July 19 is National Daiquiri Day! Check out this Houston daiquiri shop that has a backstory almost as crazy as their drinks

HOUSTON – July 19 is National Daiquiri Day, and we’re celebrating by highlighting a local family business. Daiquiris 2 Go opened in 2018 in the southwest area of Houston. The shop is run by a mother-daughter-son team, Juanita Jackson, Taylor Barner and CJ Barner, and specializes in serving frozen cocktails with unique flavors and convenient to-go options.

“A thing that sets us apart is a lot of our drinks are hand-blended, so kind of like craft daiquiris,” said Taylor.

The business’ origin story is almost as crazy as their drink flavors. In 2016, Jackson created, produced and starred in a reality TV show called “Sisters in Law” for WEtv that followed the stories of several Black female lawyers in Houston.

On the heels of season one, Taylor returned to Houston from Los Angeles to be with her mom for season two. The family then faced two back-to-back hardships: the show was not renewed for a second season and Taylor was in a serious car crash that made it difficult for her to walk for a few months.

“I was just like, ‘Well, I don’t know what’s next,’ and my mom’s show unfortunately was cancelled, so she was like, ‘I don’t know what’s next,” said Taylor.

During Taylor’s recovery, a favorite pastime she and her mom shared was visiting a nearby restaurant that offered two flavors of daiquiris to-go.

“Probably a few times a week, we started enjoying these daiquiris to-go, and from that I thought, ‘This is cool. This is a cool business,‘” said Jackson.

With proceeds from “Sisters in Law” and Taylor’s motivation, the idea for Daiquiris 2 Go was born. As for CJ, his path was quickly lining up to join with his mom and sister as well.

“It was perfect timing because at the time, CJ was at college at Houston Baptist University,” said Jackson.

Though CJ did not start college with business aspirations, the idea of working with his family on this venture started to grow in appeal.

“I was definitely focused on being a pro-athlete and playing overseas,” said CJ. “But when this opportunity popped up, I was game because I love drinking and I love spending time with my family.”

With Houston Baptist University just being around the corner, many of CJ’s classmates soon became loyal customers of Daiquiris 2 Go. In a short period of time, the family-owned shop became a big name in the Houston daiquiri scene. With flavors like “Dirty South Tea” and “The Yonce,” it’s no surprise the business is an H-Town favorite.

Never ones to back down from a challenge, the family quickly rallied at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Already equipped to to handle to-go orders, Daiquiris 2 Go implemented new health safety measures to keep their staff and customers safe. To stay engaged with their customers, they utilized Taylor’s talents as an international DJ.

“I got a green screen, lighting and decided to just start livestreaming DJ sets,” said Taylor. “Something that people could tune in to, feel good, sip your daiquiri and tune in when you get home.”

Though they’ve enjoyed finding creative ways to engage with customers during the pandemic, all three family members are looking forward to things going back to normal.

“We love being the neighborhood daiquiri shop. We’re very proud of it,” said Jackson.

To connect with Juanita, Taylor and CJ, visit the Daiquiris 2 Go website.

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