Hemingway Daiquiri

It should come as no surprise that Ernest Hemingway, one of the great drinkers of our time, has his own cocktail. When in Cuba, you could reliably find him bellied up to the bar at La Floridita in Havana, sipping Daiquiris by the dozen. As the story goes, one of the first times Hemingway happened into the bar, he sampled one of the bar’s signature frozen Daiquiris. After tasting the drink, Hemingway noted, “that’s good, but I’d prefer it without sugar and double the rum.” The bartender complied, making a Daiquiri with nearly four ounces of white rum, the juice of two limes and juice from one whole grapefruit. It was so huge that it had to be served in a goblet.

Rumor has it that Hemingway, beast of a man that he was, drank an average of six of these monstrous Daiquiris in one sitting, which, if you do the math, is 22.5 ounces of rum (almost an entire bottle). La Floridita bartender Antonio Meilan eventually added Maraschino and a touch of simple syrup to make the drink more palatable. He also reduced the volume of rum, lime and grapefruit per serving so that his non-Hemingway-esque customers wouldn’t keel over after one drink.