A quick google search for “Hemingway Daiquiri” will bring you plenty of information on Papa’s supposed creation along with a plethora of different specs. I say “supposed” because no one really knows whether he really invented it or not. It’s mostly legend. There’s an entire book about his favorite drinks. Hemingway loathed sweet drinks, he loved highballs like the Americano and a simple scotch and soda but also had a fondness for gin.

The daiquiri was in invented in Havana, Cuba. The story goes that somewhere along the way someone ran out of gin and in place of it an American named Jennings Cox (really cool name) replaced it with rum. Ah yes. For those unaware, the gimlet and the daiquiri are both simple classics standing the test of time because they are delicious and require little work save juicing fresh limes.

The myth continues. Hemingway, a diabetic, hanging out in the bars of Havana, getting heroically blasted after fishing the gulf stream, had his own formula for the blended style daiquiri. No sugar, maraschino liqueur (a very hard to source ingredient back then) grapefruit juice, and twice the amount of rum…Most sources put it close to four ounces…Yikes! Dubbed, the Papa Doble, it was said he somehow quaffed an impossible 17 of these suckers at the La Floridita bar in Havana. To this day the place still serves these and has erected a bronze statue of the writer placed over by his favorite corner. Maybe they should also have a picture or carving of his equally courageous liver.

It brings about the age old cliche of drinking prowess and masculinity. It’s a weird thing ingrained within societal norms. Watch almost any movie and the hero will at some point sit down and drink a ridiculous dram of whiskey which has absolutely no effect on his well being or life. Far from the truth of course, as Hemingway’s story goes. At some point he became a living cliche and as he attempted to live up to the expectations of the public, his writing suffered and he made a lot of bad decisions. In grad school I brought up Hemingway quite a bit to my professors who all shunned him despite Papa being the most famous and influential writer of all time. “Too overtly masculine. Closeted homosexual” were some of the descriptions they used.

I saw Mariel Hemingway in the parking lot at the Coop in Santa Monica the other day. It shocked me to see the legendary writer’s granddaughter there, piling a few grocery bags into a four door Jeep Wrangler, climbing in, and speeding off. For some reason I felt as if I had come in contact with the man himself just being a few car lengths from his lineage. Silly, yes, but it still made me think.

And so, we return to the cocktail portion of this post. The Papa Doble along the way, too ridiculous to be actually served anywhere, became the Hemingway Daiquiri. The formula we use at Rustic goes: 2 oz. White Rum, 3/4 oz. Fresh Lime Juice, 1/2 oz. Maraschino, 1/2 oz. Fresh Grapefruit, and a small scouche of simple syrup, (just to make it a tad more balanced) Luxardo cherry garnish to finish. Pretty tasty and simple.

The more I think about it, the more it could be tweaked and the more it could be a potential seasonal entry on the cocktail menu. We are in the throes of citrus season, after all. There’s grapefruit aplenty and even better, pomelos. I’m sure there’s a way to make this without sugar but have it taste good.