My first Daiquiri was at a restaurant named The Crazy Pepper. I was fifteen, and the drink was slushy, nonalcoholic, and pink; on the whole, this was not an auspicious introduction to the realm.

Since then, however, I’ve developed a fondness for the stuff. Even as someone who’s not the biggest fan of light rum (I tend to prefer cachaça for my sugar-based liquor of choice), I’m willing to accept the perfection of nearly anything composed of limejuice and sugar.

The beauty of the Daiquiri is in its variability. No two will ever taste quite the same, and with the wealth of variations, you need never have the same one twice. It’s always good to start with the basics, however:

The Daiquiri

2 oz light rum

¾ oz limejuice

½ oz simple syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. For a frozen Daiquiri, pour the ingredients and ice into a blender and proceed from there.

My first Daiquiri variation is simple: It’s one I came up with last summer, during my month-long fruit-muddling stage:

The Fresh Strawberry Daiquiri

1½ oz light rum

Juice of ½ a large lime

¼ oz simple syrup

1 large strawberry, stemmed

Put the limejuice, strawberry, and simple syrup in a mixing glass, and pulverize the strawberry with a wooden spoon. Add the rum, then shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Since the Daiquiri is often considered a girly drink I think it’s worth pointing out that the Daiquiri was the favorite drink of none other than the ultra-masculine Ernest Hemingway, who preferred a double. The nickname this earned him stuck with the drink, and thus was born:

The Papa Doble

“Two and a half jiggers of Bacardi White Label Rum, the juice of two limes and half a grapefruit and six drops of maraschino, all placed in an electric mixer over shaved ice, whirled vigorously and served foaming in large goblets.”

— Papa Hemingway,

by A.E. Hotchner

And here we are, nearly out of time and space, and we haven’t even talked about the La Floradita, the Frozen Mint Daiquiri, the Mango Daiquiri or the Royal Daiquiri.

To top it off, I’ll leave you with one last recipe, a Papa Doble variation taken not-quite-verbatim from famed tiki bartender Trader Vic:

The Trader Vic Daiquiri

Juice of 1 lime

½ oz simple syrup

¼ teaspoon grapefruit juice concentrate, or ½ oz fresh grapefruit juice

½ oz maraschino liqueur

2 oz light rum

Squeeze limejuice over 1½ scoops shaved ice in container of electric drink mixer. Add remaining ingredients. Blend, strain through medium-mesh kitchen strainer into chilled tiki stem champagne glass.