Table & Traditions Recipes, rituals & real meals
About Favorites 0

Santiago de Cuba (the Daiquirí beach and mines) · Cuban

Daiquiri (The Classic Rum Sour)

The real daiquiri — white rum, fresh lime and sugar, shaken cold and served up. No blender, no slush. Three ingredients, perfect balance, and the benchmark of a good bartender.

By Table & Traditions Editors

Published June 21, 2026

A classic daiquiri served up in a frosted coupe glass, pale and clear with a thin lime wheel, condensation beading on the chilled glass.

Named for a beach and iron mine near Santiago de Cuba, the daiquiri was popularized around 1900 and became the test of a great Havana bartender. The classic is simply Cuban white rum, fresh lime and sugar, shaken and served up — clean, bracing and balanced. Hemingway drank his by the dozen at El Floridita.

Yield
Makes 1
Prep
4 min
Cook
0 min
Total
About 4 min
Difficulty
Easy

The classic daiquiri is three ingredients in perfect balance: white rum, fresh lime and sugar, shaken cold and served up. No blender, no slush — that’s a different (also Cuban) drink. This one is the benchmark a good bartender is judged by.

Three ingredients, measured

Rum, fresh lime, simple syrup. With so few parts there’s nowhere to hide, so measure precisely and use fresh lime — bottled juice tastes flat and throws the whole thing off.

Shake hard, serve up

Chill a coupe in the freezer, shake the drink hard with plenty of ice for 12 to 15 seconds until frosty, and double-strain into the cold glass. The hard shake gives it a light, aerated texture; the frosted coupe keeps it cold with no ice to dilute it.

Drink it cold and soon

With nothing in the glass, a daiquiri warms quickly — it’s made to be bright, bracing and finished while it’s icy. Try the Hemingway version with grapefruit and maraschino once you’ve nailed the classic. More in the Drinks guide.

Ingredients

Makes
1
  • 60 ml (2 oz) white (light) rum A clean Cuban-style light rum is classic; its restraint lets the lime and sugar balance shine.
  • 25 ml (0.75 oz) fresh lime juice Fresh only — the daiquiri is a citrus cocktail and bottled lime tastes flat.
  • 15 ml (0.5 oz) rich simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water)
  • ice
  • lime wheel, to garnish (optional)

Method

Tap a step’s number to check it off as you go.

  1. Chill a coupe glass in the freezer while you mix.

    Why: A daiquiri is served up with no ice in the glass, so a frosted coupe is what keeps it cold from first sip to last.

  2. Add the rum, fresh lime juice and simple syrup to a shaker with plenty of ice.

    Why: All three measured precisely — the daiquiri is a balance act between sour and sweet, and a heavy hand on either throws it off.

  3. Shake hard for 12–15 seconds until frosty, then double-strain into the chilled coupe.

    Why: A hard shake chills, dilutes and aerates the drink to a light texture; double-straining catches ice shards so the surface stays clean and silky.

A quick, anonymous tap — no review needed.

Variations

  • Hemingway / Papa Doble

    Add grapefruit juice and a little maraschino liqueur and drop the sugar — drier and more complex, the way Hemingway took his.

  • Frozen

    Blend with crushed ice for the slushy frozen daiquiri — fun and Cuban in origin, but it dilutes fast; serve immediately.

  • Demerara

    Use a richer demerara or aged rum and demerara syrup for a deeper, molasses-edged daiquiri.

Serving & Storage

Serve straight up in a chilled coupe, no garnish needed beyond a lime wheel. Drink it cold and quickly — it warms fast with nothing in the glass.

Pairs with: Cuban sandwich, Plantain chips, Ceviche, Grilled fish.

Storage: Strictly to order. With no ice in the glass it relies on a frosty shake and a chilled coupe; pre-mixing and storing kills the texture.

Nutrition

Per serving (1 cocktail (~110 ml))

Calories
175
Protein
0 g
Carbs
9 g
Fat
0 g
Fiber
0 g
Sugar
8 g
Sodium
0 mg

Estimated using standard ingredient data. Values vary with brands and substitutions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Isn't a daiquiri a frozen slushy drink?

The frozen version is real and Cuban, but the original and classic daiquiri is shaken with ice and served up — clean, bright and balanced, with no blender in sight. If you've only had the slushy kind, the shaken classic is a revelation.

What rum should I use?

A clean, light Cuban-style rum is classic and lets the lime-sugar balance lead. You can use an aged rum for a richer drink, but start with a good light rum to taste the cocktail as intended.

Why double-strain it?

Shaking with ice leaves tiny shards that would float on a drink served up. Double-straining (through the shaker's strainer and a fine mesh) keeps the surface glassy and the texture silky.

From our kitchen community

Ratings & Reviews

My Rating

Tap a star to rate — no sign-in, no form needed.

Be the first to rate Daiquiri (The Classic Rum Sour).

Further reading