The Optimist, is a simple recipe yet one that is possibly the most difficult I have worked on. When I set out to prepare my entry recipe for this years BLCC, I tried many permutations and combinations. I used many ingredients in varied quantities. But I wasn't happy with any of them. That is when I went back to the beginning and wrote down what I wanted from the drink. I wanted a drink that used e
asily available ingredients, was easy to make and tasted delicious. It is then that I realised what I as doing wrong - I was adopting complex ingredients and ideas to create a complex drink. The best drinks in the cocktail world are the simplest yet brilliant on the palate to taste. So I used the simplest ingredients available, easy to make technique and a superb rum. And that is how The Optimist was created. I have named the drink thus, in honour of the Bacardi family's unrelenting commitment to their craft of distilling the best rum they could and till date produce. The brand has seen the best and the most difficult of times yet it has survived and triumphed all odds to remain the worlds most loved rum. In doing so the Bacardi family has continued to display the truest sense of optimism and belief in being nothing but the best. I want The Optimist to be enjoyed by my guests and industry colleagues anytime and anywhere they want to. The idea really was to create a drink that did not need rocket science to make it everytime you stepped behind the bar.
