A Brief History of the Daiquiri [Infographic]

Every July 19 cocktail enthusiasts around the world celebrate one of their favorite rum drinks, the Daiquiri with National Daiquiri Day. There are many variations of the daiquiri but, the simplest of daiquiris typically includes rum, lime juice, sugar and ice. Common variations include a banana daiquiri, strawberry daiquiri and of course the frozen daiquiri. Here’s a brief history of this iconic drink.

The Daiquiri Over the Years

1898: The year Jennings Cox led a mining expedition in the small town of Daiquiri Cuba. He observed his co-workers mixing rum with their evening coffee and begun to experiment with his own version. That’s when he created the worlds very first Daiquiri.

1900’s: The daiquiri debuted in the United States when Rear Admiral Lucius W. Johnson brought the recipe to the Army & Navy Club in Washington, D.C.

1920’s: While in Cuba, Ernest Hemiway visited the Floridita Lounge. At his request, bartender Constantantio Ribalaigua created a daiquiri with double the rum, grapefruit, and lime juices with just a touch of maraschino cherry liqueur for sweetness (Hemiway was a diabetic). The Papa Doble, or Hemiway Daiquiri was born.

1930’s: The rise of the Tiki culture in the U.S. Tiki historian, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, considers the daiquiri one of his favorite subjects. “It is the foundation of all tropical drinks. All Tiki drinks are more or less a complicated version of the daiquiri.

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1960’s: President John F. Kennedy sipped daiquiris on his sailboat, the Honey Fitz. Jackie Kennedy even trained White House staff to make hers.

1980’s: The modern incarnation of the daiquiri was born in New Orleans. Developer David Briggs, Jr. moved his family to New Orleans and opened the first New Orleans Original Daiquiris in Hammond, Louisianna. What was once a complicated, costly, and inconsistent frozen drink became a premium drink available in a to-go cup.

1990’s: Dale DeGroff, the “King of Cocktails” begins his infamous decade of bartending in New York and kick starts the classic cocktail revival which spread throughout New York. He never took the popular Hemingway daiquiri off the menu during his entire reign at the Rainbow Room.

2000’s: Andrew Deitz introduces the “Daiquiri Time Out,” which is also coincidentally mentioned in the 2005 film “Wedding Crashers.” The DTO quickly spreads through the Boston bartending community – the Daiquiri Time Out, like its predecessors, is sweet and refreshing but a fraction of the size. As the saying goes, “There’s always time for a daiquiri, even if it’s just a sip.”

Here’s a visual version of the History of the Daiquiri in this handy Infographic. Click on the infographic below to see it full size.