Hemingway daiquiri – icy cold, citrusy and slightly sweet, this is the famous Papa Doble, or double frozen daiquiri, that Earnest Hemingway loved so much – a pure bliss on a hot day.
“This frozen daiquiri, so well beaten as it is,
looks like the sea where the wave falls away from the bow of a ship
when she is doing thirty knots.”
– Earnest Hemingway
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Earnest Hemingway drank a lot throughout his lifetime, and he really enjoyed doing so. His debonair manner and genuine indulgence in drinking, his poetic descriptions of cocktails, abundant in his prose, somehow make it seem like having a drink at 10 o’clock in the morning, is the most natural thing in the world.
Of all the cocktails he enjoyed, he is most famous for his daiquiri love, and his vivid, allegorical depiction of the drink in 
I believe, he was talking about the original daiquiri, which had a clear color with no grapefruit juice in it, but more about that later.
Let me just back up for a second, and make a confession – I’ve been slightly obsessed with Earnest Hemingway, and the whole lost generation for quite some time now. I’ve read numerous books about Hemingway, his life in Paris, in Key West, in Cuba. I read about his four wives and their personal stories, and drama. Then after I read all the good books about him that I can lay my hands on, I re-read his books. And after I read all that, I got so far in my obsession that I even purchased a book about Hemingway’s drinks, aptly named To Have and Have Another
I guess what first started this pilgrimage of sorts, was the fact that he led a life, more exciting than that of the average person, and yet, he ended up taking his own. That puzzled me, and started the quest to seek the reasons behind it. I got caught up in the drama – yes, but I was equally drawn to the life as he knew it, 100 years ago. I kept marveling at the way American expatriates lived in Paris, in the 1920s – with abandonment and joy. Whether they were poor or rich, they all lived like there is no tomorrow. They all mastered the art of fully living in the moment, and savored every single pleasure, or sin, the city offered. They spent whatever little money they had on good food, and wine, and traveling abroad. No matter that their clothes were old, no matter that they lived in a dusty small apartment hole – they were in the heart of Paris and they lived their lives to the fullest.
But I digress. This is after all a food blog, and today’s recipe is in honor of its most ardent fan. The daiquiri recipe that I’m sharing with you is what’s known as Papa Doble (for double), or The Wild Daiquiri, and was invented in the famous La Floridita bar, where Ernest Hemingway was a frequent visitor during his time in Cuba, and where this drink was perfected to suit his personal taste. The original version had only rum, lime and sugar, but over the years, it doubled in size, had more rum, and grapefruit juice in place of sugar (Hemingway hated sugary drinks, and insisted on a daiquiri version without the sugar). The Maraschino liqueur was the personal touch that Constante, the bar tender, added to the drink. Unlike what you might imagine, Maraschino liqueur has nothing to do with the artificial maraschino cherries – it’s a clear, and quite dry cherry brandy, so it doesn’t make the drink sweet. Get a good quality one like Luxardo Maraschino liqueur.
Rumor has it that at one of his visits to the Floridita, Hemingway and his drinking buddy downed 17 double daiquiris in a manner of hours (that’s about 68 ounces of rum per person). After the drinking marathon Hemingway went home and spent the evening reading. He woke up the next morning without hangover, and was ready to hit the bar again at noon (after his usual early morning writing session). Aah…life must have been good back then, eh?
This epic drinking episode was idolized in Islands In The Stream when the main hero Thomas Hudson drinks those same double frozen daiquiris,
After this description, I have nothing more to say. You be the judge. The recipe makes two daiquiris (serves one).
Hemingway daiquiri - icy cold, citrusy and slightly sweet, this is the famous Papa Doble, or double frozen daiquiri, that Earnest Hemingway loved so much - a pure bliss on a hot day.
- 2 1/2 jiggers Bacardi white rum (1 jigger = 1 1/2 ounces)
- Juice of 2 large limes
- Juice of 1/2 grapefruit
- 6 drops of maraschino liqueur
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups of ice
- lime zest and sugar for frosting the glasses
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Add all ingredients to a blender, and blend till the ice resembles snow.
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Grate the zest of two limes, and mix with a dash of sugar in a shallow dish.
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Swipe the rim of the glasses with a lime wedge, and dip in the lime sugar to create frosting.
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Pour the frozen drink in the two glasses, and serve with more lime.
I’ve never seen lime zest as a rimmer…these look delicious!