It was 1948 and E. A. Hotchner, a young journalist on assignment for Cosmopolitan, sat with the towering literary figure Ernest Hemingway at the author’s favorite bar in Havana, El Floridita. Hemingway ordered up a couple of his personalized frozen daiquiris. The head bartender and owner Constantino Ribalaigua Vert named the cocktail after Hemingway, calling it the Papa Doble. “Papa” was a reference to the author’s nickname, and the doble — double — alluded to the drink’s size. The glass it came in resembled a vase that could hold long-stemmed roses. The drink consisted of 2 ½ jiggers (3 ½ ounces) of Bacardi White Label rum, the juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, and six drops of maraschino liqueur, blended with shaved ice.
“Here we have the ultimate achievement of the daiquiri-maker’s art,” Hemingway told Hotchner, according to “Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir.” “Made a run of sixteen here one night.” The bartender then broke into the conversation, telling Hotchner Hemingway held the house record for this astounding feat. Hemingway hoisted his drink and took a long sip, held it in his mouth in order to savor its taste, and then swallowed.
This version of the Hemingway daiquiri wasn’t the first. Like Hemingway’s favorite Havana bar, it had changed over the years from when he first wandered in looking for a bathroom and happened to try a frozen daiquiri back in 1932. (This may have been the year after Ribalaigua likely invented this Prohibition-era drink.) Hemingway had Ribalaigua alter the icy beverage to suit his tastes.
The evolution of the Hemingway daiquiri
Back in 1932, Ernest Hemingway had Constantino Ribalaigua Vert make him a frozen daiquiri that went heavier on the rum and lighter on the sugar, which sounds like a very boozy and sour drink. By 1937, El Floridita included an “E. Henmiway Special” frozen daiquiri in its bar manual (yes, they misspelled his name). It included a small amount of fresh grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur to balance out the lack of sugar and extra booze. By the time A. E. Hotchner tied one on with Hemingway, the drink had become super sized and renamed the Papa Doble.
Like the daiquiri, El Floridita has also gone through changes. It opened in 1817 as a bar called La Piña de Plata. By 1914, when Ribalaigua began working there, it was a seafood restaurant and cocktail bar called La Florida. Patrons preferred its nickname, El Floridita, which eventually stuck. The business continues to this very day in the exact same spot.
Whether Hemingway actually quaffed 16 Papa Dobles in one sitting or not, there’s plenty of evidence that he had a great fondness for El Floridita’s daiquiris. Much like the writer’s favorite sandwich, made from peanut butter and onion, this frozen cocktail isn’t for everyone. However, it’s worth trying at least once.
