Daiquiri

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Prep your glasses by placing them in the freezer.
2. Grab your shaker and make sure it’s clean and in good condition since the last drink session.
3. Pour your rum, simple syrup, and fresh lime juice into the shaker. If you find yourself making lots of daiquiris for parties, you might want to invest in a Citrus Elbow.
4. Add as much cubed ice as you can. It will chill your drink faster and reduce the risk of over-dilution while shaking.
5. Shake until you see frost/condensation build up on your shaker. Remember, you wanna shake it to wake it, not lull it to sleep.
6. Strain the drink into your pre-chilled glass. This drink isn’t served over ice, so the only thing keeping your drink cold is gonna be that frosty glass. If you don’t want any small ice shards in your drink, you can double-strain over a tea-strainer.
7. Garnish with a lime wheel and enjoy!

Hot tip: If you like a frozen daiquiri, just add all ingredients to a blender along with a handful of ice. Blend until smooth and gradually add more ice until you reach your desired consistency.

About The Daiquiri:

Written by Michael Bergström

The Holy Trinity of Cuba—rum, lime, and sugar—has long been a favorite and go-to drink for craft bartenders. On the guest side, many people expect the Daiquiri to be a red cocktail, specifically a frozen Strawberry Daiquiri. For a while, it seemed that this was the unquestioned true Daiquiri. However, the original recipe has always called for the three very common “holy” ingredients found in Cuba and was originally served shaken straight up. When the blender was introduced to Cuba’s famous bars in the 1930’s, the frozen version became common practice. These days, one particular bar known as the Cradle Of The Daiquiri serves hundreds per day to the ever-humming sound of multiple blenders spinning.

The Daiquiri’s origins can be traced back to an American mining engineer based outside Santiago on Cuba’s south coast, who invented the drink after the Spanish-American War. According to his granddaughter, who passed on the tale, the engineer named Cox had run out of gin for his Martinis and was expecting guests from the US one afternoon. He wasn’t keen on serving rum straight, so he squeezed some lime and added a few teaspoons of sugar into a shaker, shook up a round, and passed them out. Over time, it became so popular that it eventually adopted the name of the town where it was invented—Daiquiri.  

What makes a Daiquiri a Daiquiri?
A Daiquiri is essentially a Rum Sour where fresh lime juice makes up the “sour” part. Alongside its compatriots, the equally famous Mojito and Cuba Libre, the Daiquiri is undeniably a Cuban drink. Like many other drinks such as the Margarita, Old Fashioned, Martini, Piña Colada, and Espresso Martini, the Daiquiri is subject to many variations and twists. There are Banana Daiquiris, Strawberry Daiquiris, French Daiquiris, Pineapple Daiquiris, to mention a few. As they say in Sweden, “A dear child has many names” The Daiquiri comes in many flavors and expressions, but the core anatomy of the drink, Rum + Sweet + Sour, remains unchanged.