The custom of mixing lime with rum for a cooling drink on a hot Cuban day has been around a long time.
It’s even been suggested that – like many drinks – its original purpose was medicinal.
But the Cubans were enjoying it long before Jennings Cox, a mining engineer living and working in the town of Daiquiri, introduced it to an American admiral, who in turn, took it back to Washington with him.
Today it’s enjoyed all over the world in many fruity forms, and is one of the most mentioned drinks in popular literature and films.
Daiquiri
- ½ oz light rum
- ¾ oz lime juice
- ¼ oz sugar syrup*
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add rum, lime juice and sugar syrup. Shake well, and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Banana Daiquiri
- 1½ oz light rum
- 1 tablespoon Cointreau
- 1½ oz lime juice
- 1 teaspoon icing sugar
- 1 banana
Strawberry Daiquiri
- 2 oz light rum
- ½ oz Cointreau
- 1 oz lime juice
- ½ teaspoon icing sugar
- 5 strawberries
For either, place all ingredients into a blender with a cup of ice. Blend until smooth. Serve in a champagne flute with a slice of lime or strawberry for garnish.