This Papa Doble—a strong Daiquiri-style drink—will inspire volumes of good times.
When I’m not regaling all of you beautiful cocktail enthusiasts out there with tall tales of alcoholic adventures, I work construction. Before you get visions of me dancing in a hard hat with a jackhammer, fair warning: it’s not really like that. A friend of mine is a general contractor, and we do everything from bathroom remodels to building guest houses from scratch. We even do little fix-it jobs for our clients. Demolition, plumbing, electric… we do it all. And by “we”, I mean that I assist.
Every Friday, we and a few other friends that work in the same field all get together and do Happy Hour. Though beer and shots of tequila are what’s usually on the menu, that’s not really my jam. I like mixing up more complex or classic cocktails. It adds some variety and spice to my unwinding at the end of a long week. So whenever I go home and write up a few of the articles you read here, I’ll often bring them to my buddies and serve them something other than the average oat soda.
Writing about boozy drinks has earned me a nickname among my blue-collar friends… Hemingway. “Okay, Hemingway”, they’ll say when I serve up the latest libation. And that’s cool. Ernest Hemingway and cocktails have always been fast friends. So one Friday, I decided to treat them to one of his favorite cocktails… the daiquiri. And not just any daiquiri, the Hemingway Daiquiri. And not just any Hemingway Daiquiri, the Papa Doble. While the ingredients are the same in both, for tonight’s recipe, we’re serving it up frozen.
An original daiquiri is white rum, lime juice, and sugar, shaken and served “up” (i.e., without ice) or on the rocks. The famous author loved this drink but wasn’t a big fan of the sweeter aspects. He customized his own version of the classic drink while frequenting the El Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba. Omitting the sugar and adding grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur, Papa Hemingway had created his own cocktail for the ages. (Note: We’ve left the sugar intact for the rim below. Skip the rim if you want a genuine Papa Doble; leave it in if you want to balance the tartness of the drink). Not only did it come to bear his name, the author loved the concoction so much he’d order and imbibe two at a time. This earned the drink its other name… the Papa Doble.
My friends, by the way, look forward to every Friday, hoping the next recipe I share with them will be as good and as strong as the one we’re making tonight.
What is the Best Rum to Use in a Papa Doble Drink?
Our recipe recommends a white, or silver, rum as the base spirit for this cocktail. You can try a spiced or dark version if you like, but the clear variation will serve this mixture better. The other rums can often overpower and add unwanted complex spices that will come on fairly strongly. A white rum melds with the lime and grapefruit beautifully, assisting the maraschino liqueur in balancing out the tart citrus.
Ingredients
- 3 ounces white rum
- juice of 2 limes
- juice of 1/2 grapefruit
- 1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
- 1 cup crushed ice
- lime zest
- granulated sugar
Instructions
- Combine the white rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice, maraschino liqueur, and crushed ice in a blender.
- Blend until the mixture is smooth and the ice is finely crushed.
- In a small plate, mix a pinch of lime zest with a teaspoon of granulated sugar for the glass rim.
- Moisten the rim of a chilled glass with a lime wedge, then dip it into the lime-sugar mixture to coat.
- Pour the blended mixture into the prepared glass.
- Garnish with a lime wheel or zest, if desired, and serve immediately.
FAQs & Tips
Rim a large chilled champagne goblet or margarita coupe glass with a lime zest-and-sugar mixture. This will be the perfect vessel for your Doble to travel in. Garnish with a lime wheel to complete the look.
Because this drink is meant to be served frozen, saving it might actually dilute it. It’s recommended that the Papa Doble is served fresh as it’s made.
230 calories come with every glass of a Papa Doble, so if you’re having two at a time like Hemingway would, buy some larger pants.
As far as I know, this recipe in its simplest form goes by three names: the Hemingway Daiquiri, the Papa Doble and the Wild Daiquiri. Call it what you like, I call it delicious.
Similar Cocktails to the Papa Doble
Are you sitting at home and wishing you were a rugged, world-traveled and well-written bon vivant, lounging in a rustic and storied watering hole in some exotic corner of the world? That makes two of us. If cocktails that stir a sense of adventure and wanderlust are what you’re searching for, Twist & Toast can provide the treasure map. Check out some of these swashbuckling fusions below.
- Classic Daiquiri – You’ll never worry about scurvy with a steady supply of this tasty and iconic beverage.
- Frozen Daiquiri – If the Papa Doble is too tart for your tongue, the original Frozen Daiquiri is for you.
- Strawberry Daiquiri – If you like your summers sweet, this fruity libation should be a part of your repertoire.
- Rum Sour – This simple and strong cocktail will hit the spot as you soak up the sun by the pool.
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