The Daiquiri recipe
for your table
Add rum, lime juice, and sugar syrup with plenty of ice to a shaker.
Shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds. The Daiquiri thrives on ice-cold dilution.
Double strain into a chilled coupe or daiquiri glass.
Garnish with a thin lime wheel on the rim.
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The story
The Daiquiri takes its name from a mining town near Santiago de Cuba, where American engineer Jennings Cox served his guests rum with lime and sugar around 1898 when the gin had run out. The recipe traveled to Havana, where bartender Constantino Ribalaigua of El Floridita bar made it world-famous. His most famous customer? Ernest Hemingway, who reportedly drank record amounts of it. The Daiquiri became a symbol of Cuban cocktail culture and remains in the international top ten to this day.
The right glass
A Daiquiri is served straight up and therefore belongs in a stemmed glass. A coupe or special daiquiri glass from 19 to 26 cl is perfect: wide enough to let the fresh lime aroma come through, small enough to keep the cocktail cold until the last sip. Always place the glass in the freezer for a moment before serving. A lukewarm Daiquiri would be a waste of your good rum. If you prefer to serve it in a wide coupe, take a look at our champagne coupe glasses.
RCR Timeless Champagne Glass / Coupe 26 cl (6 pieces)
Bormioli Rocco America'20S Champagne Glass / Coupe 22 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 79,90.
The right tools
For a Daiquiri, besides the glass, you use a shaker, a jigger for precise measuring, a fine strainer for double straining, a citrus press and a zester for the twist. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 5 bar tools together € 112,70.
What do you make a Daiquiri with?
For a Daiquiri, you need rum. Well-known bottles include Diplomático and Havana Club. On each drink page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it pairs with, and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
The Hemingway Daiquiri (with grapefruit and maraschino, and less sugar) is the most famous variation. Frozen in a blender, it is a beach classic, while brown sugar and aged rum create a deeper, warmer version. The basic formula works with endless amounts of fruit: strawberry, mango, or passion fruit. Detailed recipes are available for the Frozen Daiquiri made in a blender and for Don's Special Daiquiri with passion fruit and honey. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Servingtip
Always use freshly squeezed lime juice; bottled juice makes this cocktail flat. Want to vary it? A bar spoon of maraschino liqueur turns it into a Hemingway-style twist.
Good to know
The ratio of rum, lime, and sugar syrup
The classic build is 4.5 cl white rum, 2.5 cl fresh lime juice, and 1.5 cl sugar syrup, roughly 3 to 2 to 1. That ratio is the starting point, not a hard-and-fast rule: with a very tart lime, increase the sugar syrup to 2 cl, while with a sweeter rum, reduce it to 1 cl. Taste before straining. What you should not adjust is the twelve- to fifteen-second shake time, because a Daiquiri depends on dilution. Without that layer of meltwater, making up about twenty percent, it remains harsh and sharp instead of becoming smooth.
How to make a strawberry Daiquiri
To make a strawberry Daiquiri, muddle four to five ripe strawberries in the shaker before adding the rest, or use 4 cl of strawberry purée. Reduce the simple syrup to 1 cl, because strawberries already add sweetness. Shake for fifteen seconds and double-strain, otherwise the seeds will end up in the drink. Frozen fruit almost always works better than a pale winter strawberry, because it is picked at its peak and also provides more color. A slice of fresh strawberry on the rim makes it immediately clear what is in the glass.
Frozen Daiquiri from the blender
Frozen is not a different recipe but a different technique. Add 4.5 cl rum, 2.5 cl lime juice, 1.5 cl simple syrup, and about 150 grams of crushed ice to a blender, and blend briefly on high speed until the texture resembles wet snow. Do not blend for too long, as the ice will melt and you will end up with a watery slush. Use crushed ice or cubes that you have broken up first; whole cubes put unnecessary strain on the blades. Serve immediately in a well-chilled coupe or a larger tulip glass, with a straw.
How to make simple syrup
You rarely need to buy simple syrup, because you can make it in five minutes. Dissolve equal parts sugar and warm water, for example 200 grams of sugar in 200 milliliters of water, stir until everything is clear, and let it cool. This 1:1 syrup is the standard in most recipes, including this one. If you want less volume in your cocktail, make a rich syrup with two parts sugar to one part water and use half the amount. In a clean bottle in the refrigerator, 1:1 syrup will keep for about a month.
What kind of cocktail is a Daiquiri, exactly?
What is a Daiquiri? At its core, it is the rum version of the sour, the oldest blueprint in the cocktail world: strong liquor, something sour, and something sweet. Swap the rum for tequila and you have a margarita; use whiskey and you have a whiskey sour. That blueprint also explains why the Daiquiri cocktail works so well with fruit. For the rum in a Daiquiri cocktail, choose a light, dry white rum in the Cuban style, such as Havana Club 3 or Bacardi Carta Blanca; a heavy, sweet rum will overpower the fresh lime juice.
Mango daiquiri and banana daiquiri
Besides strawberry, the mango daiquiri and the banana daiquiri are the best-known fruit variations. For a mango daiquiri, add 4 cl ripe mango purée and reduce the sugar syrup to 1 cl, because mango already adds sweetness; shaking works fine, as long as you double-strain afterwards. A banana daiquiri is better blended, because half a ripe banana provides texture rather than juice and remains lumpy in the shaker. The base does not change in either case: 4.5 cl white rum and 2.5 cl fresh lime juice.
Frequently asked questions
What is in a Daiquiri?
Three ingredients: 4.5 cl white rum, 2.5 cl fresh lime juice and 1.5 cl sugar syrup, shaken with plenty of ice and garnished with a thin lime wheel. There is nowhere to hide, so freshly squeezed lime juice and a good white rum really determine the result here.
What is the ratio for a Daiquiri?
Roughly 3:2:1, here 4.5 cl rum, 2.5 cl fresh lime juice and 1.5 cl sugar syrup. For a drier drink, use 1 cl syrup; for a sweeter version, use 2 cl. Shake for twelve to fifteen seconds, because the dilution is part of the recipe.
How do you make a strawberry daiquiri?
Shake five fresh strawberries with the basic recipe and double-strain for the clear version, or blend everything with a handful of crushed ice for a frozen strawberry daiquiri. Reduce the sugar syrup to 1 cl, because the strawberries already add sweetness.
Which glass do you use for a Daiquiri?
A coupe or daiquiri glass holding 19 to 26 cl, chilled in the freezer beforehand. The Daiquiri is served straight up, so without ice in the glass, and a stemmed glass is the only way to keep it cold: see our daiquiri glasses.
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