keskiviikko 7. syyskuuta 2016

Belgian Apple Pie

BELGIAN APPLE PIE


Hey! Here's a cocktail, or a hoptail, I made today. How this came to life is quite a story. So someone sent me a request as follows (loose quotes):

"Sir cocktail-sir

Back in the beer festival I got to taste an "apple pie drink" from a friend of mine. I was quite drunk but I remember it tasted good nonetheless. Later on I did find the pamphlet from my jacket pocket and on it were the ingredients listed: Belgian wheat beer, cloudy apple juice, lemon, vanilla liqueur. Any tips on the amount of the juice/liqueur? And how much do you reckon would go into one glass? With hazy memories I believe the size of the drink was about 0.4l."

With the help of google and some well-timed detective work, I managed to find the source of this cocktail! Luckily enough even my local store had some Belgian wheat beer and cloudy apple juice so I could make this one! It's called the Belgian Apple Pie:
  • 2 cl lemon juice
  • 4 - 6 cl cloudy apple juice (IMHO 6 cl is good)
  • 2 cl galliano vanilla
  • Belgian (style) wheat beer
Shake the three first ingredients with ice, strain into a mug filled with ice, pour over the wheat beer and garnish with a lemon slice/wheel.

I first made it with only 4 cl apple juice but had to admit it was too little so 6 cl would do much better. Smell/Taste-wise it did remind me of an apple pie, which was nice.

On a side note, if you can find, use a bit stronger wheat beer; the lower ABV ones lack body in my opinion.

keskiviikko 31. elokuuta 2016

Gingerhassle

GINGERHÄSSÄKKÄ
(GINGERHASSLE)




(I know, it is in Finnish)

Hello everyone! Here's a very refreshing drink, initially asked by a customer (do something citrus-y) and I thought of summoning something up for them. It turned out to be so good I figured "hey this makes one helluva drink!" Since this doesn't have a proper name yet, it is called a "Gingerhassle". Yeah, that'll do :D.

½ lime's juice
2 cl cointreau
2 cl gin
ginger beer, to top

On a highball glass filled with ice, press the juice of ½ a lime onto it. Add the alcohols and top the whole thing up with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel, add a straw and there you go!

It is both fresh with good notes of citrus, orange and ginger. The lime juice cuts the tight gingery notes and the gin I used (a london dry style) was more in the background. Nonetheless, an excellent drink this was!

keskiviikko 24. elokuuta 2016

Cafe Nero

CAFE NERO

Hot Stuff!
Hey everyone! Here's a coffee-based cocktail a customer (while back) ordered from me! At that point, I had no idea what the hell it was so the kind (wo)man showed me how to make one! In hindsight, I would make this drink into a much smaller champagne flute/glass so the proportional amount of Galliano would be much higher. Nonetheless, here's how to make a Cafe Nero.
  • 4 cl Galliano (vanilla)
  • sugar + citrus wedge (for coating the inner glass)
  • coffee
  • loosely whipped cream
  • vanilla / nutmeg / essential oils from an orange as garnish
  • some fire (remember safety!)
First things first, prewarm the glass. Dump the hot water and with the help of the citrus wedge, coat the inside rim of the glass. Pour some sugar on it to create a nice sugary rim.  Add in the galliano and set it on fire. Let the flames caramelize the sugar a bit, after which pour in the coffee. Layer some cream on top and garnish.

As I mentioned in the beginning, since I used a much higher volume glass to make this one, taste-wise it had gentle vanilla notes to it and I liked its smoothness. Moreover, this drink can easily be twisted by using another alcohol and garnish appropriately. 

perjantai 19. elokuuta 2016

Jallumuuli

JALLUMUULI
(aka JALLUKINKERI)

A Finnish classic


Hey everyone! Here's a classic, that has reach a solid place in the Finnish bar culture, the Jallumuuli or Jallukinkeri. Easy to make, easy to drink and easily ordered again :D, this drink consists of:
  • 4 cl Jaloviina * (A Finnish cut-brandy)
  • 2 lime wedges (muddled)
  • ginger ale
In a highball glass, muddle the lime wedges, add ice your Jaloviina* and top it off with ginger ale.

As said, the lime juice and ginger ale really helps cut the edge from the brandy, making this suitable for...pretty much anyone! 

perjantai 5. elokuuta 2016

Panssarijääkäri (Panzerjäger)

PANSSARIJÄÄKÄRI (PANZERJÄGER)


Panssarijääkäri, a shot that a customer once ordered. I had to ask him "A what now?" He explained to me, that this shot consists of:
  • 2 cl Jägermeister
  • 2 cl salty liquorice liqueur
The story behind it (apparently) goes that back in his (customer's) days he did his military service in the anti-tank service branch and these were often downed. Moreover, always three in the same time (one for the gunner, one for the driver and one for the commander of a tank).

Pour both ingredients in a shot glass and shoot! I have to say though, I don't wonder why these were ordered. The taste is somewhat sweeter than herbal and not as powerful as I would've thought. It doesn't make an excellent shot, but doesn't let you down either, kind of like Rick Astley.

Jumalan Ruoska (God's Whip)

JUMALAN RUOSKA (GOD'S WHIP)

Whip it REAL GOOD!
Here's a cocktail I found about last weekend and apparently it existed already in 2004! Jumalan Ruoska, or translated "God's Whip". A customer mentioned this name and I had to look it up later just to find out from a very old forum that indeed! This drink does exist! I had to give it a shot.

This drink is similar to the White Russian, especially due to one of the main ingredients. But let's see how this one's made.
  • 2 cl Jaloviina * (A famous Finnish cut brandy, you could use any similar product if this one is not available)
  • 2 cl Kahlúa (it has to be Kahlúa, any other coffee liqueur won't do the trick)
  • Milk
Build into a OF/tumbler filled with ice. No garnish, just a straw.

First of all, milk-based cocktails are devious for they are so easily drunk. I don't lie, I could've finished my drink in a few sips! Secondly, this cocktail is full-bodied (thanks to Kahlúa) and smooth in texture with a nice brandy-ish flavor to it. Thirdly, for the Finns this drink is easily and readily available, since come on, any self-respecting person should stock at least Jaloviina in their homes! :D

I can only recommend trying this if the basic White Russians are getting waaaaaay boring!

(Galliano) Hot Shot

(GALLIANO) HOT SHOT


Hey!

Here's a shot, that has become notorious in the Finnish bar culture. I'm not quite sure how often these are ordered abroad, but in Finland there's a somewhat love-hate relationship with the Hot Shot.

The (Galliano) Hot Shot is a layered shot and has become famous for one reason: Many of these are typically ordered in the same time and we all know how layering a bunch of these is the most absolute fun :D

  • 2 cl Galliano (vanilla)
  • a small amount of coffee
  • a small amount of cream
Put the galliano in the shot glass and carefully layer (with the help of a spoon) the coffee first and then the cream on top. Some like to sip it, some shoot it. Either way, it's a very vanilla-creamy shot and easily drunk. As...no-one doubted, right? Right? 

tiistai 26. heinäkuuta 2016

Espresso Martini

ESPRESSO MARTINI

Energy boost in a glass
Hello again everyone. Let me introduce you to something quite modern but still wonderful, the Espresso Martini.

It'll sweep your socks right off your feet, even if you don't have any! I was lucky enough to get some espresso from work...and the rest is history!
  • 5 cl vodka
  • 2.5 cl Kahlúa
  • 2.5 cl espresso
  • (.5 cl sugar syrup, to taste)
Shake the ingredients with ice, strain and serve.

Highly coffee-flavored, both in the nose and flavor, this cocktail is potent. As vodka is pretty much "tasteless", it only enhances the profile of both Kahlùa and espresso, making the Espresso Martini one helluva coffee cocktail! Smooth in taste, I'm glad I made this!

sunnuntai 24. heinäkuuta 2016

Stinger

STINGER

IBA cocktail. Despite the weird combination...this stuff works!
Hi everyone! Here's an IBA cocktail, that I decided to make. Two ingredients, simple enough, right? But when you take a closer look to what they are you might think "aaww hell naow!" Okay, let's see what a Stinger has in it:
  • 5 cl cognac
  • 2 cl créme de menthe (white)
  • (mint sprig garnish)
Stir the alcohols with ice and strain into either a cocktail glass or on ice into a tumbler. If you want to, garnish with a sprig of mint. I suggest garnishing especially if using a tumbler glass.

So how does cognac and peppermint liqueur work together? I must (to my surprise) say, wonderfully! The Stinger is fresh, smooth and balanced. And it is devious, as its name suggests; this stuff goes to your head fast.

PS. If you don't have white créme de menthe and instead use green, the Stinger is called a Green Hornet.

lauantai 16. heinäkuuta 2016

Jallumustikkatini

Jallumustikkatini


As the fourth update of the week, I present you with a good Finnish take with Jaloviina. I give you the Jalomustikkatini. I know, it's a crappy name but that's the best I could come up with in such a short notice!

Basically, what I wanted to do was to use jaloviina and make a cocktail that has a true Finnish twist to it. So when you add blueberries, can you go wrong? This cocktail is short, sweet-ish, has that cognac-y taste to it and will definitely appeal to anyone who enjoys jaloviina. I also tried to keep it simple enough so it could be made at home. Let's have a look:
Muddle the blueberries in the glass. Add the rest of the ingredients, add ice and shake it baby! Definitely double strain. No garnish needed.

I loved the dark color of this cocktail. Also the strong blueberry-ish taste adds a nice flavor profile to this cocktail and with the more dominant jaloviina taste in the end...nice. Just nice.

Jägerita


JÄGERITA

Damn you Jeffrey Morgenthaler! Damn you to hell! This is so delicious! :D

The video from where it all started from:

Wow. So...using Jägermeister in a margarita style of cocktail? Who would've thought of that?! Just watch the clip and enjoy :D

I decided to make this drink as well. Most people don't like Jägermeister for its...nature, but those in doubt, try this one out!
  • 4 cl Jägermeister
  • 2 cl cointreau
  • 2 cl lime juice
  • 1 cl 2:1 simple syrup (two parts sugar, one part water)
Shake with ice, strain and garnish with a lime wheel.

I had my doubts as well, but this cocktail proved me wrong. It is absolutely dandy like candy. In the future, if someone comes to me and says "Eww jägermeister, gross!" I'll say to them "FUCK YOU TRY A JÄGERITA AND YOU'LL LOVE THIS SHIT!"

...this cocktail is that good. You can count on that.

French Martini

FRENCH MARTINI

Oui!
Bonjour! A modern classic, the French Martini.

I remember the first time I had this cocktail. In 2014, Watchbar near the Bremen railway station had a small add on their tables (as I had a few drinks with my wife) and dauym, I decided to order this. IT was awesome!

Fast forward to early...2016...? My best friend got a bottle of Chambord. Wait...there's a little receipt book with the packaging? And it has the French Martini on it? IT was awesome!

Fast forward to 2016 summer. I finally get my shit together and buy some pineapple juice. I make the French Martini. IT was awesome!

  • 2 cl Chambord
  • 4 cl vodka
  • 6 cl pineapple juice
Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish and serve. (traditionally with blackberries or raspberries, I had neither so I dropped a few blueberries into the drink :D)

Even with its more "lady"-like atmosphere to it, this is genuinely a very nice cocktail. No wonder it's considered a modern classic. You can taste the exotic bouquet of the chambord and combined with the pineapple juice they make an excellent pair! In some recipes the ratios may (and will) vary. I consider this a solid one, nonetheless. 

Basilowski

BASILOWSKI


Hoya everyone! It's been almost a month since my last update, but this time I got FOUR (4) new updates, in a row! (wow-za!)

If we turn back time a bit, I spent a week in Bremen with my sister (4th July - 11th July). On Friday we went to Lemon Lounge (@ Am Wall 164 like I did in 2015 with my two good friends and 2014 with my oldest brother :D) and asked for my good friend's Tomasz Gutowski for a(ny) signature drink the cocktail bar has. He introduced me with his concoction, the Basilowski. He was kind enough to share the recipe with me and gave the last drops of their peach bitters this cocktail needs. COOL!

So as I got back from Germany (still enjoying my last weekend of summer vacation), I made his drink. Here's how to do it:

  • 2 cl lime juice
  • 2 cl mango pureé
  • 4-6 basil leaves
  • 2 ds peach bitters
  • 5 cl grasowka/zubrowka
  • soda water
Smash the basil leaves in your palm and add them in your glass. Add the rest ingredients (over ice), give it a good stir and top with soda water. Garnish with a beautiful basil bunch and serve.

This cocktail is fresh and seriously, you can hardly taste the alcohol :D On a warm summer's day...deceitful I say, deceitful! The aftertaste is a bit sour-ish, which compliments this fruity cocktail's overall taste just fine.

Thanks Tomasz!

lauantai 18. kesäkuuta 2016

Summer update 2016

SUMMER UPDATE 2016

Spruce sprouts, my every summer quest for glory
Hello everyone and summery greetings from Keminmaa! I am currently...well truth to be told, my final paternity leave day I got for my baby girl ends tonight but fear not! My four (4) weeks of paid summer vacation starts right away :D

I haven't made many cocktails since we left (me & my family) in the very beginning of June thus I haven't updated any new drinks on this blog either. But I have continued my epic spruce sprout syrup/vodka factory! 


Each summer I intend to make a batch of wonderful spruce sprout vodka; infused for one year and then strained. My #2015 batch was awesome so why not continue the tradition? Exactly my thoughts too.


Like last year, this year I made a big'o batch of sprout syrup. Pine-y, sweet and exquisite in taste, it's an all-around hit, especially during the winter season! Pancakes and vanilla ice cream, beware! Moreover, I've started to implement this syrup into some cocktails and speaking of which, I recently sent an article (spruce sprouts and their use in Finnish cocktail culture) for a cocktail-related magazine, perhaps they'll publish it! I have my fingers crossed. 

Anyhow, my June is pretty much spent among mosquitoes, family, food, Scrabble and of course the European soccer Championship! Also, I realized I got the fine opportunity (if my memory serves me right) to watch the finals in Bremen, where I will be heading in the beginning of July with my sister! Nice!

What else? My YouTube - channel is in good standing, I've made many drinks, got a sweet ass 250+ subscribers (oooh yeah baby!) and roughly 1½ - months ago I even celebrated the 1-year-anniversary :D Yay me! I appreciate how people have found my channel outside my so-called "circles". With the amount of positive feedback (I don't know many if any active Finnish cocktail-blogs in YouTube) I've received, I tip my hat in the audiences' direction! Thank you!

In other news, my family is doing well and I have a strong belief this summer is going to be just A-okay! Cheers to summer!

keskiviikko 25. toukokuuta 2016

Captain Kidd

CAPTAIN KIDD

Strong, tasty, the Kidd
Hey everyone! Today I present you with a (slightly crooked :D) after dinner - style cocktail called the Captain Kidd. I found out there are numerous different recipes under the same name and this one I picked up from this book shown below:


The more I sipped this drink, the more I started to like it! Here's how to do it:
  • 25 ml creme de cacao (dark)
  • 25 ml dark rum (I used havana 8 años)
  • 37.5 ml cognac (1½ British measure, I used a VSOP one)
  • ½ orange slice for garnish (editor's note; a twist + its essential oils would've been even greater)
Instead of shaking this drink (as the recipe calls for), I stirred it (due to only alcoholic ingredients) and poured into a chilled coupe before garnishing.

But even with the original garnish (the ½ orange slice), its aroma combined with the strong cocoa was very nice indeed. The Kidd isn't as sweet as I would've thought, but instead an intense, spicy, cognac-y after flavored sipping cocktail. If I really tried, hints of a full-bodied sherry/port are noticeable!

I give this drink a 3.5/5. It's solid, it's strong, it's a fine cocktail.

keskiviikko 11. toukokuuta 2016

Cucumber-basil-sour

CUCUMBER-BASIL-SOUR

Summer in a glass
Good day y'all! Today I present you with a very summer-y drink called the Cucumber-basil-sour! It is a gin based cocktail but even for those who don't like the taste profile of gin, the sourness and flavors from both the cucumber and basil will work wonders! It's also a very refreshing drink! What you'll need:

  • 4 cl gin (prefer a lighter one)
  • 2 cl lemon juice
  • 2 cl simple syrup
  • 1 egg white (smaller)
  • 3 slices of cucumber
  • 5 leaves of basil
As we have egg white in this drink, dryshake before adding ice and shaking again. Moreover, you can gently muddle the cucumber/basil before shaking to extract as much flavor as possible.

I love how cucumber is such a great ingredient in cocktails giving them tons of flavor to it. With the herbal notes in this one and the texture given by the egg, it's a summer's "must try this one!" drink! I approve!

keskiviikko 20. huhtikuuta 2016

Tequila Old Fashioned

TEQUILA OLD FASHIONED


Hoi everyone!

Here's an approach to the good o' Old Fashioned, with a twist; using tequila as our base spirit! I stumbled upon some recipes regarding such drink and thought to myself "why not?" In addition, I wanted to find out whether this cocktails is something worth drinking since for most people even the word "tequila" gives them a sour feel. By using a proper sweetener and some good bitters (including our tequila naturally), the Tequila Old Fashioned is actually a very tasty drink!
  • 6 cl 100% de agave tequila
  • 1.5 cl agavesyrup
  • 2 ds orange bitters
  • 2 ds angostura bitters
  • lemon rind for garnish
Stir the ingredients with ice, strain into an OF - glass and garnish.

I used a blanco tequila (I don't have others) so I reckon using añejo or reposado tequila will yield even better results. Nonetheless, this version was quite good! Smooth, not too sweet and with proper agave notes in taste. With a slight bitterness on the side, this is a cocktail worth mentioning. Especially to those who aren't big fans of tequila (because they've drunk only crappy ones).

maanantai 18. huhtikuuta 2016

A GRAND CHOCOLATE TASTING

THE GRAND (BLIND)
CHOCOLATE TASTING

That's a lot of chocolate!
Hello everyone! Last Sunday I managed to pull off (in a week's notice so that's cool!) a grand blind chocolate tasting with my friends! I'm still baffled how quickly we actually managed to organize this but hey, everything counts, right?

Nonetheless, let's discuss the matter at hand. What did we do, how did we do it and how it all went? I also made some neat excel sheets of the final results as well.

Luckily I realized to cut them into small pieces before hand :D

The idea was quite simple. Get a bunch of people over at my place, make them taste ("blind") pieces of regular market brand chocolates (so none of the fancy/overly expensive/weirdly flavored ones) in two rounds (so the first answer needn't be one's "final answer"), guess (or know) which chocolate they had and finally give the chocolate a score between 1-10. Also had three dark chocolate brands in this test to see if everyone would recognize them among the milk chocolates.

Please don't mix these, please don't mix these!!!
The chocolates were (in alphabetical order); also seen as the first picture here
  1. Bellarom milk chocolate
  2. Fazer milk chocolate (blue label)
  3. Fazer dark chocolate (brown label)
  4. Fazer light milk chocolate (red label)
  5. Fin Carré dark chocolate
  6. Fin Carré milk chocolate
  7. Marabou milk chocolate
  8. Milka milk chocolate
  9. Panda milk chocolate
  10. Panda dark chocolate (in Finnish dark = tumma thus comes after "m")
The setting
I deduced that Milka, Fazer (blue label) and/or Marabou (market leaders) would probably be the "easiest" to recognize so the only way to "mess" with the participants is to modify the order to confuse them. You'll see the final order when I show you the results

Carefully placing a piece in a cup

Chocolate tasting, SERIOUS BUSINESS
I even went so far to place a little "lid" on each cup and asked everyone to just chug the piece of chocolate in their mouths. Because pretty much each brand has its name carved on an individual piece and one could easily figure out the brand by just looking at it as well. So participant honesty was asked and well received! :)


Hey, no chocolate in there!!
After the first round, we had a small break, ate something salty and prepared ourselves for the next and final round. If anyone had doubts, they could now fix it. 

Notice the #8, a little doubt goes a long way
As the tasting was finally over and people were feeling doozy of all the chocolate they ate (even with a small amount it felt like a lot), I brewed some well-deserved coffee, scrambled the answer sheets and gave each one someone else's paper. I then proceeded in telling everyone the correct order and people graded the papers accordingly.

I'm guessing he knows the correct answer?
and the final results were...


Marjukka 7/10!

Mikko, Tuomas, Hennariikka 6/10
Antti 5/10
Markus, Karoliina 3/10

Winner (Marjukka) and a joint 2nd place (Tuomas, Hennariikka & Mikko)
The winner takes it all!
As life is full of surprises, Marjukka was awarded with a Kinder egg! :D :D :D

THE COMPLETE RESULTS


I'm not even mad that this picture kind of breaks from the side. It was all part of my grand scheme! So let's break down the numbers and I'll also try to explain how to "read" the charts. Should be quite straightforward, though. After the name you'll see their answer and regarding its color you'll notice if it was correct or not. The score column next to the chocolate mentioned before (1-10), meaning one brand could receive a maximum of 70 points. The competition was actually quite tight! A joint winner was nonetheless found! 

Fazer (blue label) & Bellarom milk with a whopping 55/70 points! Moreover, not so impressively, Fin Carré dark was the only chocolate to receive less than 40 points and lost the competition with a meager 37 points. But when comparing the other brands they are all withing ~15 points with no "big" exception in point division.

People knew their dark chocolates. Markus & Tuomas were the only ones confusing Fin Carré's dark with Panda's dark and everyone knew Fazer's dark (brown label) and I am glad of that! Surprisingly though, Marabou was only known by two (Marjukka & Tuomas) and Fazer (blue label) (Finland's #1 sold chocolate) by less than half of the participants!

But if anyone else has found their own points of interests, do ellaborate! I found this tasting to be extremely fun and just pure awesome! Do enjoy the final gallery!

GALLERY
(quite a small one :D)




lauantai 9. huhtikuuta 2016

Lady

LADY


Hey everyone!

A few days back ago I whipped up a cocktail a fellow (home)bartender made. It's a gin based drink and regardless of what the name "Lady" implies, this is not a lady-like cocktail! Let's have a closer look:

  • 4 cl gin
  • 2 cl peach schnapps
  • 2 cl lemon juice
  • 1 egg white

The "original" recipe called for one tsp of egg white, but I like to go with one whole; gives more body, texture and volume. I also came to realize that the use of gin makes quite the difference. If you use a light(er) gin (or floral) instead of a robust one, it'll affect the tasting notes quite a lot. I went for Monkey 47 for its citrusy - taste. If someone has more gins at home, I'd suggest trying out with different ones to see which one works out for the best.

So dryshake everything, then add your ice and shake again. Strain into a cocktail glass and as you can see, I garnished it with a cocktail cherry. I like the contrast between creamy, frothy white and bright red. Visually, quite the look :)

Velvety texture, clearly got the gin out of this with peach in the background. This cocktail also had that good tartness to it which makes it more than suitable for any person enjoying gin in different forms.


keskiviikko 30. maaliskuuta 2016

Why Whisky Sampling is so damn fun!

WHISKY SAMPLING &
THE BEAUTY OF IT

Glenfarclas 15yo (got a sample in exchange for another!)
Hey everyone! So in the last few days I got myself involved in some whisky sample switching. Holy moley has this been so much fun!! So the whole thing started ~a week ago when I had a discussion at a whisky-based forum. I had recently opened the Macallan Amber (first open) for Easter. Some were also talking about the Glenfarclas 15yo and how its quality wasn't "as good as expected". 


Then, a person recognized the picture wall panels (from my cocktail videos I assume) and asked whether I wanted to have a sample of the before-mentioned scotch. I happen to have about a dozen of sample bottles that fit a nice 3.5 - 4 cl of liquid inside them so of course I complied. I wanted to try out myself the big fuzz of this whisky. For the trade I decided to give one of my own single malts for the person to rate themselves. I wasn't going to tell them what it was so you could say it was a blind tasting for that matter.

A few days later the switch happened (at work). He got my sample, I got some Glenfarclas 15yo as seen above.


#singlemalt #surprisemotherfucker
Without going into too much detail of these single malts, he had some Dalmore 12yo in his glass, which I revealed to him after the review/guessing. I got to admit, he knew his shit; knew the ex-oloroso maturing and 40% ABV (not to mention his review, which was 5/5 altogether :D)

Anyhow, I told him to bring back the empty sample bottle whenever he's done (not that I was in a big hurry I have plenty of these at home still), but for my surprising he filled it up with another mystery scotch!! I actually first thought it was my colleague's doings, but then realized she gave her bottle back ages ago.

So the ball was now thrown back to me! There it is, I want to say it is cask strength. Has to be according to its taste. As I am not a whisky expert per se, I quote "uncertainty is the only certainty there is..." In my sincerest opinion, people should do more of this! What could go possibly wrong? :D

A mystery sample.

torstai 24. maaliskuuta 2016

Hemingway Daiquiri

HEMINGWAY DAIQUIRI

"I drink to make other people interesting"

- Ernest Hemingway, 1899 - 1961 


Hello everyone! Today's cocktail is more or less of a classic. It's a daiquiri popularized (or coined) by Ernest Hemingway who spent a part of his life in Cuba. According to the internet (it never lies by the way), he used to have many of these in a bar called "El Floridita". Also, the internet states that since Hemingway was a diabetic, he preferred a different kind of daiquiri (a less sugary one); legend has it that he loved this version so much that he always ordered a double, lending the cocktail its nickname of Papa Doble.

In its essence, the Hemingway Daiquiri is a more robust, dry version of the regular cocktail. If feeling manly enough, give this one a go and see for yourself!
  • 6 cl white rum (prefer Cuban, e.g. Havana 3 años)
  • 2 cl lime juice
  • 1.5 cl maraschino liqueur (the sweetness to this cocktail derives from this ingredient)
  • 1.5 cl grapefruit juice
  • lime wheel (or maraschino cherry) as a garnish
Shake all ingredients except for the garnish with ice, strain, garnish and serve.

US citizens can't really use Havana rums because of the trade embargo that prohibits the selling of Cuban rum, but luckily for the rest of us, there is still hope :D But any good quality white rum will suffice.


For me, it had that oompf. Since my experience of daiquiris have always been sweeter, it was nice to experience the "other side" of this classic cocktail group. Moreover, there are so many different variations of the daiquiris out there, having a few different recipes in your back pocket doesn't hurt you at all. I give this cocktail a 3.5/5. Those who like their daiquiris dry and strong, it's a solid 5/5.