Picture a Daiquiri that took a detour through the herb garden. A few mint leaves are shaken with rum, lime and orange liqueur, and the egg white turns the whole thing into a pale, cloud-soft sour with a cool finish.
1¾ oz
white rume.g. Bacardi · Havana Club · Plantation · Don Q · Flor de Caña
½ oz
triple sec or Cointreaue.g. Cointreau · Bols · Marie Brizard · DeKuyper · Giffard
¾ oz
lime juice
¼ oz
simple syrup replaces the teaspoon of sugar
1
egg white
4 leaves
mint leaves plus a sprig to garnish
Garnish: Mint sprig and lime wedge · Ice: Served up, no ice
Acapulco
Clean, lightly sweet rum with lively lime, a hint of orange and a cool mint lift. Medium strength with a smooth, foamy texture.
The Acapulco is named after the Pacific resort city in Mexico, which became a glamorous holiday destination for Hollywood stars and international travellers in the mid-20th century. Several different drinks have carried the name over the decades, which makes a clear origin story impossible to pin down.
The rum version shown here is the one most often found in mid-century cocktail books: essentially a Daiquiri enriched with triple sec and egg white and perfumed with fresh mint. Later bartenders created tequila-based Acapulcos with pineapple or grapefruit juice, which fits the Mexican name better but is a different drink. No reliable record names a creator for either, so the Acapulco is best understood as a resort-era riff on the rum sour.
Both versions exist. The older, better documented recipe uses white rum; tequila Acapulcos are later variations.
Yes. It becomes a mint-accented Daiquiri with orange notes. Use aquafaba as a vegan alternative for foam.
A chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Some bars serve it over ice in a tall glass, which makes it lighter.
The perfect sound
Jet set glamour on the cliffs of Acapulco.
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