hemingway_cocktail

Post Prohibition

Handcrafted Libations by Josh Sullivan

Recipes

Hemingway Daiquiri

“I drink to make other people more interesting.” –Ernest Hemingway

A high school graduate, Hemingway furthered his education by his world travels, Key West to Kilimanjaro, Venice to Paris. For a real taste of local life, he said, “Don’t bother with churches, government buildings or city squares, if you want to know about a culture, spend a night in its bars.” The man is legendary for his unfettered appreciation of a good drink. He frequently would weave cocktails into the vivid descriptions of his books. Philip Greene, cocktail and Hemingway scholar, noted:

In The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes has a Jack Rose while waiting in vain for Brett. In A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry has a couple of “cool and clean” Martinis; they made him “feel civilized.” And in For Whom the Bell Tolls, it is the ritual of dripped absinthe that gives Robert Jordan’s temporary solace from the rigors of war: “One cup of it took the place of the evening papers, of all the old evenings in cafés, of all chestnut trees that would be in bloom now in this month.… of all the things he had enjoyed and forgotten and that came back to him when he tasted that opaque, bitter, tongue-numbing, brain-warming, stomach-warming, idea-changing liquid alchemy.”

In a word, this is my kind of writer.

In the moments he took a break from writing, Hemingway whiled away much of the 30s and 40s sitting at the bar of the famous Cuban haunt El Floridita, where they fixed his preferred drink, El Papa Doble, one after another. The Doble is a large drink, and Hemingway was quick to brag that he could put back quite a few. And by a few.. I mean many. Hemingway is famously known to have consumed six of his namesake Daiquiris on the average afternoon, but as many as twelve Papa Dobles in one sitting when he was really looking to let loose. A Papa Doble was compounded of two and a half jiggers [or 3 3/4 ounces] of Bacardi White Label Rum, the juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, and six drops of maraschino, all placed in an electric mixer over shaved ice, whirled vigorously and served foaming in large goblets. Hemingway said these drinks “had no taste of alcohol and felt, as you drank them, the way downhill glacier skiing feels running through powder snow.”

The Hemingway Daiquiri is made with less rum than the Doble above, and though both were served to Hemingway as frosty, crushed or shaved ice concoctions, my version is the more modern take, served up.

• 2 oz white rum (Havana Club if you got it)
• 3/4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
• 1/4 oz simple syrup 1:1
• Garnish with a grapefruit twist

Shake all ingredients except the garnish and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

City Paper Cocktail

The Conception

Beet Detox

The Turning Leaf

Post navigation

13 Notes on “ Hemingway Daiquiri ”

A poster you might like to own, in that case.

That is really cool!

The Hemmingway Daquiri is one of my favorite drinks. It’s just so pale.

Thanks for sharing all of these great recipes — very happy to have found your splendid version of one of my favourite drinks. Looking forward to reading more and trying others!

I think your Cocktail blog is great! I will be trying some of your recipes very soon. It is almost Happy Hour here! I also appreciate your use of vintage glasses for serving the the straight up cocktails as no other glasses could really measure up to such fine cocktails. I have the a few of the same ones (Styles) that you do! I collect them.

for the perfect Hemmingway Daiquiri, use Luxardo — a delightful Italian liquor made from smoked maraschino cherry pits, vanilla and various other herbs

One of the mostly used Marschino liqueurs of the time was Croatian brand Maraska, from the city of Zadar where Maraschino originated !

This is my favorite drink but recently I had one in Little Italy, Cleveland at the Washington Place Bistro & Inn which had the addition of Falernum in it. Wish I had the recipe!! It was fabulous!! If anyone here gets ahold of that recipe, please let me know.…Thanks

i like this drink

Thank you for the recipe

hey, finally found a recipe without blending ice (i can’t, i drink at night and i don’t wanna wake up people)

i made 1 little adjustment — i put 1 and 1/2 of grapefruit juice, as it seemed too “rumy” and strong to me.

thank you!

Glad to hear it, Max! Cheers!

Thank you! I had one of these cocktails at my favorite bar in Key West. I’ve tried 4 other recipes, but the ratios were never right. This recipe is it! Drinking one now. Cheers!

Hemingway Special — is my favorite daiquri drink! One reason — usage of grapefruit juice. It always works well in cocktails. The second — cuban rum. I use Havana Club, Santiago De Cuba, Legendario etc, just because in Russia is hard to find any others!

Hemingway Daiquiri

Ernest Hemingway once wrote that daiquiris “felt, as you drank them, the way downhill glacier-skiing feels running through powder snow.” The daiquiri that Hemingway liked best included grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur. Slideshow: Rum Cocktail Recipes

Ingredients

• 2 ounces white rum
• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
• 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur
• Ice
• 1 lime wheel, for garnish (optional)

How to Make It

In a cocktail shaker, combine the rum, lime and grapefruit juices and maraschino liqueur. Fill the shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with the lime wheel.

Classic Cocktail Recipe: The Hemingway Daiquiri

It was at El Floridita that Ernest Hemingway conducted his love affair with the daiquiri. During his many stints in Cuba, where he escaped to and from his home in Key West, Florida, the writer was known to post up in a favorite corner of this Havana watering hole and quaff glass after glass of barman Constantino Ribalaigua Vert's simple, sublime concoctions of rum, lime, sugar, and ice.

Over those long spells at El Floridita, Hemingway also partook in the bar's several variations on the classic daiquiri, and this dry, funky interpretation emerged as one of his most-loved. On the premises, it became known as the Hemingway Special, and beyond the walls of El Floridita, the Hemingway Daiquiri.

This combination of light rum, lime and grapefruit juices, and maraschino liqueur makes for a bracing, complex cocktail that — unlike daiquiris that suffer from excess, cloying sweetness — finishes nice and dry. (Note, there is no added sugar in the recipe.)

It's no wonder Hemingway could go through so many of these in a sitting.

The Hemingway Daiquiri

2 ounces light rum, such as Flor de Caña Extra Dry 4 Year

3/4 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce fresh grapefruit juice

1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur

Combine all the ingredients in a Boston shaker or cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain the contents into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

• Calories 185
• Fat 0.1 g (0.1%)
• Saturated 0 g (0.1%)
• Carbs 7.7 g (2.6%)
• Fiber 0.1 g (0.4%)
• Sugars 6.2 g
• Protein 0.2 g (0.3%)
• Sodium 2.3 mg (0.1%)

Submit a story

Got a tip, kitchen tour, or other story our readers should see?

Hemingway Daiquiri

Hemingway Daiquiri (02:25)

Ingredients

• 6 dried bing cherries
• Maraschino liqueur
• White grapefruit, cut in half, divided
• 1 1/2 ounces simple syrup
• 1 1/2 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 ounce aged rum
• 2 ounces white rum

Directions

Place the cherries in a small bowl and add enough maraschino liqueur to cover. Allow the cherries to soak for 24 hours.

Squeeze 1 ounce of grapefruit juice from half of the grapefruit and place it in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add the simple syrup, lime juice, 1/2 ounce of maraschino liqueur, and the rums to the cocktail shaker. Add ice, attach the top of the cocktail shaker and the shake vigorously. Double strain the drink into cocktail glasses and place three of the cherries on a toothpick on the side of each glass for garnish.

Using a sharp knife, slice a small section of grapefruit peel from half of the grapefruit. Light a kitchen match, and holding the match over a cocktail glass, squeeze the grapefruit peel twice over the flame to release the oil for aromatics. Repeat the process for the other cocktail.

This recipe was provided by a chef, restaurant or culinary professional. It has not been tested for home use.

2011, Brian Van Flandern, All Rights Reserved

Categories:

The Best Holiday Drinks

Thanksgiving Newsletter

Sign up to get daily recipes and tips leading up to the big dinner. Privacy Policy

Hemingway Cocktail

Ingredients

• 3 ruby red grapefruit, plus 4 grapefruit slices
• 6 ounces vodka
• Simple syrup, recipe follows
• Sugar

Simple Syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

Directions

Juice the grapefruits and divide the juice among 4 glasses. Add 1 1/2 ounces of vodka to each glass. Add desired amount of simple syrup to sweeten the drink. Stir well.

Dip the grapefruit slices in sugar, to coat. Place 1 sugar dipped grapefruit slice on the rim of each glass.

Simple Syrup:

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the water just to a boil and boil until the sugar dissolves, but the mixture does not get any color. Remove from the heat and let cool. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Categories:

Thanksgiving Newsletter

Sign up to get daily recipes and tips leading up to the big dinner. Privacy Policy

Hemingway Daiquiri Cocktail Recipe

• 3 mins
• Prep: 3 mins,
• Cook: 0 mins
• Yield: 1 serving

The Hemingway Daiquiri is also known as the Papa Doble or Hemingway Special and it is a popular classic cocktail. As one may expect, it was named after the famous writer of the 1920's and 30's, Ernest Hemingway.

It is widely known that Hemingway enjoyed a drink or two. Biographical books like A Moveable Feast include countless tales of sharing drinks with literary friends while in Paris and much of his free time throughout his life was spent in bars. He was quite selective about what he imbibed and certainly had his preferences.

After spending some time in Cuba, Hemingway quickly became enamored with the Daiquiri. In 1921 Constantino Ribailagua, of El Floridita in Havana, created this variation in honor of his daiquiri-loving regular. At the bar, it was often served frozen. It's an easy variation to make -- just add 3/4 to 1 cup of ice to a blender.

As far as the drink goes, you will enjoy this amplified daiquiri because it brings the sweetness of maraschino along with tart grapefruit into the classic rum-lime mix. It's quite a delight and a nice drink to break routine.

For Hemingway himself, the Hemingway Daiquiri was served without sugar and is almost always prepared that way despite the fact that most people prefer the added sweetness.

Hemingway Daiquiri

In his 2001 book Straight Up or On the Rocks, William Grimes claims that Ernest Hemingway "often worked his way through about a dozen of these lime slurpees, sometimes ordering doubles, which became known as Papa Dobles." More Rum Drinks

Ingredients

• Ice
• 2 ounces white rum
• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
• 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur
• 1 lime wheel, for garnish (optional)

How to Make It

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the lime wheel and shake well. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with the lime wheel.

Buy the ingredients on Drizly and have them delivered in under an hour. Find out if they operate near you.

Since 2014, Hemingway's has stood proudly as the only locally owned and independent cocktail establishment in Cluj Napoca.

The bar lies within the heart of the city bringing a harmonious mix of local faces and visitors from afar. The Staff, ranging from a multitude of backgrounds, each bring something unique and memorable to your experience.

The strength of Hemingway's reputation has allowed us the great privilege of bringing the versatility of our experience to your events, where we provide a range of different services to suit your very own preference.

Cocktail Catering

For a professional and seamless event that is sure to impress everyone from a drinking novice to a cocktail connoisseur, get in touch below so we can deliver the perfect event for you!

What Did Ernest Hemingway Really Drink?

It's no secret that booze was Hemingway's life-blood, for himself as much for his fictional cohorts. Frederic Henry's drink of choice in A Farewell to Arms is the martini — "They made me feel civilized," he says — while in The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes likes a Calvados-and-gin concoction called the Jack Rose. In "Three Day Blow," Nick Adams nurses his heartache with a bottle of "whiskey" (by which Hemingway probably meant scotch); G&Ts are Thomas Hudson's go-to in Islands in the Stream; and in Green Hills of Africa, Hemingway is seldom without a gimlet, even carting around a bottle of Rose's lime juice, since fresh limes were elusive on safari.

It's almost impossible, given all of this, to parse Hemingway's actual drinking habits from his occasional frat-boy antics. But that's exactly what Philip Greene has done in his excellent book To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion, which was recently re-released with 35 new recipes. As Greene tells it, Hemingway's acquaintance with booze was quixotic and nearly spiritual. Yes, he occasionally betrayed his alcoholic bona fides by drinking insane, heroic quantities and leaving a trail of smashed highballs and friendships in his wake. But booze was more crucially an existential salve for Hemingway, a much-needed release after a grueling day of defending the Queen's English.

"At times he clearly drank for effect," says Greene, a Hemingway expert and co-founder of the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans. "When he committed suicide in 1961, he was relying on drink to dull his pain. But he was also a sophisticated drinker, a local connoisseur who sought out the best bars in Paris and Pamplona. Did drink harm him? Yes. But who's to say it didn't also enhance his writing? With Hemingway, it's like what Churchill said, ‘I've taken way more out of alcohol than it's taken out of me.' "

To Have and Have Another dovetails Hemingway's drinking life with his literary output, tracing a path from, say, his martini particulars — 1 3/4 oz. Gordon's gin to 1/8 oz. Noilly Prat vermouth — to the great Harry's Bar martini scenes in Across the River Into the Trees, to Hemingway's martini benders with Spencer Tracy during the filming of The Old Man and the Sea, to his bizarre martini luncheon with Edward VIII, the former king of England. Importantly, there are over 60 cocktail recipes, many of them works of art (to name just one: a dressed up Tom Collins called the "Maestro Collins," with which Papa fueled his fishing exertions), as well as glimpses of Papa's exacting drink standards, such as for the martini: "Just enough vermouth to cover the bottom of the glass… and the Spanish cocktail onions very crisp and also 15 degrees below zero when they go into the glass."

You may be surprised to learn that Hemingway enjoyed some decidedly un-macho drinks like the White Lady (gin, Cointreau, and lemon juice), plus a host of champagne cocktails — "He adored champagne," says Greene. Hidden in Hemingway's papers at the JFK Library in Boston, Greene found a drawing for an unnamed scotch-and-champagne creation that Hemingway relied on as a crutch in the late 1950s, when his health was deteriorating. Tellingly, it was in his medical files, so Greene dubbed it "Physician, Heal Thyself."

Hemingway's favorite real-life tipple was a simple scotch and soda, according to Greene. It shows up in his prose more than any other drink, most memorably in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," a sad autobiographical story about an aging writer grappling with his own death while on safari.

But Hemingway also kept a bottle of Campari close at hand on safari, for his beloved negronis. Or were they Americanos? In "a rare mixological mix-up," Greene writes, Papa confuses the two drinks in Across the River and Into the Trees: "They were drinking negronis, a combination of two sweet vermouths and seltzer water" — a precise description of an Americano. Negronis, unforgettably, include gin. How, Greene asks, could Hemingway have forgotten the gin? Perhaps on this occasion Hemingway violated his cardinal rule to never drink before writing.

Besides the mint julep, bourbon is missing from To Have and Have Another, as it curiously is from Hemingway's prose.

"He definitely drank it, specifically Old Forester. But he doesn't write about it," says Greene. "I'm willing to bet he decided to leave bourbon to Faulkner" — with whom he had a longstanding rivalry.

Although daiquiris make only a single prose appearance in Hemingway's work — in Islands in the Stream — he liked them enough to suck down 17 in one sitting at the El Floridita. Controversially, the two recipes here — for the Floridita's famously misspelled "E. Henmiway Special" and the "Papa Doble" — excludes sugar, as Papa hated sweet drinks ("No sugar. No fancying," are his daiquiri directives). That explains why, despite what some would have you believe, Hemingway wasn't a mojito fan. In fact, Greene hints that Papa may have never even tasted a mojito.

"There are so many myths out there," says Greene. "Like that Hemingway invented the Bloody Mary. But it's just folklore that came out of the Hotel Ritz in Paris, where he went when he was trying to keep his drinking secret from his then wife, Mary Welsh. She became ‘that bloody wife, Mary,' which turned into the ‘Bloody Mary.' Like so much else with Hemingway, it's a nice story, but it doesn't match up with the reality."

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest adventures, workouts, destinations, and more.

The Cocktail King Of Cuba: The Man Who Invented Hemingway's Favorite Daiquiri

El Floridita in Havana may be 200 years old, but not a lot has changed. Amy Goodman/Flickr hide caption

El Floridita in Havana may be 200 years old, but not a lot has changed.

Ernest Hemingway liked to get up early.

He did his best writing in the morning, standing in front of his typewriter, plucking the keys as fast as the words might come to him. This was fortunate, because by 11 a.m., the Havana heat began to creep into his rented room at the Hotel Ambos Mundos. He couldn't think in the swelter, much less write.

If the trade winds were good, Hemingway might make his way to Havana Harbor, where his boat, Pilar, was docked in the 1930s. But on other days, he would take the ornate caged elevator down from Room 511 to the lobby and make his way out to the sun-speckled street. It was just a 10-minute stroll through Old Havana from Hotel Ambos Mundos to El Floridita, Hemingway's favorite bar.

Between the heat and the morning spent cooped in his small room, Hemingway was always parched by the time he arrived at El Floridita.

The Golden Age Of Cocktails: When Americans Learned To Love Mixed Drinks

Luckily, bartender Constantino Ribalaigua Vert was always waiting in his white apron, shaker in hand and cocktail glasses lined up on the dark wood bar.

A good bartender knows the right way to greet a thirsty customer.

A great bartender knows that Ernest Hemingway was not your typical thirsty customer.

The locals called Ribalaigua "El Rey de los Coteleros," The Cocktail King of Cuba.

He had learned how to tend bar from his father. In 1914, the 26-year-old worked behind the mahogany counter at El Floridita, the American-style bar at the end of Obispo Street. By 1918, he had saved up enough cash to buy the place.

For the next three decades, Ribalaigua catered to tourists, artists, actors and expats, creating craft cocktails at a time when working with liquor was hardly considered an "art." Eventually, his craft would make El Floridita world famous.

Illustration of Constantino Ribalaigua from a 1939 version of his book, Cocktails: La Bar Florida. Courtesy of EUVS Vintage Cocktail Book Library hide caption

Illustration of Constantino Ribalaigua from a 1939 version of his book, Cocktails: La Bar Florida.

Courtesy of EUVS Vintage Cocktail Book Library

Regular patrons called him, simply, Constante.

American sportswriter Jack Cuddy, holed up in Havana during the early 1930s to observe the New York Giants in spring training, once asked the man behind the bar at the Hotel Nacional to direct him to the best bartender in Cuba. "Constante," the man said, without hesitation. In the forward to Ribalaigua's 1935 recipe book, Bar La Florida Cocktails, Cuddy recalled what happened next: "We sent a committee of one to make a phone call to Sloppy Joes, the Plaza, the Sevilla and Prado 86. He returned and said the bartender was right. The vote was unanimously in favor of Constantino Ribalaigua."

Hemingway's introduction to Ribalaigua and El Floridita was more unintentional. In an interview with NPR, Hilary Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's niece, explains: "In the early 1930s, Hemingway went into the Floridita to use the restroom one day. People in the bar were bragging about the daiquiris that were being served there. So he ordered one and took a sip. Ernest asked for another one, this time with 'less sugar and more rum.' And that's how the Papa Doble, or the Hemingway Daiquiri, was born."

Ribalaigua coined the drink after Hemingway — and the rest is literary-meets-libation history. The Papa was for Hemingway, known for his graying beard and fatherly self-assurance. The doble — well, that meant two. Two times more liquor to pack the most punch. Phillip Greene, author of the book To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion, says Hemingway proudly boasted to have downed 17 of Constante's daiquiris over the course of one afternoon in 1942. Seventeen dobles, that is. As Greene appropriately remarks in his book, "that's a hell of a lot of daiquiri."

The 1920s and '30s yielded a convoluted intersection between liquor and legality: The ascent of the cocktail in America was as much necessity as it was preference. During Prohibition, underground bars and speakeasies in America had limited access to quality booze — what they could get was strong, frequently homemade and often rough to taste. Backroom bartenders across the country had to be creative, adding fresh fruits or tasty garnishes to make the bathtub gin (and whiskey and rum) friendlier to the palate.

Those who could afford to escape the restraints of Prohibition traveled overseas to Paris, Spain and the Caribbean. Cuba, just 100 miles off the coast of Florida, was a near and welcomed respite for thirsty Americans. According to most estimates, American tourism to Cuba doubled from 1916 to 1926, from about 45,000 to 90,000 tourists a year.

Ribalaigua was a master of his trade at a time when there when there were no illusions about the cocktail's place in liquor lore. He invented more than 200 drinks and adapted dozens of others. His concoctions and recipes eventually made their way back to some of the finest bars in the U.S.

The daiquiri itself was not invented by Ribalaigua, but he did fine-tune it. He was the first to add chipped ice (a slightly more frappe-like version of today's frozen daiquiri), and he made four different versions at El Floridita. For the Papa Doble, he added grapefruit juice and a few drops of maraschino liqueur to two jiggers of light rum and the juice of a fresh lime.

British writer Basil Woon once wrote about the deftness with which Ribalaigua worked his magic behind the bar, explaining that he poured the ingredients freely, throwing the contents from shaker to shaker "with one motion," until Ribalaigua had filled the glasses "to the brim and not a drop is left over."

Strawberry daiquiris at El Floridita, where the Papa Doble, named for Ernest Hemingway, was born. emagdi/Flickr hide caption

Strawberry daiquiris at El Floridita, where the Papa Doble, named for Ernest Hemingway, was born.

El Floridita soon became known as "la cuna del daiquiri," the cradle of the daiquiri — much because of the cocktail artistry of the hardworking Ribalaigua.

Even after Prohibition ended, Hemingway still swilled his daiquiris at El Floridita — and this, too, was because of Ribalaigua. In a letter dated June 5, 1943, Hemingway wrote to his third wife, Martha Gellhorn, "Everything is lovely here at the Nacional and the only thing lacking is you dear if you could only see the view from my room looking out over the beautiful gulf stream and Oh those daiquiris that nobody makes like old Constantino."

"He brought everyone who visited to see Constantino. They all would go to the Floridita to have drinks," says Hilary Hemingway. Ava Gardner and John Wayne dropped in for Constante-crafted cocktails. Over a bottle of Gordon's Gin at El Floridita, Spencer Tracy convinced Ernest Hemingway that Tracy should play the part of Santiago from The Old Man in the Sea. Hemingway once notoriously whispered to a fellow patron seated at the mahogany bar that there were FBI agents from the U.S. sitting just tables away, investigating his every move.

A life-size bronze statue of Ernest Hemingway leans on the bar at the author's regular spot at El Floridita, where every day a daiquiri is set before it. Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photo/Getty Images hide caption

A life-size bronze statue of Ernest Hemingway leans on the bar at the author's regular spot at El Floridita, where every day a daiquiri is set before it.

Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photo/Getty Images

The year 2017 marks the 200 th anniversary of El Floridita, which opened in 1817. The bar is much the same as it was in Ribalaigua's time, a pink stucco building with a lighted sign out front. The heavy curtains are a splash of burgundy and the old wooden bar remains. At the end of the counter, there's a bronze statue of Ernest Hemingway. But behind the bar, the spirit of Ribalaigua, who died in 1952, looms forever in immortality — a hidden, ethereal figure with the cocktail shaker in his palm, ready to pour a hard drink with a cool hand, without spilling a single drop.

Nicole Jankowski is a freelance food, history and culture writer based in Detroit. You can find her on Facebook here.

About

With a pinch of skepticism and a dash of fun, The Salt covers food news from the farm to the plate and beyond. You can connect with senior editor and host Maria Godoy via our contact form or directly by email. You can also reach correspondent Allison Aubrey via email.