Cocktail recipe Daiquiri

My mojito in Bodegita, my daiquiri in Floridita

My mojito in Bodeguita, my daiquiri in Floridita

Ernest Hemigway

Grandpa Hem’s two favorite drinks, two of his favorite establishments in Cuba. The writer lived for a long time on the Island of Freedom, was inspired and drank soft drinks, and Mojito in the morning, and Daiquiri only in the evening. Today, the section “classic cocktails” will be replenished with another legend. A cocktail that many consider to be an ideal, which Hemingway himself considered ideal, and he knew a lot about drinking. So, today we will talk about Daiquiri.

The history of Daiquiri – the history of the perfect drink

Near the city of Santiago de Cuba, in the southeast of Cuba, is the small port village of Daiquiri. It was there that Hem’s favorite drink was born. And it was back in 1898, when America and Spain could not divide their colonies. The Yankees needed iron and copper, and Cuba had it all. An expedition was sent to the Daiquiri, led by New York engineer Janing Cox. On one hot Cuban day, Cox decided to mix rum, lime juice and sugar with ice, inspired by the local drink Kanchanchara (Cubans still drink it) – a mixture of rum, honey and lime.

To name a cocktail in honor of the village of Cox was knocked out by his friend and colleague F.D. Palyuchi. Daiquiri, the recipe of which hit the masses, began to gain popularity after the end of the war. The first bar that offered a drink to its guests was the Hotel Venus in Santiago de Cuba, where Cox and his colleagues liked to hang out. Later, in 1909, the author of the cocktail met US Navy officer Lucius Johnson, whom Janing treated to his creation. In the same year, the Daiquiri was presented at the Washington Army and Navy Club, from where it then scattered around the world.

In Havana, the cocktail appeared a little later, in the bar at the Plaza Hotel, where the bartender Emilio Gonzalez, who is also Maragato, was in charge. In 1918, Constante Ribalagua, then the bartender at La Florida, found the recipe for the Daiquiri. This is the same Constante Ribalaiga (subtleties of translation), which became one of the main characters of our article about the legendary bartenders. Do you remember what it was called there? Constante is the master of the Daiquiri. Under his leadership, the bar was renamed El Floridita – to this day it is considered an institution where they cook the best Daiquiri in the world. Well, it’s time to introduce you to the recipe for this cocktail, which, in fact, is a regular rum sour (you can see the Whiskey Sour cocktail recipe here).

Cocktail Daiquiri (digestif, shake)

Traditionally, the Daiquiri is served in an ordinary cocktail glass, which is popularly known as a martinka. It is better to pre-cool it by pouring crushed ice into it. Below is the International Bartending Association recipe.

Ingredients:

• 45 ml white rum;
• 25 ml of lime juice;
• 15 ml of sugar syrup.

Preparation:

•  pour all ingredients into a shaker and add ice;
• shake quickly and pour through a strainer into a glass;
• It is not worth decorating the standard of taste.

In the recipe itself, the main thing is to use good rum (Havana Club, for example) and not overdo it with sugar syrup. Instead of syrup, you can use sugar (or rather, it is intended, but with syrup, the cocktail has a more uniform consistency and is easier to prepare). Daiquiri is called the standard of taste for a reason – it really combines the most significant flavors in perfect proportions – sourness, bitterness and sweetness. This is an ideal that can only be compared with the monumental Old Fashion cocktail.

In the late 30s, the Daiquiri family was replenished with new masterpieces:

Floridita Daiquiri – is prepared as a family of froze cocktails, in a blender, with the addition of Maraschino liqueur from Dolmatian cherries.

Hemingway Special or Papa Double – a cocktail created especially for Khem, with a double portion of rum (Khem without booze, like without water), without sugar, but with lime and grapefruit juices; Maraschino liqueur is also added to Papa Doble.

Strawberry Daiquiri appeared a little later. Its composition is not much different from the classic version, only frozen strawberries are added to everything else (no need to add ice) or strawberry syrup (ice is required). All this is whipped up in a blender. July 14th is National Daiquiri Day in the United States.

Hemingway and Daikiri

In his work “Islands in the Ocean”, Hem, through the mouth of the protagonist of the novel, said: “My Latin is completely nowhere, just like my Greek, and my English, and my head, and my heart. I can only speak frozen Daiquiri now.”

Hem had his own house in Cuba and was a frequenter of Florida. If fate sends you a trip to Havana, be sure to visit this wonderful place. There and today you can see the old Khem, who stands in his favorite place. Always young and always beautiful. True, he no longer orders Daiquiri.

Finally, I will give a quote from their book by Michael Palin “In the footsteps of Hemingway”