Today is National Daiquiri Day. This delicious rum-based drink is believed to have been invented on the beaches of Daiquiri and Siboney in Cuba, 113 years ago, during the war against Spanish colonialism. But it was not until the mid Twentieth Century when daiquiris became popular thanks to Ernest Hemingway. They say the author of For Whom the Bell Tolls used to drink at El Floridita bar in Havana, nothing less than 12 daiquiris daily!!! Can you believe it? What about this drink made it somewhat of an addiction for him and how can you enjoy daiquiris as well? Read on…
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When he became diabetic, Hemingway chose to double up the amount of rum and gave away sugar in his daiquiris, which were first called "daiquiri salvaje", for obvious reasons, and then passed into history as "Daiquiri a lo Papa" for the nickname to the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.
History lesson aside, I'm sharing the recipes of my favorite daiquiris to cool off these warm summer nights. Salud!
For more of my recipes, check my cooking blog.
Image via Enriqueta Lemoine
Frozen daiquiri
Ingredients
1 oz. white rum
½ oz. marraschino liquor
1 oz. grapefruit juice
1 ½ oz. simple syrup (one part water, one part sugar)
1 oz. fresh lime juice
Preparation:
Blend all ingredients with ice and pour yn a cocktail glass.
Banana daiquiri
Ingredients
1 oz. dark rum
1 small banana or half of a regular banana
1 ½ oz. simple syrup (one part water, one part sugar)
1 oz. fresh lime juice
Preparation
Blend all ingredients and serve on a cocktail glass. Garnish with a banana slice and a marraschino cherry.
Strawberry daiquiri
Ingredients
1 ½ oz. dark rum
½ oz. marraschino liquor
4-6 strawberries halved
1 ½ oz simple syrup (one part water, 1 part sugar)
1 oz freash lime juice
Preparation
Blend all ingredients with ice and pour on a cocktail glass. Garnish with a strawberry.
Hemingway's daiquiri
This is my version of Hemingway's daiquiri. I add some simple syrup to balance the tartness.
Ingredients
1 3/4 oz of rum
3/4 oz of marraschino liquor
1 oz of fresh lime juice
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
1/4 oz of simple syrup (one part water, one part sugar)
1 limwedge to garnish
Preparation
In a saker with ice cubes, shake all ingredients vigorously. Strain over a cocktail glass and garnish with the lime wedge.
