Cocktails with Dates
Dates are the sweet, single-seeded fruit of the date palm — dense, fibrous and very high in sugar.
Substitutes for Dates
Two things have to be replaced at once — the caramel sweetness and the fibrous body — and anything pourable brings only the first.
Often confused with
Medjool and Deglet Noor
Medjool are large, dark and soft enough to break down under a muddler unaided. Deglet Noor are smaller, paler and firmer, and hold their shape — useful in baking, an obstacle in a drink. Cured retail fruit of both sits near 21% moisture, so what separates them in the hand is curing and texture rather than water content.
Date syrup
Cooked and strained, so it dissolves cleanly and brings none of the flesh. Spoon for spoon it sweetens harder than the fruit, so start below the recipe’s sugar and taste up.
Storage
Sealed and cool, dates keep for months, and cold buys a great deal more. A semi-soft date holds about a month at room temperature against roughly eight months refrigerated. That is why soft Medjool are usually kept in the fridge and firm Deglet Noor are not. The white bloom that appears is crystallized sugar forming under the skin as the fruit ages — it marks age, not spoilage. Dates harden as they dry, and twenty minutes in hot water brings them back to muddling condition.
