Name: Dawa
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 1&frasl;2 fresh Lime (fresh); 60 ml Vodka; 1 barspoon Honey; 10 ml Brown sugar syrup

Dawa
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Photographed in a New Era Double Old Fashioned

Ingredients:
¹⁄₂ fresh	Lime (fresh) chopped wedges
2 oz	Ketel One Vodka
1 barspoon	Honey
¹⁄₃ oz	Demerara/Muscovado/brown sugar syrup (2 sugar to 1 water)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Double old-fashioned glass.
Prepare garnish of honey-coated dipper stick stirrer (honey stick).
Cut a ripe lime in half (from pole to pole) and remove the core from each half by cutting a V-shape grove. (You'll need one-half of the lime per cocktail).
Chop a cored half into 3 wedges, then slice each wedge in half to produce 6 chunks of lime and drop these into the serving glass.
MUDDLE lime chunks in the base of the glass.
Add vodka and honey-loaded honey dipper stick (or bar spoon of honey) and use the dipper stick (or spoon) to STIR until the honey is dissolved.
Add sugar syrup and fill the glass with crushed ice leaving the dipper stick as a garnish for the drinker to continue stirring.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Similar to the Caipirovska in its use of vodka and lime, but the Dawa is sweetened with honey.

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History:

Inspired by the Brazilian Caipirinha and originally made and named during the 1980s at the Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi, this cocktail is particularly popular in upscale hotel bars in Kenya where it's enjoyed by the safari set. The name translates from Kiswahili as 'medicine'.

It should be noted that in Kenya, a Dowa is also the name for a non-alcoholic drink made with honey, ginger and lime juice, made with hot water.

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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G. M. Genovese

7th February at 02:29

Surprisingly pleasant, vibrant drink. Nice way to dress up vodka, if one cringes at the taste of alcohol. Leaves me though wishing for a little more grassy bite from a cachaca or other funky white rum. I used 7.5 ml of a 3:1 raw honey syrup and 10 ml of a dirty-delicious demerara syrup. Nothing to tweak with the specs, if the ingredients have characterful quality.

Steven Jepson

25th August 2023 at 22:42

Enjoyed this though the honey/muscavado was a bit sweet so added a 1/4 lime juice. Muddled the Lime pieces honey and muscavdo syrup all together first as my Vodka is freezer cold.
Actually better than a Caipirinha as an evening drink

Jonathan Stephens

19th August 2023 at 07:02

Loved these in Kenya last year (where they use lemon or lime interchangeably). Great with both.

Tim Oliver

29th July 2023 at 17:19

Please forgive the pedantry but this should be spelt ‘Dawa’ rather than ‘Dowa’

Simon Difford

30th July 2023 at 10:44

Many thanks, Tim. Now corrected. I've taken the opportunity to update to better replicate the cocktail I believe is presently served in Nairobi.

David Penn

4th June 2023 at 22:45

Enjoyed this with 2/3 oz honey. I think that's the right ratio. Was the perfect amount of sweetness for me.

Ellen Olerud

13th July 2022 at 16:49

Delicious cocktail, but my honey froze when in contact with the ice. I used a liquid acacia honey. Any tips for me?

Simon Difford

14th July 2022 at 07:14

You need to stir the honey with the other ingredients so it dissolves before adding the ice. If your honey is too thick to dissolve using this method then you will need to make it into a honey syrup. Please follow the link on the word 'honey' in the recipe to find info on making a honey syrup.