The Daquiri

To stay in  the theme of Cuban cocktails, I wanted to talk a little bit about the Daiquiri. No not the frozen strawberry one your mom drinks with her girlfriends. I am talking about the classic Daiquiri that, like the Mojito, was made famous in Cuba. This drink was first made famous at the swanky El Floridita in Havana, Cuba. It was Ernest Hemingways favorite (there is actually a life size statue of him at the bar drinking one). He loved it so much that there is one named after him: the Hemingway Daiquiri.

Traditionally, a daiquiri is served chilled and up. Here is a recipe for it:

• juice of one lime
• 1/4 once Luxardo Maraschino
• 1/2 once simple syrup
• 2 ounces of aged rum
• shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

The Hemingway Daiquiri is the same as listed above, except add 1 once of grapefruit (I also like to subtract the simple syrup when having a Hemingway).

The drink originates from a beach near Santiago, Cuba and was actually invented by a group of American miners in about 1900 in a bar named Venus. The drink remained a local favorite until 1909 when an admiral in the US Navy enjoyed it so much he introduced it to his friends back in D.C. It really picked up steam when in the 1940's when there was a ration of vodka and whiskey during the war. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy, which opened up trade with Latin America, made rum easily accessible. It was during this time that rum, in general, became increasingly popular in USA. 

Ernest Hemingway's signature in El Floridita.