Daiquiri Fun Facts: The daiquiri itself got its beginnings in 1898, when a man named Jennings Stockton Cox (who was an American engineer spending time in Daiquiri, Cuba to work on iron-ore mines) created a drink using fresh lime juice from the fruit of a nearby tree. He added a shot of Bacardi Carta Blanca rum (now sold as Bacardi Superior), a spoonful of sugar and crushed ice to the lime juice, and the concoction was an instant hit. Cox dubbed the new drink “Ron Bacardi a la Daiquiri,” which has shortened to simply “Daiquiri” over the years. ” July 19th is National Daiquiri Day. ” The drink even became a favorite of author Ernest Hemingway. ” The daiquiri became popular in the 1940’s because wartime rationing made whiskey, vodka, etc., hard to come by. Because of Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor policy (which opened up trade and travel relations with Latin America, Cuba and the Caribbean), rum was easily obtainable. ” It is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury’s classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.