Daiquiris are wonderful. The Hemmingway doubly so (you’ll get that joke in a moment, much like Game of Thrones it’s all about foreshadowing).
Daiquiris, in general, are based around three ingredients - lime, rum and sugar. It’s all about the mix, the process and balance. I’ll touch on classic daiquiris shortly, but the Hemmingway is probably my favourite drink of all time. It’s how I judge a bartender’s skill and it’s my favourite drink to make. It’s kind of like when Gordon Ramsey asks a chef to make an omelette- in principle, it’s a very simple drink, but preparing it right takes a certain aptitude and skill. Good Luck!
A little history - Ernest Hemmingway, lover of all things Cuban and Alcoholic, was a big fan of the classic daiquiri. The story goes that he asked his bartender to make the drink double-strength (FORESHADOWING) and lose the sugar syrup (as he was a diabetic), and the bartender used grapefruit juice a splash of maraschino liqueur to add sweetness and balance the extremely heady drink. And thus was the Hemmingway Daiquiri born.
It’s still a very punchy drink, but remarkably clean, fresh and fruity.
Ingredients
70ml Bacardi White Label - technically, any daiquiri has to be made with Bacardi, as that’s the origin of the drink in the Daiquiri Mines of Cuba (iron mines, sadly not actual mines of Daiquiris. Oh, what a wonderful world that would be!). That’s a story for another day though.
25ml Grapefruit Juice - Tesco or marks own will do lovely in a pinch, so long as it‘s fresh and not from concentrate. Can’t beat hand squeezed if you’ve got the time mind.
25ml lime juice - as above. Fresher’s always better. Even if it’s batching off a couple of dozen limes at the start of the shift so you’ve got the juice at hand, you’re still onto a good one.
10ml Maraschino Liqueur- this cherry based liqueur is probably knocking about behind every bar somewhere. This is it’s greatest calling in life (a wee splash in a sour makes things very interesting too). Very dry, but wonderful stuff.
Note: If you’re feeling a little blasphemous, you can always add a little dash of orgeat too - I find the almond syrup gives it a nice roundness.
Method
Couldn’t be simpler, throw everything in your shaker with tons of ice, shake the life out of it and fine strain into a chilled coupe glass. A wee bit of the grapefruit skin twisted and shaped is a lovely edition, especially if you give it a wee flame to spark the zest and release all those wonderful aromas. Serve and get ready to make another thirty, as there’s always a knock-on effect once one person in a party is bold enough to try one.
Comments