Hemingway Daiquiri
White rum, lime, grapefruit and maraschino, no sugar. The Daiquiri Hemingway drank at La Floridita, made for a man who claimed he could not have sugar and did not want to taste less rum.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Chill a coupe.
Add the rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice and maraschino to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Double strain into the chilled coupe and garnish with a lime wheel.
A thoughtful finish
- There is no sugar in the recipe; the maraschino is the only sweetness. If it is too tart for you, add a quarter-ounce of simple syrup rather than more maraschino, which would make it taste of almonds.
- Fresh grapefruit. Bottled juice is sweeter and the balance shifts.
- For the Papa Doble, double the rum to 3¾ oz and blend with crushed ice, as Ribalaigua did. It is a lot of rum.
Common mistakes
- Treating it as a sweet drink. It is dry by design.
- Using maraschino cherry syrup instead of maraschino liqueur.
- Cheap rum. With no sugar to hide behind, it shows.
A few good questions.
Did Hemingway really drink it without sugar?
He said he was diabetic and avoided sugar; whether that was true is debated. He certainly drank the double, by the dozen, and Floridita's own book records it.
What is the difference between a Hemingway Daiquiri and a Papa Doble?
The Papa Doble is the original: double rum, no sugar, frozen. The Hemingway Daiquiri is the tamer modern version with a single rum measure, usually shaken.
Why maraschino?
To replace the sugar with something that is sweet but also aromatic and slightly bitter. It is the drink's signature.
Can I make it frozen?
Yes — blend with a cup of ice. That is how La Floridita served it.
Variations
- Daiquiri — Rum, lime and sugar.
- Nuclear Daiquiri — Overproof rum, Chartreuse and falernum.
- Pineapple Daiquiri — With pineapple juice.
- Brown Derby — Bourbon, grapefruit and honey.
Where it comes from
c. 1930s · Havana, Cuba · Constantino Ribalaigua Vert · La Floridita
Ernest Hemingway, so the story goes, tasted a frozen Daiquiri at La Floridita in the early 1930s and said it was good but he would prefer it with no sugar and twice the rum; the result was the Papa Doble. Constantino Ribalaigua Vert, the bar’s great cantinero, refined it with grapefruit juice and a little maraschino to replace the sweetness, and La Floridita printed it as the E. Hemingway Special in its 1937 book. The modern Hemingway Daiquiri, shaken rather than frozen and usually with a single measure of rum, is the version most bars serve; purists and the brave order the double.
Sources
- La Floridita, Bar La Florida Cocktails, 1937 (book)
- Philip Greene, To Have and Have Another, 2012 (book)
- David Wondrich, Imbibe!, 2015 (book)
Strength. About 1.6 US standard drinks at an estimated 20.5% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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