Optimist

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (41 ratings)

Serve in a Flute glass

Ingredients:
1 23 oz Light white rum (charcoal-filtered 1-4 years old)
1 oz Lustau Jarana Fino Sherry
12 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
12 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
2 dash Peychaud's or other Creole-style bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Flute glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of charcoal rim & grapefruit zest twist (discarded).
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 6/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
Cocktail of the day:

29th July 2025 is National Lipstick Day

Review:

Fino sherry and Creole bitters brilliantly set this riff on a classic Daiquiri apart. Beautifully balanced and delicately flavoured. If you apply the charcoal rim, perhaps leave a lipstick saving space rather than encircling the rim.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2014 for Bacardi Legacy by Roman Foltan at the Artesian Bar at The Langham Hotel, London, England.

Nutrition:

One serving of Optimist contains 182 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 16.43% alc./vol. (16.43° proof)
  • 18.2 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Herbert Brant’s Avatar Herbert Brant
6th September 2022 at 19:41
Seems to be missing a key ingredient. The cristal rum and fino sherry don't form a strong enough foundation for the drink. Sadly, I found this recipe quite dull and forgettable.
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
4th July 2022 at 00:00
A perfect aperitif. Did not find it too sweet, but that would be impacted if the rum has been adulterated with sugar (there are a lot of them) and the sweetness of your sherry. The cocktail starts out being strong on the sherry taste, but that seems to soften as the cocktail breathes.
Richard Christmas’ Avatar Richard Christmas
16th March 2022 at 19:03
Seemed rather sweet and rather characterless to me, though pleasant enough. Doubling the amount of lime juice woke it up a bit.
3rd November 2021 at 19:08
What's the reason for this being in a flute? Just curious. It's delicious by the way!
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
4th November 2021 at 07:46
That's a question for Roman Foltan.