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The Daiquiri. Rum, lime, sugar. One of the simplest, most elegant, basically perfect cocktails, deserving an elevated position in the pantheon of classics alongside the Martini and the Manhattan. It's a bartender's favorite, and Cuba's greatest, most influential contribution to the drinking world. A drink like the Daiquiri, the Manhattan, or the Martini needs no serious alteration, tweaking, or updating. We should theoretically be able to live the rest of our lives endlessly quaffing these simple delights with unceasing joy, in their classic form. But alas, we are a broken people.

I had the privilege last month to attend the Trash Tiki pop up in Seattle. If you’re not familiar Trash Tiki is a pop up and online platform focused on reducing the mass consumption of single-use items in the booming craft cocktail scene. They've been on a global tour to spread their message through a series of keynotes and pop ups.

Our new arrivals are just as news-worthy as an extra-terrestrial arrival, but without that "will they harvest my organs?" conundrum. Here are our top picks of hot new bottles to sip this weekend.

Come take a free cruise through the Panama Canal this Thursday as we taste some of the country's most studiously and methodically produced sipping rum.  We'd wax eloquent about it in our words, but ours might not do it justice.  So grab a glass, fill it up, and get excited for what you'll be sipping to kick of a 3-day weekend.

Made from Single Estate grown Georgia sugar cane, Richland Rum, creates a field to glass rum by keeping every step of the process in house. After growing their sugar cane with sustainable farming practices in rich, loamy soils that lend their unique terroir, a 100%, unrefined, pure sugar cane syrup is made in enormous cast iron kettles. After fermenting into a syrup wine of 13% ABV, it is copper pot distilled, with only the finest parts reserved for aging. The rum is then aged in virgin Wisconsin white oak barrels for a minimum of 4 years, with each bottling containing unique characteristics inherited from its single barrel.

Locked in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault are copies of nearly every known plant seed on earth. If anything were to happen where we would run out or lose a certain crop or plant, the Seed Vault has a back up. 

I think it’s high time they added a bottle of Mount Gay rum to the vault for safekeeping. That way if we ever run out of rum (oh please tell me that can never happen) we can always reach for a copy of the original.

Jamaican Rum is the classic example of hogo, a term derived from a French phrase describing slightly decayed meat, "haut gout". Hogo represents a highly aromatic and heavier style of rum brimming with molasses, fruit, and funk. The name is inspired by the overripe, strong flavor and smell of that funky fruit, like an old banana whose aroma has intensified and concentrated. Counting 265 years of history and the lion’s share of the local market, the J. Wray & Nephew distillery is the hometown favorite. Its J. Wray and Appleton branded Rums offer options from affordable to super-premium, for cocktailers and connoisseurs alike.

The SF Chronicle has always had a talent for tiki spotting. Back in 1941 Herb Caen gushed over the original Trader Vic’s, proclaiming that “The best restaurant in San Francisco is in Oakland.” The brand would continue to grow over the 50’s and 60’s, with 25 additional restaurants opening around the world. Tiki’s fortunes faded in the 70’s, reaching something of a low point in 1989 when Donald Trump made the decision to close the Trader Vic’s at his newly purchased Plaza hotel because it had “gotten tacky.”

You know when someone from your small hometown goes out and does something big and makes something of themselves?  And you are like, "Oh my gosh! I know them! Good for them!"  

That is exactly how we felt when we saw Bryan and Joanne of Lost Spirits Distillery featured in a big glossy spread in Wired (print and online).  Sure they aren't country bumpkins, but they are scrappy booze nerds, and for that, it feels we are kindred spirits from the same tiny zip code.  

With the release of “JOY” rum, Appleton celebrates a woman who has broken through in an industry that continues to be dominated by men. After graduating with multiple science degrees, Joy Spence joined Appleton in 1981 as Chief Chemist, and became enthralled with the process of blending rum. After working for 16 years under the previous Master Blender, Joy had developed an unrivalled palate and was named Master Blender in 1997. Both an artist and a scientist, Joy has spent the last twenty years creating some of the finest rums the world has ever tasted, and was even recognized by the Jamaican government for her contribution to the rum industry.

Move over J. Wray and whoever his Nephew is, there’s a new overproof Jamaican rum in town and it’s on Fire. Part of Hampden Estate’s relaunch, Rum Fire is pure unadulterated Jamaican rum in all its ester-full glory. Rum Fire has been in production since 2011 and we here in the United States could only enjoy it on the rare trip abroad. That is until early 2016 when it had its first US launch in Seattle. It quickly spread through the local tiki scene showing up in cocktail bars from Rumba to Tacoma Cabana.

The Spring Break of our Salad Days was a sun filled booze bonanza with a more is more motto. The week-long bacchanal is in our rear view mirror now, but we're happy to embrace a Spring Break state of mind, or in this case, cocktail recipe.