to use that kind of rum to add a good punch of tropical flavor to this drink. The amaro we're gonna use is Averna. It comes from Italy, Sicily. It's made with over 30 different herbs, roots, citrus peels. It's very flavorful. It has a bit of caramel for sweetness and smoothness. It's gonna add a lot of flavors to this cocktail. Next to that, of course, we're gonna use a homemade Orgeat syrup and some lime juice for a proper tropical feel. Here is how to make the Across the Pacific. In a shaker, start with one ounce of your Appleton Reserve rum, followed by half an ounce of our Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, then half an ounce of our amaro, which is Averna today, then three quarter of an ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice and three quarter ounce of our homemade Orgeat syrup. Now add your ice and give it a good shake for 10, 15 seconds. I'm gonna serve this one in a big global glass filled with crushed ice to the top. The garnish calls for a grated nutmeg on top. And a little lime wheel. There you have the Across the Pacific. So this has everything you would love to have in a tropical drink with a little twist on it. Both flavors for the rums, which are really typical from that kind of drink, but the amaro really brings an extra herbaceous touch, a lot of richness. The Orgeat or almond syrup is absolutely in its place there. Do not neglect the grated nutmeg, which brings a nice note of spice to the nose. Now this drink benefits for the extra dilution. So it's a good choice to serve it over crushed ice or to shake it for long enough to make sure you don't get an under diluted drink. That would make it like really pungent. Overall, an absolutely delightful tropical drink that I encourage you all to try. Now we usually love to try to make a variation on the cocktail we are exploring in our video, making a twist, taking it further. For this one, I thought why not make the contrary and try to strip it back to the bare essential. Not everyone has a big selection of rums to choose from at home. Not everyone has Jamaican rums. Not everyone has a ton of amaros to choose from. So I wonder what if you only have one bottle of rum at home and one bottle of amaro, can you still make a delicious drink with it? So we're gonna take the same template, simplify it to the max and see how good of a drink we can make with it. Let's start in a shaker with one and a half ounce of your rum of choice. I'm using Eldorado 8. You can use any rum you have at home, aged or not. I'm gonna do half an ounce of amaro. We're gonna switch to Montenegro, which is the easiest to find where I live. Next, we're gonna keep three quarter ounce of lime freshly squeezed. And of course, three quarter ounce of our homemade orgeat syrup. Fill your shaker with ice and give it a good shake for 10, 15 seconds. And I'm serving this one over ice in a Lobel glass. For garnish, I stick with the grated nutmeg and the little lime wheel. There you have the stripped down version of the Across the Pacific. Cheers. So this works 100%. It's really a delicious drink. I would say the difference is that it's probably a bit less complex. The base is, of course, a bit less bold. We had really too flavorful rum in the original version. Eldorado 8 is a delicious rum, but it does not compare to two Jamaican rums paired together. There is clearly a difference between the Averna and the Montenegro, but it still brings that nice kick of flavor, herbaceousness, and sweetness to the drink, so it works 100%. Orgeat and lime are still bringing sweetness and sourness in a very balanced way for an overall drink that even if it has a little less punch, still delivers big on flavor. So I would do that any day of the week just for a change from the usual mojito or daiquiri that you might do. If you only have one Amaro and one rum, make yourself a little Orgeat syrup at home and try this drink. You will not regret it. So I hope you enjoyed the little experiments we make in this video. I hope you will try the Across the Pacific if you haven't already, or why not this version? If you try a substitute, please let me know what you tried. I'm really curious to read you. Thank you very much for watching today. Don't forget to like and subscribe if you enjoyed the video, which I hope very much. I'll see you in the next one for more. Cheers.