Siboney Cocktail

My aunt Lotus loved to entertain. She owned stacks and stacks of china, drawers full of flatware and cabinets overflowing with glassware. As a kid, I recall that glasses at her parties were always in abundance and always full, usually carried by an adult with an appropriately adult beverage inside. I wondered what the allure was. What was in those pretty glasses? Why did everyone always have one in their hands? I remember seeing a glass sitting on the bar and hearing that it was something really funny-sounding: Cold Duck. How bad could that be? I stole a big sip. Then I probably screamed; I probably even cried after tasting such an abominable thing. Why in the world would adults want to drink this. ALCOHOL?? (I eventually found out <wink>)

Lotus came over to find out what the fuss was all about. She smiled, then poured a Coke in a glass, put a cherry in it and handed it to me. I was relieved to taste something sweet, familiar and comforting. But it wasn't so much the Coke, or even the cherry. It was the glass. I had a BIG PERSON glass. It was the same glass everyone else was drinking from. And that was all I needed.

Forty years later, I find myself poring through a box of Lotus's cookbooks. Amidst the hardcover books, paperbacks and file folders full of hand-scribbled recipes on loose leaf paper, envelopes, napkins and even paper bags, I spy a small, spiral-bound notebook. Inside, I find a virtual compendium of every Polynesian cocktail ever made! In Lotus's unmistakable hand, each recipe had been painstakingly written out. I knew I had to make one of these for this challenge. I chose the Siboney Cocktail, a version of the classic Daiquiri, but close to the classic Hurricane. Lotus was always one to do things a little different and I think she would enjoy this lesser-known underdog of Tiki cocktail lore.

And yes, the glass is one of the pretty glasses she often used. I can just hear her saying "Cheers, toots!"


Siboney Cocktail
by Gary
Serves/Makes 1

1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce passion fruit nectar
3 ounce Myer's Dark Rum
Lemon wedge, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice, pour lemon juice, pineapple juice, passion fruit nectar and rum. Shake vigorously. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon wedge.