Strawberry Daiquiri
Muddle; Shake ∙ 4 min ∙ 18.3% ABV ∙
The Strawberry Daiquiri is a shaken rum sour made with muddled fresh strawberries, lime juice, and sugar syrup, served up in a coupe. A frothy, bright-pink pour balances juicy sweetness against sharp citrus snap, with a faint peppery warmth lingering under the silky, fruit-flecked finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- In the base of the shaker, muddle: Fresh strawberries 7 pcs
- Add the remaining ingredients: Light gold rum 60 mlLime juice 25 mlSugar syrup 15 mlBlack pepper 2 grindsSaline solution 1 dash
- Shake with ice
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a strawberry (or half if large) on the rim with a mint sprig
Tips
- Pre-chill the coupe before shaking so the drink doesn't lose its cold, silky texture by the time it's strained up.
- Muddle the strawberries gently and briefly — just enough to release juice, since crushed seeds add a bitter edge.
- Shake hard and long enough to fully break down the muddled fruit into the mix before straining.
History
The strawberry daiquiri emerged as one of the blended, frozen variations on the classic Daiquiri that became popular in mid-20th-century tiki and tropical bar culture, when bartenders began pureeing whole strawberries with rum, sugar and lime juice and serving the mix over crushed or blended ice rather than shaking it clear. It has no single documented inventor or bar of origin, unlike some of its frozen daiquiri siblings, but grew out of the broader frozen-daiquiri trend that took hold in Cuban and American bars in the 1930s and 1940s and later became a fixture of blender-drink menus.
The Daiquiri itself is generally traced to Daiquiri, a mining town in southeastern Cuba, where an American mining engineer named Jennings Cox is widely credited with mixing rum, lime juice and sugar into the drink around 1898, though the exact circumstances of its creation are recounted differently across sources. The strawberry version simply substitutes fresh strawberries into that lime-rum-sugar base and is typically prepared blended with ice rather than shaken, giving it a thicker, sweeter, fruit-forward character distinct from the clear, shaken original.
FAQ
What alcohol is in a Strawberry Daiquiri?
Light gold rum is the alcohol in a Strawberry Daiquiri, giving it an ABV of about 18.3%.
Do you put rum or vodka in a strawberry daiquiri?
Rum, not vodka, is the correct spirit for a Strawberry Daiquiri; specifically a light gold rum, which gives a softer, slightly aged sweetness than a white rum would. Vodka would strip out the character the daiquiri is built around.
What ingredients are in a Strawberry Daiquiri?
A Strawberry Daiquiri is made with fresh strawberries, light gold rum, lime juice, and sugar syrup, muddled and then shaken with ice. This build also adds a couple of grinds of black pepper and a dash of saline solution to sharpen the finish and round out the sweetness.
What's the easiest way to make a Strawberry Daiquiri?
Muddle the strawberries in the shaker first, then add the remaining ingredients and shake hard with ice before straining into a pre-chilled coupe glass.
Will a Strawberry Daiquiri get you drunk?
It can, though it is a moderate-strength drink at about 18.3% ABV, lighter than a spirit-forward cocktail because of the fruit, lime, and syrup diluting the rum. Drinking several will still add up, but one glass is a mild pour by cocktail standards.
What's the secret to a perfect Strawberry Daiquiri?
Balance is the secret: muddle the strawberries just enough to release their juice without crushing the seeds, which turn bitter, and shake hard so the fruit fully integrates with the rum and lime. A dash of saline and a touch of black pepper, as this build uses, sharpen the sweetness rather than let it taste flat.
