Cheers to the 125th Anniversary of the Daiquiri

  • By: Ashley Joy Parker

Vacation’s favorite cocktail celebrates a milestone…

National Daiquiri Day falls on on July 19 and this year, the iconic rum-based cocktail celebrates its 125th anniversary.

The daiquiri derives its name from a beach and an iron mine near Santiago de Cuba. The drink is said to have been invented in 1898 by an American mining engineer named Jennings Cox, who was in Cuba at the time of the Spanish–American War. According to legend, Cox came up with the concoction after running out of gin while throwing a cocktail party.

Consumption of the drink remained localized until 1909, when Rear Admiral Lucius W. Johnson, a U.S. Navy medical officer, tried Cox’s drink. Johnson subsequently brought it back to the States and introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C., and drinkers of the daiquiri increased over the space of a few decades.

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The daiquirí really saw a boom in the 1940s when World War II rationing made whiskey and vodka hard to come by. However, rum was easily obtainable thanks to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s Good Neighbor policy, which opened up trade and travel relations with Latin America, Cuba and the Caribbean.

Consequently, rum-based drinks, once frowned upon as the choice of sailors and down-and-outs, also became fashionable, and the daiquiri saw tremendous popularity in the U.S.. (The daiquirí was famously one of the favorite drinks of writer Ernest Hemingway and President John F. Kennedy).

The basic recipe for a daiquiri is also similar to the grog British sailors drank aboard ships from the 1780s as a means of preventing scurvy. By 1795 the Royal Navy daily grog ration contained rum, water, ¾ ounce of lemon or lime juice, and 2 ounces of sugar. This was a common drink across the Caribbean, and as soon as ice became available this was included instead of the water.

Today, the standard daiquiri is traditionally mixed with white Cuban rum, fresh lime juice and superfine sugar. However, over the years, the drink has evolved, offering variations in ingredients and methods of preparation. 

To celebrate the daiquiri’s milestone anniversary, try mixing up one of these six recipes and carry on the tradition. Cheers!

BACARDÍ Daiquiri

Method: Place sugar and freshly pressed lime juice into a cocktail shaker and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the BACARDÍ rum into the shaker and fill with half-cubed ice, followed by crushed ice. Place the lid on the shaker and shake vigorously until thoroughly chilled and shaker is ice cold to the touch. Pour into a chilled coupe glass and enjoy responsibly.

Cruzan Rum Watermelon Daiquiri

Cruzan Rum Watermelon Daiquiri

Method: Blend with ice and serve. Garnish with a watermelon wedge.

Santa Teresa Spicy Mango Daiquiri

Method  Combine all in tin. Add ice. Shake. Fine strain in chilled glass. Served in a coupe glass and garnished with a Tajin rim and lime wheel.

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Zacapa Daiquiri

Zacapa 23

Method: Combine all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a lime wheel.

Captain Morgan Strawberry Daiquiri

Method: Add Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, Strawberry puree, lime juice and simple syrup to a blender, top with ice (around 8 cubes). Blend until smooth. Serve in a glass and garnish with a strawberry.

Pink House Cardamom Daiquiri

Method: Combine in a shaker with ice. Strain and pour neat into a coupe glass.

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