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Classic Daiquiri Cocktail Recipe

Name: Classic Daiquiri Cocktail Recipe
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 cocktail
Cuisine: American

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Jul 3, 2026 • 1 min read

Daiquiris are classic rum cocktails that use three main ingredients to create a perfect balance of sweet and sour: rum, citrus juice (most often lime), and sweetener. They’re traditionally served in a cocktail glass without ice.

Daiquiris can come in all sorts of flavors—from strawberry to avocado—but the most basic (and the original) is called simply the classic daiquiri.

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History of the Classic Daiquiri

The first record of a daiquiri-like drink is grog, a rum-and-citrus concoction British sailors drank in the 1780s during Caribbean voyages to prevent scurvy.

More recently, the daiquiri as we know it originated in Cuba in the early 1900s, supposedly created by American engineer Jennings Cox, who worked at the Daiquirí mine during the Spanish-American War. Daiquiris were sometimes served over ice in frosted tall glasses, or shaken and poured into chilled coupe glasses, but daiquiris are now mostly served in cocktail glasses or martini glasses.

Daiquiris were mostly popular in Navy clubs and other sailor-specific venues, because rum was popular with sailors. The drink hit the mainstream in the 1940s during World War II, when whiskey and vodka were rationed and rum evolved from a liquor drunk mostly by sailors into a popular cocktail base.

3 Variations on the Classic Daiquiri

1. Flavored daiquiris. Daiquiris are a great blank canvas to add other flavors to. Popular flavored include strawberry daiquiris, banana daiquiris, blueberry daiquiris, and avocado daiquiris. Learn how to make a strawberry daiquiri with our recipe here.
2. Hemingway daiquiri. The Hemingway daiquiri includes a bit of grapefruit juice along with the lime and maraschino liqueur is used instead of simple syrup. The Hemingway daiquiri is so-named because it was a favorite drink of the writer Ernest Hemingway. Find our recipe for the Hemingway daiquiri here.
3. Frozen daiquiris. Frozen daiquiris are a popular summer drink made with well-crushed ice and have a consistency similar to smoothies.