Classic
Daiquiri
Rum, lime and sugar, shaken until the tin frosts
The Cuban rum sour: white rum, fresh lime juice and simple syrup, shaken hard and served straight up in a chilled coupe.
RumShakenEasy
Country
Cuba
3 drinks are tied to Cuba. The label on each says how: where it began, what the country is known for, what people drink there, or where the origin is disputed.
How each drink is tied to Cuba
Associations are editorial judgements. The evidence link shows the source used.
Jennings Stockton Cox, an American mining engineer near the village of Daiquiri in south eastern Cuba, is credited with naming the drink around 1898; Basil Woon's 1928 book and a 1948 letter from Cox's colleague Pagliuchi both place it in Santiago de Cuba. Rum, lime and sugar were mixed long before, so Cox named and codified rather than invented. The earliest cocktail book listing is Jacques Straub's 1914 Drinks.
Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)
The first known recipe is a Mojo Criollo in a Cuban book of 1927, and the name Mojito first appears on the 1931 to 1932 Sloppy Joe's souvenir menu in Havana, under both rum and gin. A 1833 account of drinking a little Drake during a Havana cholera outbreak documents the aguardiente and mint predecessor. The Francis Drake 1586 story and the La Bodeguita del Medio invention claim are legend; Cuba as the home is not.
Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)
The first printed drink called pina colada is in Travel magazine in December 1922, describing a shaken pineapple daiquiri in Havana with no coconut at all. Difford's calls that the Cuban style Pina Colada and treats the coconut drink as a separate Puerto Rican creation. Listed as contested because the name is Cuban first and the modern drink is not.
Confidence: mediumEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)
The recipes
International
Mojito
Havana's mint and lime highball, pressed not pulverized
Cuba's mint and lime highball: white rum, fresh lime, sugar or syrup and gently pressed mint, built over ice and topped with soda water.
RumMuddledIntermediate
International
Pina Colada
Puerto Rico's rum, coconut and pineapple blend, made with fresh juice
Puerto Rico's national drink: rum, cream of coconut and pineapple juice blended or shaken with ice and served in a hurricane glass with pineapple and a cherry.
RumBlendedEasy
Map data: Natural Earth, public domain.