"Papa Doblé"

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."

- Ernest Hemingway

This week is about justice. The Daiquiri is too often considered a "girly drink," with most places serving up some pink, pretty, syrupy-sweet liquid-candy of strawberries and shaved ice. The Greatest Drink in The World... This Week's featured offering, The Papa Doblé, (A.K.A. The Ernest Hemingway Daiquiri,) is based on the origin incarnation of this respectable cocktail, a manly drink and, Dammit! We're taking it back.

The Recipe:

While chilling a martini glass, into a cocktail shaker add:

- The juice from one and a half limes

- a one count of Simple Syrup

- a 4 count of light Rum

Shake "Ernestly"

Strain into the now-chilled chilled martini glass.

Chris's Notes: This is just rum, lime and sugar; (kinda like really good lime-aid!) NO strawberries, cream, bananas or other "daintifiers," just a great, no nonsense drink. Made to order by Mr. Hemingway, himself; World War veteran, medal of bravery recipient, big game hunter, respected author and all-around manly man!

And it is in the spirit of the "author" of this drink that we decided to go with the name "Papa Doblé", as opposed to the drinks other moniker, "The Hemingway Daiquiri."

Respect.

Joe's Notes: The Papa Doblé was the drink favored by the great novelist and correspondent Ernest Hemingway. It is basically a daiquiri with double the rum, (good call, Ernest). Hemingway's nickname was "Papa" and "Doblé" is double in Spanish, hence Papa Doblé.

And "Daiquiri" is the name of a beach near Santiago de Cuba.

To make a Papa Doblé, first wash your lime. So many bartenders forget this important step. Then roll your lime on a clean hard surface. Cut off the ends and cut in half, squeeze the first half of the lime into your shaker and discard the shell. Squeeze the second half of your lime and drop the shell into your shaker, preferably use a hinged juice extractor (sometimes referred to as a Mexican Elbow,) this will allow the inclusion of the oils from the skin into your cocktail. Add the rum, Cuban rum if you have it, if not whatever is your favorite white rum. Add the sugar and shake for eight to ten seconds. Strain into your chilled glass and serve.

Additional Bar Chat

When I first suggested that we spotlight the Daiquiri as our drink of the week, Chris made a disgruntled face and muttered something about "girly drinks." I explained to Chris that the Daiquiri, and in particular, the Papa Doblé was anything but a girly drink.

Naturally, when I presented the finished product to him and he guzzled the first one back, he not only agreed with me, but started shouting out things like "We are going to take the Daiquiri back," and "A true man's drink."

This got me thinking; is there somewhere unknown to me, a Kinsey scale on cocktails? It is surprising how many men will balk at the idea of certain drinks just because they are considered unmanly. Many women, on the other hand, will proudly order a straight scotch, shot of tequila or a strawberry martini. It doesn't seem to matter to them.

My fear is that these proponents of "manly only" drinks are like Hamlet's Queen Gertrude: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Could they, in fact, be hiding in the shadows at an anonymous bar at the other end of the city, secretly sipping on Pina Coladas? I say Let them stand up with pride! We will not judge you on your choice of drink! Shout with joy, "I'll have a passion fruit rum with orange juice, and don't forget the cherry."

Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe for a minute that Chris would ever order a Pina Colada, but if he wanted to, I would be more then happy to make it for him.

Of course, I would have to tell you all about it in the blog.

Joe the Bartender

(Unfortunately,) unavoidably-related video here.