White rum cocktail

Hemingway Daiquiri

No sugar, extra rum, grapefruit.

Classic Medium 4 min
★ 4.3 (94)
Hemingway Daiquiri

Photo: Hemingway Daiquiri by Achim Schleuning (E-Mail: comander02_de@yahoo.de) · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · All credits

Measures below are multiplied for 12 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.

  • 720 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 720 ml line. White rum
  • 240 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 240 ml line. Lime juice
  • 180 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 180 ml line. Grapefruit juice
  • 120 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 120 ml line. Maraschino liqueur
  • 12 wheels Lime (optional)

Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.

What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.

Quick version

  • Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled coupe.

Method

Batch (12 drinks)

Batch (12 drinks) - about 1.26 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.

Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.

  1. Chill a coupe.
  2. Shake the rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice and maraschino with ice for 12 seconds.
  3. Double strain into the coupe.
  4. Float a thin wheel of lime on top.

Serve it

  • Glass
    Coupe
  • Garnish
    Lime wheel
  • Base
    White rum
  • Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.

    Hemingway Daiquiri

    Ernest Hemingway drank these at El Floridita in Havana, where the bartender made the drink with twice the rum and no sugar because that was how the man liked it - and where he is said to have got through an alarming number in a single sitting. He had diabetes, which is not funny, and he claimed this version was the only one that helped. It is variously called the Hemingway Daiquiri or the Papa Doble, and the frozen version is called quite a lot of things.

    Getting it right

    Grapefruit and maraschino are doing the work here, and the drink is unapologetically dry - if you are used to a daiquiri, expect your eyebrows to go up. Pink grapefruit is sweeter, white is sharper, and both are correct. The original also takes a dash of maraschino rather than two spoonfuls, so if you want it leaner than this, halve it.

    Tasting notes

    Bright and dry, all pink grapefruit up front and almond underneath, with the rum coming through at the end. It is the daiquiri for people who find daiquiris too sweet, which is most people who think they do not like them.

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