Before there were blenders and slushy machines and tiny paper umbrellas, there was the traditional daiquiri - simple, sophisticated and a far cry from today's spiked fruit smoothies downed by screechy sorority sisters on spring break.
Made with white rum, freshly squeezed lime juice and simple syrup, the traditional daiquiri is among the classic cocktails enjoying a renaissance - a perfect summer sipper that recalls the romance of Cuba's golden age.
"It's floral, with honey and brown-sugar notes, and tart lime," says Dale DeGroff, author of "The Essential Cocktail."
"It's simple, very pleasing and refreshing, and not wildly alcoholic," DeGroff says.
Born in Cuba, the daiquiri was invented, lore has it, in 1898 by American mining engineer Jennings Stockton Cox, who was working an iron mine near a town called Daiquiri. To cool himself in the tropical sun, Cox made a cocktail with the ingredients he had around him: Bacardi Carta Blanca rum, limes and sugar. (Surely the Cubans had combined these ingredients before, but Jennings slapped a name on it.)
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When Americans itching for a drink flocked to Cuba during Prohibition, the daiquiri found an eager audience, particularly at Havana's El Floridita bar, one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite haunts.
At El Floridita, which came to be known as the "cradle of the daiquiri," bartender Constantino Ribalaigua experimented with variations on the cocktail, including one made especially for the boozy writer. Called Papa Doble, the Hemingway special swapped out simple syrup for grapefruit juice and a few dashes of maraschino liqueur - and it was frozen, an early harbinger of strawberry brain freezes to come.
Simple Syrup
Mix equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Cool before using.
Daiquiri
• 1 1/2 ounces white rum
• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 3/4 ounce simple syrup
• Lime wheel for garnish
Combine ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker; shake hard. Serve up in a cocktail glass; garnish with a thin wheel of lime.
Hemingway Daiquiri
• 2 ounces white rum
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 ounce Marsh grapefruit juice (Marsh grapefruits are a variety known for sweetness. Can't find them? Use what you can.)
• 1 1/2 ounces simple syrup
• 2 to 3 dashes maraschino liqueur
• Lime or grapefruit wheel garnish
To make it like Ribalaigua made it, run the ingredients through a blender with crushed ice and serve it in a coupe glass. DeGroff prefers to shake it with ice and serve it up. Garnish it with a lime or grapefruit wheel.