Hemingway Daiquiri Update

Here is an update on my previous post about the Papa Doble (Hemingway's Daiquiri).  This new Hemingway Daiquiri recipe, from a post in the Houston Press by John Kiely, is less sweet, more tart, and a lot better than my previous recipe.  I think an excerpt from Kiely's post describes the experience very well:

Whoa. The Papa Doble shut down my face for a long 10 seconds, and put my tongue's sour buds on blast. The second taste wasn't much easier, but halfway through, I enjoyed it, and by the end, I preferred it.

Why so tart? Hemingway's father suffered diabetes, so Ernest simply avoided sugar in his drinks. Brilliant move, at any rate. Once your palate adjusts to a lower level of sweetness, the flavor of liquor and other ingredients take up the slack, usually resulting in a better cocktail.

I went through my menu of sixty-nine cocktails, removing sweetness wherever possible, but ironically, not so much from the Hemingway Daiquiri, just half of a teaspoon of simple syrup, as Maraschino keeps the tartness at bay. Thank you, Ernest Hemingway.

I think this is now one of my favorite cocktails...

Summer Treats - Mojito

It's really a little too late for summer treats, but here in Texas and a lot of the south it still feels like summer.  And with recent rains I was reminded of that by the sudden explosion of peppermint and spearmint that we grow in pots on our patio. (Remember that we do not have a vegetable and herb garden because of the various beasts that frequent our yard - as one of our dear departed neighbors used to say in her Texas twang "It's a regular Jooo-rassic Park out there". But I digress....)

Anyway, we grow the mint for one purpose only - making Mojitos, one of our favorite summer treats.  It is a very simple, refreshing cocktail of rum, mint, and lime, and it is perfect for sitting out on the patio watching beasts on a hot summer afternoon. 

It is not at all traditional, but the drink is also pretty good with one of those cocktail cherries!

With the recipe linked above, I have included a post from Spice Lines, one of my favorite food blogs.  In it, Courtenay Dunk, the author, gives a bit of history and her take on Mojitos.

I hope you enjoy Mojitos as much as Kathy and I!

Papa Doble (Hemingway's Daiquiri)

Thinking about Cuban Sandwiches also made me think about Black Beans and Rice, Chicken and Yellow Rice, Filete Salteado (all on my list to talk about sometime) and Caribbean cocktails.  And what more appropriate than this week's cocktail, the Papa Doble or Hemingway's Daiquiri.  It was served to Ernest Hemingway at El Floradita Bar in Havana, although the version served to him was said to have been made with 6 ounces of rum.  A variation on a standard daiquiri, it contains grapefruit juice and a hint of cherry provided by maraschino liqueur in addition to the standard white rum, lime juice and simple syrup. I have provided two versions, and both are excellent, but you will have to experiment and decide whether you like the sweeter version or the one that is more tart.

I like 10 Cane Rum, which is made directly from sugar cane juice, instead of the more common molasses, and the maraschino liqueur is Luxardo, made in Italy using the flesh and pits of marasca sour cherries cultivated exclusively by Luxardo.