Here we go a gain with another famous cocktail that has a very unusual origin. They say that an American, Jennings Cox invented the cocktail as a result of running out of gin when he was entertaining American guests in the late 1800's in Cuba. He also happened to be an engineer at the Spanish American Iron Company mine located in the Village of Daiquiri. Any guesses where the name came from? This was pretty much a local drink until a navy Admiral Lucius W. Johnson ( Medical Officer) tried his cocktail in 1909, and he introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington D.C. The spread of the cocktail increased rapidly throughout the next couple of decades. Like all stories over the origin of a cocktail there is some dispute as to weather he had some assistance from another Cuban engineer named Pagliuchi, or if the drink was an existing Cuban speciality.
Jennings original recipe was just the beginning of a string of recipes most more complex in nature, in the daiquiri family.
Jennings Cox's Original Recipe
- 1.3 oz. light dry Cuban rum (Bacardi according to the stories)
- .7 oz lime juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 crushed ice cubes
There are many other versions of the daiquiri that have arisen including the soda shoppe slurpee stuff sometimes found in speed bars today. However there are still a few good bartenders that know the meaning of a good daiquiri. One of the other really good daiquiri's in the one that was made for Ernest Hemingway at the El Florida in Havana.
Hemingway's Daiquiri
- 2 oz. White Rum
- 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
- 1/2 oz fresh grapefruit juice
- 1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
The basic recipe of a daiquiri is 1 strong , 1 sweet, and one sour, these are the directions of the early days of Cuban cocktail mixing, but things got more serious as to the ratios with time. Today the Daiquiri has shown a resurgence in America especially in the South Florida area. Should you be in Key West stop by the Rum Bar for some Daiquiri lore and some creative "Keys Daiquiri's". ;o)
