Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter and Banana Daiquiri

I don’t share many qualities with 1970s fictional police detectives except this: I do often wonder what something would taste like with peanut butter. In David Starsky’s case, it was caviar. In mine, it’s a frozen banana daiquiri. This drink may not be for everyone.

When I say frozen daiquiri many of your teeth may begin to ache, remembering a cloyingly sweet slurpee-esque cocktail. Perhaps a bad decision of your youth. The daiquiri, however, doesn’t need to be full of sugars and artificial flavors. We just need to look back at it’s origins and a little pop culture for some inspiration.

Origin Stories

The classic daiquiri is a simple concoction of rum and lime. The name has several origin stories. All good cocktails need to have some mystery, right? Although adding citrus to rum was common throughout the Caribbean, some argue that the daiquiri originated with (or was at least named by) Jennings Stockton Cox, an American working in the mining industry near the Cuban town of Daiquiri. Others say that the drink was already popular with Cuban rebels during the Spanish-American War, and an American General stole the idea and simply added ice. An American Admiral is credited with bringing the recipe from Cuba to Washington D.C.’s Army and Navy Club, and the University Club in Baltimore. From there, its popularity spread stateside. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway also get major props for increasing the popularity of the cocktail.

Playing with the Classic Daiquiri

Classic daiquiris were made with lime, rum, sugar or simple syrup, and ice. Other early variations of the drink included mineral water. The University Club in Baltimore added bitters, and then bartenders began adding other fruit to their daiquiris after the invention of the blender. Constantino Ribalaigua Vert, the bartender at El Flordita, which Hemingway frequented, is credited with inventing the frozen daiquiri. We can thank the blender for both the daiquiri and its healthier, non-alcoholic cousin, the smoothie.

The Smoothaiquiri?

If you spend much time on Instagram, you know that people spend a lot of time talking about their juices and smoothies. I mean REALLY a lot. Like if I roll my eyes any more they might get stuck like that a lot. Boomerangs of smoothies are typically preceded by video of feet jogging on treadmills or cranky emojis about morning routines. Do you have a friend that shares too many posts like this? Make him/her a daiquiri and tell this person to chill out with the smoothie posts!

In all seriousness, nudging the daiquiri toward smoothie-land was one of the goals for my Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter and Banana Daiquiri, and it was inspired by a certain episode of Starsky & Hutch. Hutch, you see, was giving Starsky a tough time about his eating habits and suggested he partake of his special smoothie that included goat’s milk, desiccated liver, black strap molasses . . . You get the picture.  In the end, Starsky makes his own special smoothie, which everyone says tastes pretty good. Why? Because it’s a Banana Daiquiri!

WWSD?

Starsky was on to something. By adding a ripe banana at the peak of sweetness, you don’t need a lot of added sugar.  But I felt like doing something a little different. What would Starsky do? How about adding Chocolate Bitters and two tablespoons of chocolate peanut butter powder?  I went with it.  My husband said it was a little weird.  I liked it, and topped it with a frozen chocolate covered mini banana for garnish.

Peanut butter and 1970s leather jackets for ever!

Sources for daiquiri history:

A History of the Daiquiri Cocktail by Gregory Priebe, via A History of Drinking.

Classic Cocktails in History: The Daiquiri by Brian Petro via The Alcohol Professor

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