Hemingway Daiquiri

Recipe

Shake all with ice cubes and strain.


About

The Hemingway Daiquiri has become a cocktail classic, known as a twist on a daiquiri with the addition of grapefruit and maraschino liqueur. It’s fondly attributed to Ernest Hemingway, known for being an impressive drunk who ordered it doubly strong, a further variation then referred to as a “Papa Doble.” Well, that’s a fun story and all, but quite a gloried version of reality.

The scene: 1930s Havana.

After moving to Cuba to focus on his writing, Ernest Hemingway started frequenting the La Florida bar, where he met the famed respected bartender Constante. Constante was an artisan mixologist (by today’s terminology) and his portfolio of masterful creations included a family of daiquiri riffs (no. 1-4), each crafted for balance, thoughtfully utilizing different modifiers as well as formats of ice (cracked, shaved, etc).

The analogy: Imagine someone walking into a craft cocktail bar today and demanding the bartender make a carefully crafted house original, except dictating the spec ratios and making substitutions. Yeah. Hemingway may have been a masterful novelist, but he was no mixologist and optimized his drinks to quench his undying thirst and alcoholism.

So what was the original “Hemingway Daiquiri” / “Papa Doble”?

4oz white rum, 1oz lime juice, .5oz grapefruit juice, 1 barspoon of Maraschino liqueur, and served like a slushy with blended/powdery ice.

Sooo yeah, that’s not what I made. 🙂

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