Written By David Edessa
Part One
The original daiquiri was a mixture of rum, lime, and sugar, served over ice. The name Daiquirí is also the name of a beach and an iron mine that is near Santiago, Cuba. The drink was a local favorite of the area. However, an American mining engineer by the name of Jennings Cox and a Cuban engineer named Pagliuchi, who happened to be in Cuba at the time of the Spanish-American War refined the drink by adding cane sugar.
Constantino Ribalagua, the famed bartender at Havana’s La Floridita blended the drink with shaved ice, thereby creating the frozen daiquiri. And bartenders have been experimenting ever since by adding exotic fruit juices & fruit.
The basic recipe for a Daiquirí is also similar to the Brazilian Caiparina (recipes below) or the grog British sailors drank aboard ship from the 1740s onwards. By 1795 the Royal Navy daily grog ration contained rum, water, ¾ ounce of lemon or lime juice, and 2 ounces of sugar. These are common drinks across the Caribbean and South America.
On July 31, 1970, Britain’s Royal Navy officially stopped its daily ration of rum to crewmembers aboard naval ships, ending a centuries-old tradition.
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When using an electric blender to crush or chop hard ice always check the manufacture manual to verify that you can crush and chop ice without damaging your blender.
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Classic Daiquiri:
Ingredients:
- 1½ oz. Light Rhum
- 1 oz. Fresh Lime juice
- 1 tsp. Superfine Sugar
Instructions:
Shake all ingredients well with ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass or a martini glass will do in a pinch.
Hemingway Daiquiri recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1½ oz. White Rhum
- ¼ oz. Maraschino liqueur
- ¼ oz. Fresh Grapefruit juice
- ¾ oz. Fresh Lime juice
- Lime wheel
Ingredients:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a V-shaped cocktail glass or in a martini glass (not the traditional glassware… But it will do ). Garnish with a lime wheel.
You can also serve it over crushed ice in a cocktail glass…. My favorite!!!
Banana Daiquiri:
Ingredients:
- 1½ oz. Coconut Rhum
- 1 Banana
- 1½ oz. Fresh Lime juice
- 1 tsp. Superfine Sugar
- 1 cup Ice (crushed ice is easier to blend.)
- Maraschino Cherry
Instructions:
Pour all the ingredients into a blender. Blend on low speed for a few seconds, then at high speed until smooth. Pour contents into a chilled hurricane glass or tall glass. Garnish with the maraschino cherry.
Cantaloupe Daiquiri:
Ingredients:
- 6 Fresh Cantaloupe slices (medium-sized)
- 1½ oz. White Rhum
- ¾ oz. Fresh Lime juice
- 1 tsp. Superfine Sugar
- 1 cup Ice (crushed ice is easier to blend.)
- Mint leaf
Instructions:
Place the sliced cantaloupe in the refrigerator uncovered so it may soften for an hour or two. Then, pour all the ingredients into a blender. Blend on low speed for a few seconds, then at high speed until smooth. Pour contents into a chilled hurricane glass or tall glass. Garnish with a mint leaf.
Caiparina recipe:
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Cachaça (liquor made from fermented sugarcane)
- 1 Key Lime medium-size (cut into 8 wedges)
- 2 tbsp. Superfine Sugar (or to taste)
- 1 cup Crushed Ice
Instructions:
Put the lime wedges and the sugar into a thick-walled rocks glass and muddle together until the pulp and the juice of the limes are well macerated. Muddling well is the key to releasing the fruit’s entire flavor. Add crushed ice to glass, and then pour the cachaça over crushed ice and fruit.
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DRINK RESPONSIBLE & DRINK SMART!!!
Photo Sources: Amazon.com
That banana with coconut sounds so good!