Popular at tropical bars and often sold in prefabricated mixes, blended versions of the classic Daiquiri rarely garner the same respect as their three-ingredient forebears. It’s a shame because a properly made Banana Daiquiri is bright and balanced. Credit for the creation is frequently given to Harry K. Yee, the legendary bartender who also invented the Blue Hawaii cocktail and pioneered the use of orchid and paper umbrella garnishes during his 30-year tenure at Waikiki’s Hawaiian Village Hotel.
At Palomar, a Cuba-inspired cocktail bar in Portland, Oregon, owner Ricky Gomez serves a Banana Daiquiri recipe made with aged rum, tart lime, and a carefully calibrated combination of banana liqueur and fresh bananas. “When you use only bananas, it ends up just tasting like a smoothie with rum. We wanted it to still be a cocktail,” says Gomez. Those fresh bananas are treated with care. Palomar keeps the chunked fruit at 17 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas most household freezers are set to 0 degrees Fahrenheit, so they blend evenly and require less ice to reach frothy perfection. To mimic this at home, let fully frozen pieces of fruit sit at room temperature for approximately 10 minutes on the kitchen counter, then pop everything into a blender and set sail.
