Quick, what’s a DAIQUIRI?

Did you answer a mountain range in Cuba? Well according the legend, in the late 1890s an American engineer came up with the now-famous rum drink while entertaining guests at his place in the aforementioned mountain range. It was a time when everyone in Cuba could really use a good stiff drink. You see, the Americans forcibly removed control of the island from Spain and tensions were running high. The war that ensued was the Spanish-American War. It's not America's most memorable war. Fortunately the cocktail lasted longer than the war.

But what about that story? Could an American in Cuba really have been the first one to think of putting rum and lime together? Well, that doesn’t seem likely. Rum and lime belong together. In fact rum had been considered the ‘milk of Cuba’ long before American miners landed there. Besides, British sailors in the Caribbean were given a ration of lime to combat scurvy. I am sure more than one of them thought to mix that lime with the local liquor!

But it does seem plausible that the Daiquiri caught on in Cuba. I can buy that part of the story. Thanks to a bar called El Floridito, Havana became a Daiquiri Mecca– because legendary barman Constantino Ribalaigua elevated this simple concoction to perfection with his intuitively deft balance of sweet rum and sour lime. A simple but splendiferous combination!

Guaro leads the list of traditional alcoholic drinks in Costa Rica. But because it was once the province of the poor drinker, it has a reputation of being the "rot gut" of this country. Though that is changing, it still remains so in some ways and honestly the quality can be a bit spotty if not chosen well. Which explains why so many consider it a crude spirit and most tourists pass the stuff right by. But that's why they are tourists and we are travelers...

When I came here I knew I was going to seek out guaro. I have met people who have come home from Costa Rica raving about the stuff. But before you run out to the liqueur store you should know that guaro is also generic term for rum, so there is some confusion between actual guaro and rum. Like rum guaro is distilled from pressed sugar cane. The taste and quality varies in different parts of Latin America, but in Costa Rica the Cacique label is making a very refined guaro, distilled and filtered using only quality ingredients.

To avoid having a bad experience with 70-proof guaro, it's important to know something about it. It is potent enough, sure. It is also clear liquid with a very mild flavor, it most reminds me of vodka. Still, despite its mild flavor you do not drink it straight like tequila.

In Costa Rica guaro-based mixed drinks usually consist of pouring a shot or two into a glass with ice and pouring Fresca over it. Which has its appeal I have to admit. It also mixes nicely with other tangy citrusy soft drinks and fruit juices. This is the Tico way to enjoy this drink.

But I decided to make my first experience of it as a substitute for vodka in a slightly tropical version of a Bloody Mary.