Message 25358 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> Dom: From what year is your nearest guess for the Daiquiri?

Alright George, I aint Dom but add an 'A' in front of it and your nearly there!

Anyways, here is some interesting stuff that was brought to my attention by Mr 
Ben Reed of IP Bartenders fame.......

Ben is of the belief that the Daiquiri was not created by Jennings Cox, but by 
Admiral Edward Vernon, some 150+ years before. 

*cue mass arguments all over the world*

This makes a lot of sense when you think about it. 3 of the biggest exports 
from the West Indies at the time were lime, rum and sugar. Surely someone 
mixed them together before Jennings Cox visited the small mining town of 
Daiquiri?

Are we honestly of the belief that until an American engineer came along and 
decided to mix these 3 mass exports together, that NO-ONE had already done so? 
Now that I have thought about it, and read about it, I believe not!

I will try and break down Ben's conclusion:-

1. Sugar, rum and lime were 3 of the major exports of the time
2. Rum was given to sailors as part of their daily ration, a half pint in most 
cases (and this was not the 37.5-50% ABV we use nowadays. This was strong 
stuff.....
3. Lime juice was given to sailors as it contains anti-scorbutics which battle 
scurvy.
4. On Admiral Vernon's ship, lime juice was added to the sailors rations of 
rum to ensure that the lime juice was being consumed.
5. As rum and lime would give a very tart, strong drink, surely ONE person 
would have had the brains to add sugar to it to create a finer balanced drink

I have copied and pasted an excerpt from the following link, titled 'Grog', 
which goes a little way to explain part of Ben's thinking.

http://www.nvo.com/tradejamaica/admiraledwardvernon1/

GROG

"Vernon's nickname "Old Grog" was given to him in Jamaica by his sailors 
because of the cloak he wore made of a material called grogram (a blend of 
silk, wool and mohair ). In the summer of 1740, while at Jamaica, Vernon grew 
tired of losing so many men to drunken incidents that he ordered their daily 
ration of rum to be diluted with water and served out in halves (half at noon, 
other half at sunset). Thus the sailors got their full ration, but in a form 
that prevented them from falling down drunk. They quickly called the new 
drink, Grog, after the admiral. As the use of citrus and other anti-scorbutics 
increased in the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy, it was difficult to administer 
lime juice to the crew. So the lime juice was added to the grog to ensure its 
consumption. A sailor would be punished for not taking his grog ration."

*So, I am of this belief now. Jennings Cox, did NOT create the Daiquiri, 
Admiral Vernon did*

Let the debate begin..........

Cheers

Adam 'dismissing drink history' Elmegirab

P.S I was thinking about this and had another thought. As lemon juice contains 
more anti-scorbutics than lime juice, and was also consumed regularly on 
ships, is there a chance that the Sidecar was created in a similar manner 
(brandy was also drank in huge amounts aboard ships - French Navy and Spanish 
Armada anyone?). That will get ye thinking.........

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