The internet is rife with instructions on how to make a strawberry daiquiri, but we prefer this fruity and refreshing riff take on the classic recipe. It’s easy to make this cocktail with a few carefully chosen ingredients. It was designed with fresh strawberries in mind, but you can absolutely use frozen berries in a pinch. Be sure to defrost them fully, however, and check to see if your package has any added sugars. If so, you might want to use less simple syrup than called for in the recipe below.
In this strawberry daiquiri recipe, fresh lime juice adds zest and offsets the sweetness of the strawberries and simple syrup. Bottled versions of the latter exist, but it’s easy to make simple syrup at home.
So, what kind of rum should you use in a strawberry daiquiri? At The Hawthorne, a now-shuttered Boston restaurant that created the recipe below, bartenders opted for dark rum like Plantation Grande Réserve 5 Year. Hailing from Barbados, this bottle offers notes of creamy caramel and bright lemon to add layers of flavor to your strawberry daiquiri. Other top-scoring dark rums include Ten to One Caribbean Dark Rum and Rhum Barbancourt Estate Reserve Aged 15 Years.
You can make your strawberry daiquiri frozen, too. Simply combine all ingredients except for the garnish in a blender instead of a cocktail shaker and whir until combined.
How to Make a Strawberry Daiquiri
This rosy pink drink is a great way to use the first strawberries of the season.—Kara Newman
Recipe courtesy The Hawthorne, Boston
Published: December 7, 2015
Ingredients
Directions
In a cocktail shaker, muddle strawberries. Add remaining ingredients and ice. Shake well, and strain into a rocks glass over a large piece of ice. Garnish with a whole strawberry.
