[Ed. note: this was originally posted last March, but frequent commenter Jana is updating her cocktail book so here it is again by popular demand! I look forward to having a couple of these myself three weeks from now in Vegas!]

The weather is starting to heat up, and with the nights starting to warm as well, the back patio is primed for daquiris under happy pineapple lights. Consider the daiquiri: simple, refreshing, a perfect drink to sip – not gulp! – while listening to surf, tropical, or exotica music by twilight. Daiquiris are not hard to make, the important thing is to start with a chilled class and shaved ice to make that first sip refreshingly dreamy. Here are a few recipes to try – you’ll find them all variations on the same theme. Bottoms up!

First, here is the classic El Floridita recipe, straight from Havana:

2 ounces rum
juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon sugar or simple (bar) syrup
1 teaspoon maraschino liqueur

Shake the ingredients with crushed ice and pour into a chilled cocktail glass.

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway liked a little grapefruit juice in his to give it a tang; here’s the recipe, courtesy of Wayne Curtis’s And A Bottle Of Rum:

1 1/2 ounces rum (lighter rum is best)
1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
3/4 ounce simple (bar) syrup
1/2 ounce grapefruit juice
3/4 ounce lime juice

Shake the ingredients in an iced shaker until good and frosty, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Finally, there’s mixologist Patricia Richard’s recipe for the Hemingway Daiquiri as served at the Wynn Las Vegas Parasol Up and Parasol Down bars:

1 1/2 ounces Oronoco rum
1/2 ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1/2 ounce simple (bar) syrup
1 ounce grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce lime juice

Shake the ingredients in an iced shaker until good and frosty, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This one, I think, is my favorite. Similar ingredients, but a sharper taste, I think – especially when I reduce the bar syrup to 1/4 ounce (my preference).