Hemingway Daiquiri

A regal shake means that you will be adding citrus peel into the shaker before you shake. This will impart additional flavors found in the peel into the drink. Learn more on our lesson on alternative shaking techniques.

The more well known version of the Hemingway Daiquiri does not contain simple syrup. However, it lacks some body and it is fairly tart. If you want a version with these specs, here’s the link to a recipe by Liquor.com

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) maintained permanent residences in Cuba (mainly in the 40s and 50s). In early 1939, he crossed to Cuba in his boat to live in the Hotel Ambos Mundos in Havana.

Famously, Hemingway stumbled into the bar El Floridita, in Havana, in order to use the restroom. Once in the establishment, he treated himself to a Daiquiri saying that it wasn’t bad, but “he preferred them with no sugar and double the rum.”

The “Papa Doble” was then created (Papa was Hemingway’s nickname in Cuba), and he apparently drank upwards of fifteen of these in any given day.

Up to that point, the Papa Doble was nothing more than rum with a splash of lime, often blended. Once Antonio Meilan took over as Head Bartender at El Floridita, he changed the recipe, adding maraschino and grapefruit.

The cocktail then became known as a Hemingway Daiquiri, a riff on the original which does not contain sugar, a direct nod to Hemingway’s aversion for it.