DIY Down the Shore: Beach Rental Daiquiris by Kevin James Holland

Photo by Trevor Dixon

To help your summer along, Foobooz plans to give you some recipes by notable chefs and bartenders in Philadelphia. We’re calling it the DIY Down the Shore series, and we’ll be posting them all week. We’re bringing Philly’s dining scene into your summer homes.

Kevin James Holland, the little man with the little bar in West Philly, Fiume, weighed in on our DIY series. And here’s his story:

Last week I was on vacation in a beach rental and my hosts were in need of cocktails.  I’d hastily grabbed a handful of bottles at a local liquor store, but to say my options were finite would be a gross understatement.  I realized that we did have 9 nice limes and half of an average sized watermelon.  What I ended up doing was this: I used an ice cream scoop to remove the juice and flesh from the watermelon.  I put half of the yield in the fridge for regular consumption, set a quarter portion aside, and put the other quarter into a blender.  I hand juiced all 9 limes, yielding about 10 oz of juice, half of which I added into the blender.  I emptied a 750 ml (25 oz) bottle of Don Q white rum into the empty rind.  (There were no large bowls in the rental.)  Then I added 2 oz Lazzaroni Amaretto (you do need real Amaretto –not the common, bottom shelf variety), 2 oz Cointreau, 2 oz Espolón Blanco tequila, and 20 dashes of Angostura bitters, stirring the ingredients with a large spoon*.  I then stirred and poured half of the contents of the rind into the blender, adding a half-dozen thoroughly cracked ice cubes and blending for 1 or 2 seconds on the “frozen drink” setting.  I poured the result into 6 colorful cups and set them in the freezer.

Once blended, gravity brought the seeds to the bottom of their container and it was surprisingly easy to separate them. Next I blended the unused quarter of watermelon, the remaining 5oz of lime juice, another 6 thoroughly cracked ice cubes, and the remaining half of mixed spirits.  The result was poured back into the rind.  I then delivered the 6 “Beach Rental Daiquiris” and stuck the half-filled watermelon rind in some cool, shady sand to wait until we were ready for for round two.

 

*One should note that over time the alcohol in spirits will be absorbed by the rind, so don’t leave them there too long –especially before they’re mixed with the fruit and ice.

Beach Rental Daiquiris