Hemingway’s favorite Cuban drink, from the Floridita Hotel bar in Havana. Supposedly Papa could put away a dozen of these double-sized frozen daiquiris in an evening, and then bring “one for the road” back home with him. One really good one is plenty for me, thanks.
In Hemingway’s time (1940s-1950s) Floridita bartender Constantino Ribalaigua Verts’s original frozen daiquiri recipe called for Maraschino liquor as a sweetener, but I much prefer the citrus flavor of Mandarine Napoleon, Cointreau or Triple Sec over the cherry flavor. Hemingway supposedly would complain that he wanted no sugar in his drinks, but Ribalaigua always snuck it in anyway. Ribalagua’s original almost certainly used a silver rum, but I prefer the richer flavor of a gold rum.
Makes: 2 drinks, or one papa dobles
Time: About 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 ounce of fresh-squeezed lime juice (about 1 lime)
- 2 ounces of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice (1/2 a small grapefruit)
- 1 ounce of Mandarine Napoleon or Cointreau
- 3 ounces Bacrardi Gold rum
- 2 cups of ice cubes
Process
- Mix all ingredients in a blender
- Blend until smooth
- For the classic Floridita look, serve in a stemmed water glass.
See Michaell’s Palin’s superb documentary Hemingway Adventure for more on Papa in Cuba.
Patrick Lynch 