Pineapple Daiquiri cocktail recipe

What’s better than a Daiquiri? A Daiquiri with pineapple. There is something about rum and pineapple that just meshes. The sweet, the spice, the acid – it’s a match made in heaven if you ask us. So, of course, when updating a classic like the Daiquiri, the addition of pineapple was a no-brainer.

Unlike our other heavy hitters – the Martinis and Sazeracs of the world – the Pineapple Daiquiri does not come with pages-long disputed origin stories. It is just a gentle and delicious riff on the OG Daiquiri recipe. The classic Daiquiri, however, is one of the only cocktails we know the full history of and how it came about.

The classic Daiquiri as we know it today is very similar to the Canchanchara, a 19th-century Cuban drink that consisted of rum, lime, honey and water, though the original has been credited to an American engineer living in Cuba (we know, sigh) – Jennings Stockton Cox. Apparently, in the small town of Daiquiri at the turn of the 20th century, Jennings ran out of gin to serve some guests he had over at his house, but was wary of serving straight rum (part of an engineer’s rations at the time) so he mixed it with sugar and lime juice. And then, hey presto! We have the Daiquiri. Its popularity spread to America via Admiral Lucius Johnson who brought it all the way back to the Army & Navy Club Washington DC, where a plaque dedicated to him in the Daiquiri Lounge remains to this day!

From there, it’s not hard to see the evolution of the cocktail. As we said above, rum and pineapple just work. If you’d like to try your hand at this twist on a classic, have a gander at our top tips below.

Think of this as a three-ingredient cocktail with the addition of pineapple. It may seem simple, but there is a rhyme and rhythm to every single part of this delicious drink. For one, measuring the ingredients is paramount. There’s no leeway – especially with the addition of pineapple juice. A Daiquiri is defined by its balance of sweet, sour and strong, so it’s important to get it right.

Another good tip is to ensure you don’t overstrain. It needs one strain through a coiled Hawthorne strainer to ensure you have those precious ice shards floating on the top of your cocktail, but this may differ if you decide to use fresh pineapple juice.

There’s also a tonne of frozen Daiquiri options – think Strawberry,  Coconut or Banana for starters – that may not be as sophisticated, but are still delicious, and you can do the same with this drink. Just chuck it all in the blender (you could even sub juice for frozen pineapple wedges) and go nuts.

Lastly, skip the bottled lime juice and go for fresh limes. It’ll take a little more time, but it will be fragrant and fresh and worth the extra effort.