Diki Diki

The Diki-Diki Cocktail by Robert Vermiere

Right then. On to the cocktail. My first effort was not as well received by the critics as I had hoped. They said, ““Have you got anything without spam?” “Well, spam, egg, sausage, and spam – that’s not got much spam in it,” I replied. Or perhaps that was from the Flying Circus. No matter, I’ve got something even better to pair with a pair of Blue Balled Brass Monkeys. It’s the Diki-Diki cocktail, of course. No, that’s not a typo. It’s a real, and quite classic cocktail created sometime prior to 1922 by Robert Vermiere, who then set it down for posterity in his book “Cocktails: How to Make Them”. Vermiere was a Dutch bartender plying his trade in London, and is considered one of the most influential cocktail personalities of the twentieth century. His book has the first known record of the classic “sidecar”, among many others, and includes a wealth of knowledge about the inventors of each drink.

A marvelous marriage of unusual flavors

He is credited with inventing the Diki-Diki, which is actually a delicious and simple drink (albeit with a few unusual ingredients) featuring French apple brandy (Calvados), fresh grapefruit juice, and the wonderfully weird Swedish Punsch. This was a ubiquitous spirit in the 1920’s but only more recently resurfaced in modern times and became readily available again. Swedish Punsch is like a funky spiced herbal liqueur. It dates to 1733 when the Swedish East India Company imported a red rice and sugarcane spirit known as arrack from Southeast Asia. This would be mixed with sugar and rum to make a punch. Eventually the punch was bottled and sold on its own merit. It works remarkably well in the Diki-Diki. Vermiere claims that the drink was named after the impressively diminutive chief monarch of the Ubian Islands in the Philippines. Reports suggest that Diki-Diki was a real person, a datu chief from Zamboanga, who was indeed only 32-33 inches tall. I could find no mention of a brass monkey, however. All good things must come to a close. So ends this silly offering. You have my apologies if you have found it to be burr-densome. Cheers!

Two Brass Monkeys and a Diki-Diki. Best caption ever?

Diki-Diki Cockail by Robert Vermiere c. 1922

¼ gill (1 oz) Calvados

⅛ gill (½ oz) Caloric Punch (Kronan Swedish Punsch)

⅛ gill (½ oz) Grapefruit juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Garnish with a grapefruit peel, or give it the royal treatment.