Daiquiri glasses

There are two versions of the daiquiri and they do not ask for the same glass. The shaken version is served without ice and fits a smaller bowl, where 27 cl is ample for the roughly 12 cl that comes out of the shaker. The frozen daiquiri, with crushed ice from the blender, needs far more volume and shows better in the 33 cl bowl with its wide open shape. Look at the stem height as well, because it decides whether you can hold the bowl without warming the drink. The shape shown here comes from the family of margarita glasses and coupette glasses, and is therefore wider and shallower than a classic coupe, which holds on to the aroma a little longer.

Put the glass in the freezer for twenty minutes before you start. A daiquiri is served without ice, so all the cold the drink holds has to come from the shaker and from the glass. Shake the daiquiri hard with plenty of ice, about fifteen seconds, then double strain it so no ice shards float along. The ratio most bartenders keep to is two parts rum to one part lime juice and half a part sugar syrup, but always taste afterwards, because one lime is sharper than the next and that shifts the balance noticeably. For a strawberry daiquiri the fruit goes into the blender with crushed ice and you pour it into the larger bowl.

Shallow stemmed bowls almost always break in the same place: where the bowl meets the stem. That join takes the most force when you pull a glass out of a full dishwasher rack by the bowl. So take hold of the glass by the foot and lift it straight up. Most models can go in the dishwasher, provided they stand separately in a rack made for stems. If you chill the glass in the freezer beforehand, put it away dry, because water that freezes on the rim leaves a rough edge you feel while drinking.

If you are after a broader overview of stemmed glasses for shaken and stirred drinks, start with the cocktail glasses, where the narrower models are too. If you really make the daiquiri yourself, the cocktail shaker matters more than the glass: without hard shaking you will not get the drink cold enough. And because a daiquiri runs on ratios rather than on feel, a jigger is the simplest piece of kit that makes your drinks better straight away, because you pour the same ratio every time.