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Hemingway Daiquiri

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Photo by Chelsea Kyle

They say that the Hemingway Daiquiri was invented for Ernest Hemingway in the La Floradita bar in Cuba. Whether the stories are true or false, no person in history can match Ernest Hemingway as an Olympian cocktail connoisseur. He seems to have been the bartenders’ muse, allegedly ordering up the creation of new cocktails everywhere he went. He was at Harry’s American Bar in Paris when the Bloody Mary was born, he was a part of the Ritz crew that sipped sidecars, and he fancied Mojitos at La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana. But only this spin on the classic daiquiri has the honor of bearing his name. He loved it so much that he always had a double serving, which earned the cocktail the moniker Papa Doble, or Double for Daddy. Legend has it that Hemingway once consumed sixteen of them in a row and walked out as if nothing had happened. 

In our take on the Hemingway Daiquiri, we replace Bacardi with 10 Cane rum to add grassy sugarcane notes to the cocktail; a splash of simple syrup balances the tartness. The result tastes equally of all its components—a great cocktail to practice nosing while building the drink, as each ingredient drastically changes the aromas.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 1 drink

Ingredients

1¾ oz. 10 Cane Rum
¾ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
¾ ounce freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
¼ ounce simple syrup (1:1)
1 lime wheel, for garnish
1 brandied cherry, for garnish

Preparation

  1. Pour the rum, liqueur, juices, and syrup into a mixing glass. Add large cold ice cubes and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the lime-cherry “flag” (a citrus wheel skewered with a brandied cherry).

Cover of Speakeasy by Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric featuring a coupe glass with a brown cocktail and lemon wheel garnish.
Reprinted with permission from Speakeasy: The Employees Only Guide to Classic Cocktails Reimagined by Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric, © 2010 Ten Speed Press. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.
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