The Daiquiri: From Stiff Drink to Slushie and Back Again

If a Prohibition-era daiquiri walked into a bar today, it wouldn't recognize itself. Once the potent drink of archetypal manly men (Hemingway, John F. Kennedy, and high-ranking naval officers all called it a favorite), the daiquiri is more commonly known today as an alcoholic slushie favored by cocoa-buttered spring breaker set, blender-whipped and available in a rainbow of syrupy tropical flavors. So how did a classic cocktail morph into a boozy Big Gulp? Just in time for National Daiquiri Day (July 19), Wayne Curtis, author of And a Bottle of Rum, shares the story of the drink and reintroduces the daiquiri as it should be-a strong, perfectly balanced cocktail with a flurry of ice shards on its pale surface looking, as Hemingway wrote, like the wake of a ship's bow cutting through the sea. --Sarah McColl, Shine staff

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