Daiquiri
The Daiquiri is a cocktail comprised of Rum, Fresh Lime Juice, and Sugar.
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Also Known As
- Lime Daiquiri
- Daiquiri Naturale
- Daiquiri Naturel
- Bacardi Cocktail
- Cuban Cocktail
Original Recipe
"The original and correct recipe for the Daiquirí is stated in terms of a single cocktail as 1/2 teaspoonful sugar, juice of half a lime, and 1 jigger of white label rum. This is a cocktail that is difficult to improve upon. It is dry, yet smooth..." - David Embury
According to David Herpin
This drinks name derives from an actual location, here is an early printing of Daiquiri beach in Cuba:
Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association by Lousiana Sugar Chemists' Association, American Cane Growers' Association in 1898
"Rum is also an article of export. In 1892 the shipments amounted to 21241 pipes principally to Spain. miles of standard gauge track, with no adverse grades, to the company's ore dock in the harbor of Daiquiri, on the Carribean Sea."
It can not be determined what was originally in a Daiquiri cocktail, however this drink is extremely closely associated with the Cuba Libre. As stated in previous articles it is unclear what was in an originally Cuba Libre, but the earliest printings do not mention lime. The Daiquiri very well might have been a cuba libre, this would explain the use of lime in a Cuba Libre in later years.
The landing at Daiquiri was at least 3 years after the liberation of Cuba and was visited by notable people like Theodore Roosevelt as seen in this publication:
Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan: the making of a president - Page 110 by Peggy Samuels, Harold Samuels in 1997
"He sterilized the puncture inside and out with raw rum and sweet Spanish wine found near the beach. Daiquiri generated an addition to the American language — the "daiquiri," a cocktail composed of Cuban rum, lime juice, and sugar."
Whatever the case, it doesn't really matter, the Daiquiri is now considered a completely different drink than the Cuba Libre and appears in print as early as:
The Encyclopaedia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, ...: Volume 29 by Hugh Chisholm in 1911
"Daiquiri - Rum."
There is no direct reference as to what a Daiquiri originally contained, however, many publications point to rum and that the beverage was served ice cold. One of the earliest recipes call for Bacardi, although it is important to note that Bacardi is not a Cuban rum and there is a great deal of evidence supporting that the ingredients used in the drink were infact local. Here is an early recipe:
The cruise of the Hippocampus - Page 109 by Alfred Fullerton Loomis in 1922
"A daiquiri, be it known, comes to the table in a cool, dewy glass of the type used at home in the ancient, unregenerate heyday of ... But it contains no such vinous admixture, being composed of lime, sugar, and the finest Bacardi rum. ."
This drink dates between 1898 - 1903 and contained at least as of then:
Shake these ingredients:
Rum (Undetermined) Lime Juice Sugar Lime Garnish (Modern) Strain into a highball glass filled with fine ice.
Common recipe
- 50ml Light Cuban Rum
- 25ml Fresh Lime Juice
- 15ml Sugar Syrup, or the equivalent in granulated form.
Shake with ice, and then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge, which has been cut and then placed onto the rim of the glass.
El Floridita Recipe - Daiquiri Naturel
- 1.3 oz of light rum (c. 40ml)
- 0.7 oz of lime juice (c. 20ml)
- 0.2 oz of sugar syrup (c. 5ml)
Shake with Ice, and then strain into a Cocktail Glass.
Similar Cocktails
"Recipes for Mixed Drinks", by Hugo Ensslin, (1916)
Cuban Cocktail
- 1 jigger Bacardi Rum
- 2 dashes Gum Syrup
- Juice of 1/2 Lime
Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain and serve.
THE SOUTH AMERICAN, November 1916, pg. 24
"Now, the Daiquiri, well beloved in the Navy, before Daniels upset the rum cart, has a story of its own. To begin with, it is made of Bacardi, lime juice and a little sugar, shaken up or stirred and served with cracked ice--really an old-fashioned cocktail.
"Three mining men, of international reputation, identified with the famous mines of Daiquiri, at the extreme easterly end of Cuba, not far distant from Santiago, were imbibing an old-fashioned decoction at the Casa Grande, the Delmonico of that locale. One of the partners of Bacardi joined them, and instead of spirits from Scotland asked for the product of Cuba, which aroused the curiosity of the others and led to a trial of the beverage, which was immediately pronounced excellent. Then and there it was most felicitously baptized 'Daiquiri,' from which place its fame and name has radiated in all directions."
"WHEN IT'S _COCKTAIL TIME_ IN CUBA" by Basil Woon (1928)
"The daiquiri is now the best-known drink in Cuba. This recipe for the real daiquiri was given me by Facundo Bacardi and confirmed by one of the men who was present at the christening: half one lime, squeezed onto one teaspoonful of sugar; pour in one whiskey-glassful of bacardi; plenty of ice; shake until shaker is thoroughly frosted outside. Meanwhile, chill a tall wine-glass of the kind known as flute, fill it with shaven ice, and pour in the mixture. Must be drunk frozen or is not good."
From Castro to Daiquiris in Cuban Exile Trove (1998)
- Reuters
- 31-MAR-98
- By Patricia Zengerle
"There is also the recipe for the original daiquiri -- a drink combining sugar, rum and lemon juice: ``Put all ingredients in a shaker -- and shake well."
"HOW THE DAIQUIRI CAME TO BE The daiquiri recipe was handwritten in 1898 by Jennings Cox, an American working for Bethlehem Iron Works in Cuba. At the time, foreigners in Cuba did not drink rum, viewing it as a beverage for the lower class. But Cox found himself with visitors and nothing else on hand one day so he scrawled a recipe calling for the juice of six lemons, six teaspoons of sugar, six cups of Bacardi's ``Carta Blanca rum, two small cups of mineral water and crushed ice.
Cox's guests were delighted with the new drink. ``They asked, 'What is it?' and he said, 'A Daiquiri, after the town where he was living, de Varona said.
The family saved the daiquiri recipe. It was given to the archive by Cox's step-granddaughter, the descendant of a beautiful Cuban widow with three children the American met during his voyage to Havana and married after their arrival."
Hotwired Quote
"History credits a gringo with creating the Daiquiri, but we dare to dispute this claim. Our guess is that Cuban residents enjoyed this cocktail long before American engineer Jennings Cox stepped onto the island. Cox was sent to Daiquiri, a small town on the east coast of Cuba, to work in the iron mines with a group of thirsty comrades. The group often enjoyed the refreshing rum and lime beverage after a hard day's work, and Mr. Cox named the drink after the town (though some accounts also credit a Harry E. Stout). Cox's chance acquaintance, Admiral Lucius Johnson, took the recipe and loads of rum back to the mainland, where he introduced the drink to the Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC."
Who perfected the Daiquiri?
Constantino "Constante" Ribalaigua.
David Embury (1948)
"His limes were gently squeezed with his fingers lest even a drop of the bitter oil from the peel get into the drink; the cocktails were mixed (but not overmixed).... The stinging cold drink was strained through a fine sieve into the glass so that not one tiny piece of ice remained in it. No smallest detail was overlooked in achieving the flawless perfection of the drink."
"The original and correct recipe for the Daiquirí is stated in terms of a single cocktail as 1/2 teaspoonful sugar, juice of half a lime, and 1 jigger of white label rum. This is a cocktail that is difficult to improve upon. It is dry, yet smooth..."
"The Daiquiri like the Old-Fashioned deserves an even greater popularity than it now enjoys. For example it is in my opinion a vastly superior cocktail to the Manhattan, yet most bars sell many more Manhattans than Daiquiris"
Trader Vic's Bartenders Guide (1972)
"The La Florida Daiquiri that follows is the original formula - the way the drink was originally made by Constantino in the La Florida Bar in Havana, Cuba. The Fact that I have the formula makes a very interesting story about how a drink has to be made accurately in order to taste exactly right. I went down to Havana twenty years ago to watch this fellow Constantino make these daiquiris. He had a big pile of limes before him. And whether he was making a daiquiri for one person or a hundred people, it made no difference in his care : He picked out each individual lime, cut it with a knife, and squeezed it with his fingers to make the drink. I went home, and made the drink exactly the way Constantino did - I thought ; but my drink didn't taste right. Years later, when we opened our bar in Havana, I went down to Constantino's bar again ; he made the drink again, and again it had that same wonderful flavor I had remembered. I went to our bar and made the drink ; and again my daiquiri didn't taste anything like Constantino's. That night I lay in bed and thought and thought about that drink ; I imagined myself working beside Constantino and making the drink, stage by stage, following every movement of Constantino's hands. And then I stumbled onto what made the difference : I had used a squeezer to squeeze the lime juice, and Constantino used his fingers. By using his fingers, he got the oil of the lime into the drink ; and that was just enough of the oil of the lime to give the drink its wonderful bouquet. I went down to my bar the next day and made a La Florida Daiquiri that turned out to be exactly like Constantino's."
David Wondrich Says
"I've got a newspaper article somewhere from 1898 that describes Bacardi and says that it was drunk at the Cafe Venus with water and ice, and another from the Sandusky, Ohio Star (Sept. 29, 1899) wherein a traveler recently returned from Cuba describes Cubans and Americans drinking "Bacardi rum and selters [sic]" together in Santiago. This suggests that that drink that was replaced might have been a Scotch Highball. Take your Bacardi Highball, add a lime and a little sugar and you've got a Bacardi Fizz, which is what Cox's recipe describes."
