One of the most influential non-bartenders to the cocktail world might be Ernest Hemingway. Not being an historian, the tale of Hemingway’s drinking will just be introduced here. If you find this fascinating, there is more to read about him if you want to do some research on your own. Hemingway said to have been fond of alcoholic drinks have been associated with classic bars around the world such as the Ritz in Paris, Harry’s bar in Venice and La Floridita in Havana, and cocktails such as the Martini, the Gin and Tonic and the Death in the Afternoon. However, the cocktail that I associate most strongly with Hemingway is the Daiquiri, which he is said to have had as many as 17 in one sitting at La Floridita in Cuba. With this version of the Daiquiri being named in honour of the American author, the relation to Hemingway is that he is said to have avoided sugar after a diabetes incident, I have read stories about him having diabetes or his father, anyway, this cocktail does not use any sugar or syrup. Instead this cocktail uses maraschino, a liqueur based on marasca cherries from Croatia and Italy, and grapefruit. How accurate all of this that I have written is, I don’t know. However, I usually joke that if I can relate my consumption of alcohol to Hemingway, through a bar or a cocktail, there is something rather intellectual about that consumption of alcohol. This story about the arguably most famous alcoholic in history, is something that makes this hobby something magic.
This cocktail is perhaps a bit trickier to pull off, what the stories say about it is that it should be really dry, with low amounts of sweetness. I used plantations Barbados Grande Reserve, which is flavourful, ideally, a rum such as Havana Club 3 years or Bacardi Superior would be preferred. The reason for that is because maraschino liqueur has a strong flavour that will make this cocktail interesting. The rum and citrus support the interesting elements of the maraschino and has the role of balancing the cocktail. Anyway, for me and my personal preferences, my choice of rum was not bad. The grapefruit needs to be freshly squeezed, as citrus always should, however, in this case, using anything else will ruin the drink. Lime is lime and should be freshly squeezed, you will get by with a drinkable cocktail using bottled lime juice however it will not be as good as if the lime was freshly squeezed. In all this is an interesting alternative to a traditional daiquiri, but I would not recommend it to someone who prefers sweeter cocktails.
My Recipe:
- 2 oz (6 cl) Rum
- 0.75 oz (2.25 cl) Lime Juice
- 0.5 (1.5 cl) Maraschino
- 0.5 (1.5 cl) Grapefruit Juice
Add the ingredients to a shaker, shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
