Original Daiquiri And a History Lesson

The Daiquiri is a member of the sour family of cocktails. A sour is  composed of a base spirit, a sweet ingredient, and a a sour ingredient. In the case of the Daiquiri, those elements are rum ), lime juice and sugar.

2oz Bacardi Carta Blanca
1oz fresh lime juice
0.75oz Cocktail syrup
(castor sugar, confectioners sugar,
hot water)
Shaken, Coupe glass

The origin of this drink, like many others, is controversial. On theory is that it was invented by American mining engineer, Jennings Cox,  in Cuba at the time of the Spanish–American War. Another says,  William A. Chanler, a US congressman who purchased the Santiago iron mines in 1902, introduced the daiquiri to clubs in New York in that year.

The Daiquiri became popular in the 1940s because rationing made whiskey and vodka hard to come by,  and rum was easily obtainable. Rum-based drinks then became fashionable; they were previously thought inferior as they were the drink of sailors.

Originally the drink was served in a tall glass packed with cracked ice. A teaspoon of sugar was poured over the ice and the juice of one or two limes was squeezed over the sugar. Two or three ounces of white rum completed the mixture. The glass was then frosted by stirring with a long-handled spoon. Later the daiquiri evolved to be mixed in a shaker with the same ingredients but with shaved ice. After a thorough shaking, it was poured into a chilled coupe glass.