Don's Special Daiquiri

A tropical elevation of the classic daiquiri from tiki pioneer Donn Beach, blending aged rum with passion fruit, grapefruit, and lime for a fruit-forward, refreshing cocktail with vintage Polynesian charm.

Don's Special Daiquiri was created by Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt — who reinvented himself commercially as Donn Beach and operated under the name Don the Beachcomber — at his pioneering Hollywood tiki bar, which he opened at 1727 McCadden Place in Hollywood, California in 1933. Gantt was born in 1907 in Limestone County, Texas, and developed an extensive knowledge of Caribbean rum through travels in the 1920s and early 1930s before opening the establishment that effectively launched American tiki culture. His original version of this daiquiri variation was called the Mona Daiquiri, named for the Mona rum used in its preparation; when that brand was discontinued, Gantt adapted the recipe and it became Don's Special. The formula expands the classic three-ingredient Daiquiri — rum, lime, sugar — by adding passion fruit and honey, ingredients that transformed the straightforward Cuban sour into something more aromtically complex and tropical in character. Passion fruit's volatile esters and honey's floral sweetness create a version of the Daiquiri format that is simultaneously more exotic and more layered than the original, reflecting Gantt's consistent approach of building complexity through Caribbean and tropical ingredients. The International Bartenders Association recognized the drink in their New Era Drinks category, acknowledging tiki culture's enduring influence on modern cocktail making.