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Classic Daiquiri recipes
When ordering a Daiquiri, like when ordering a Martini or even a steak, you should convey exactly how you'd like it served. It's essential to be specific as ordering just a "Daiquiri" could result in your being asked, "What flavour would you like - strawberry, banana, mango or pineapple?" In such cases answering, "just lime, please" often leaves the questioner perplexed.
When I first visited Cuba back in the late 1990s, I learned that asking for a mere "Daiquiri" (pronounced 'Dye-Ker-Ree') would result in my being served a blended slushy Daiquiri, the default serve for a Daiquiri on the hot island. I quickly learnt that, at that time in Cuba, you needed to order a "Natural Daiquiri" when seeking a classic shaken rather than blended Daiquiri.
Constantino "Constante" Ribalaïgua Vert, the bartender who presided over the bar at Havana's La Florida (later renamed Floridita) from circa 1914 until his death in early December 1952, is credited with making the frozen Daiquiri famous. (It was created by Emilio Gonzalez. He also further confused ordering a Daiquiri by listing his Daiquiri adaptations by number, presumably in the order in which he created them.
Thus, the "original"/"classic" Daiquiri, created by Jennings Cox circa 1898, is termed Daiquiri No. 1, and this can be served:
- Daiquiri No. 1 'natural' (straight-up)
Daiquiri No. 1 'on-the-rocks' (over cubed ice)
Daiquiri No. 1 'frozen' (blended with crushed ice)
Daiquiri No. 1 'frappé' (shaken and strained over crushed ice)
Constante's numbering daiquiris is recorded in the 1934 1st edition of his bar's Bar La Florida Cocktails, menu book as follows:
A fifth Daiquiri appears in the 1939 edition of the bar's menu book:
Daiquiri Cocktail
Crisp, light and refreshing. Delicately simple yet with perfectly balanced complexity of flavours. For an even better Daiquiri: In place of sugar syrup,
Daiquiri (frozen)
A superbly refreshing cocktail on a hot day. Blend with too much ice and you will have a tasteless slushy drink that will give you brain-ache if you drink
Daiquiri Frappé
Not to be confused with a Frozen Daiquiri, which is blended with crushed ice, a Daiquiri served frappé is shaken with cubed ice and then strained over
Daiquiri (on-the-rocks)
Light and refreshing. No one flavour predominates - sweet and sour are in harmony with the rum.
