Hemingway Daiquiri Recipe

First things first: it's not really Hemingway's daiquiri.

That one was much more fierce. In his memoir Papa Hemingway, longtime friend A. E. Hotchner described the daiquiri served under that name (or under its more familiar moniker, the Papa Doble) at Havana's legendary Floridita bar.

...a Papa Doble was compounded of two and a half jiggers [or 3 3/4 ounces] of Bacardi White Label Rum, the juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, and six drops of maraschino, all placed in an electric mixer over shaved ice, whirled vigorously and served foaming in large goblets.

Second correction: While the recipe is correct, the quantity probably wasn't the same as what Hemingway was served, either. Hotchner noted this was the drink served to curious visitors who came to the writer's favorite Havana watering hole and asked to drink what Hemingway drank. The ones served to Hemingway, he wrote, were served "in conical glasses twice the size" of the turisto version; without specifying how much these glasses held, Hotchner later referred to them as "vases."

"Here we have the ultimate achievement of the daiquiri-maker's art," Hemingway said. "Made a run of sixteen here one night."

"This size?"

"House record," the barman, who had been listening, said.

This recipe makes a drink--which, just to make things even more confusing, is also known as a Daiquiri No. 3--that is much less tart than the citrus bombs the Floridita was serving, and with a potency that's more likely to put you in a pleasant mood on a late-summer day than to steer you into a long, grisly night that ends with you waking up on a fishing boat drifting somewhere south of Key West.

And yes, it's frozen--say what you will, but if Hemingway was in the habit of tucking in to several rounds of these as part of his daily routine, it ain't a frou-frou drink. If you don't believe me now, mix up another 15 and we'll see what you have to say about it.