Daiquiri, one of the most famous Cuban Drinks Around the World

A name, a drink and a whole legend. That is a Daiquiri, which is part of the Cuban cocktail´s recipe book and is prepared from the irreplaceable rum.

What thousands of people from all over the world order when they first arrive in Cuba is a Daiquiri, but there are many variants of this refreshing drink, mainly in order to fight the heat on the hot island.

Its essentially about a blending of rum, lemon, sugar and crushed ice, from the ups and downs of the cuban with a mantle of rebelliousness and gourmets wishes. Its a kind of flag for any drinker and also for those, who are not.

The close relative to Daiquiri is the Canchanchara, a drink that is related to the Cuban struggle for independence in colonial times. The Mambises, Cuban rebels who fought in the scrubland against the Spanish colonialism in the 19th century, knew very well how nice it was drinking a preparation with 2/3 rum or aguardiente and 1/3 lemon, sweetened with natural honey.

This preparation undoubtedly quenched the thirst and was the perfect remedy for the feeling of nervousness that is naturally caused by the preparation for a combat or after been injured. So is recorded in the campaign chronicles of this era. Actually there are several versions for the origins of the Cuban Daiquiri. One of them tells that at the turn of the 19th century, the engineer Pagliuchi, captain of the Cuban Liberating Army, visited the iron mine of Daiquiri, in Santiago de Cuba, in the Eastern side of the island, by Santiago de Cuba.

There the soldier had a meeting with his North American colleague Jennings S. Cox, in order to rescue some mines in the area of El Cobre, where nowadays exist an important basilica and a copper deposit.

As the northerner didnt find any drink in the larder to quench the thirst, like Gin or Vermouth, he mixed the only ingredients he had, rum, sugar and lemon preparing an excellent refreshing drink.

The second version about this matter dates from 1898, when the US-troops landed on the beach belonging to the area of Daiquiri. The general Shafter, who commanded the troops, watched carefully Mambises by preparing the Canchanchara.

Then he added ice on the blending of rum, lemon and sugar, in order to give the preparation a touch of distinction, that without doubt owe its name to that beach in the Eastern part of the Cuban Island.

Rapidly the Daiquiri became traditional at the Hotel Venus in Santiago de Cuba, getting popular with the name Daiquiri Natural.

It really wins fame later in Havana City, when the Spanish barman Emilio Gonzalez, better known as Maragato, served it at Hotel Plaza. However, the man who gave the drink its real fame was his Spanish colleague, Constantino Ribalaigua, who sold it at the Bar-Restaurant El Floridita. This master made then the 4th and final version, the Daiquiri Floridita.

About the Author
San Cristobal UK is a Tailor-Made Cuba holiday specialist and has a vast experience in organizing holidays to Cuba. This is one of a series of articles devoted to promote the Cuban Culture and to give information on what to do and see in your Holidays to Cuba.