The Hemingway Daiquiri
The Hemingway Daiquiri, or Papa Doble
I started this blog just over a month ago, so I thought it was time for a celebratory drink! After all, some square meals are not complete without an opening cocktail.
The story goes that the bartender at Ernest Hemingway’s favorite bar, The Floridita in Havana, Cuba, created this drink especially for him. And he drank them with abandon. Known as the Papa Doble back then, it’s generally believed to have been less sweet without any simple syrup or sugar added, and probably served on the rocks or over crushed ice. There are many versions of this story on the internet, it’s hard to know who to believe.
Modern-day versions of the recipe typically call for simple syrup though, and have varying ratios of juices to alcohol. I prefer mine to be a bit more grapefruit forward, and add the atypical garnish of two dashes of bitters. If you can do this while there is still a fair amount of froth on top (as I failed to do in this picture), it makes for a dramatic presentation.
I know, I know: this is supposed to be a blog about feeding your kids, not getting you blasted. Well, you can make a mocktail version of these too: simply substitute the rum with coconut water and if you have a nice jar of Maraschino cherries in your fridge, add a teaspoon of the syrup in lieu of the Maraschino liqueur. Go ahead and add one of those cherries as a garnish to theirs, it will make them feel especially grown-up. Cheers!
- 3 oz. white rum
- 1/2 oz. Maraschino liqueur
- 2 oz. grapefruit juice
- 1 oz. lime juice
- 1 oz. simple syrup (see note)
- Garnish (optional)
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters, or a peel from the grapefruit
- In a shaker with 6 to 8 ice cubes, add the rum, Maraschino liqueur, fruit juices, and simple syrup. Cap and shake vigorously for 45 seconds. The shaker should get so cold that your hands start to hurt.
- Strain into two cocktail glasses and garnish each with the bitters or grapefruit peel.
- In case you don't know, simple syrup is just equal parts sugar and water mixed together until the sugar is fully dissolved. The easiest way to dissolve that much sugar into water is to simply bring it up to a boil and stir. I make a cup at a time, it will keep in the refrigerator for weeks.
- As mentioned in the blog post, you can make a mocktail version of this by substituting coconut water for the rum, and a teaspoon of syrup from a jar of Maraschino cherries for the Maraschino liqueur. (The cherry syrup will change the color of the drink a bit, but not much.)
- You can easily make this a frozen cocktail by adding all the ingredients to a blender with two cups of ice (12 to 16 cubes) and blending until smooth.
Ann
July 9, 2015
Sometimes I need a cocktail more AFTER dinner, if you know what I mean. Hope to try these soon — love grapefruit juice!