"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.

The Zombie

On The Greatest Drink in the World... This Week's facebook page, there is a section for readers to request a specific drink. So far, only two drinks have been requested; a Bloody Mary, (see the "Bloody Molly,") and The Zombie.

This week we are pleased as Planter's Punch to be honoring that request.

The Recipe:

- a 2 count Bacardi White Rum

- a 2 count Mount Gay Rum "Eclipse"

- 1/2 of a lime freshly "squozen"

- a 1 count of Apricot Brandy

- a "sploosh" of of Pineapple juice

- a shot of falernum

- Shake 'monstrously'

- Strain over fresh ice

-Top with Kraken Black Spiced Rum

- Garnish with a marischino cherry and a wedge of lime

- Little paper umbrella optional, (but HIGHLY recommended!)

Joe's Notes: The Zombie is one of those cocktails that has a number of variations as to its ingredients. This is partly due to the secrecy of the inventor of the Zombie, Donn Beach. (There is even some discrepancy on whether he did, in fact, invent this drink.) He refers to one of the ingredients as "Donn's Mix" and never divulges what that mix actually is. Many bartenders will wave their cocktail shakers and bar spoons about fervently laying claim to the best zombie, and at the same time dismiss others Zombies as "inferior concoctions"

Our Zombie, that we are entering into the GDITWTW library has, as always, both quality, and fresh ingredients. The use of Falernum is one of Donn Beach's original ingredients that I believe is an essential part of the drink.

A word on Zombies and other monsters...

During a debate at the House of Lords in London on the existence of monsters and where they could have possibly come from. (Yes, this really did take place!) The Earl of Halsbury said this, "I have always thought that just as a mother, when baking bread, leaves a little of the dough over in order that the children can make funny little men with raisins for tummy buttons and put them in the ovens and bake them alongside the cake or bread for the day. So possibly on the day of creation, a little of the divine power was left in reserve for the lesser cherubim and seraphim to use and they were allowed to make funny little objects."

Chris's Notes: Thank you, Joe. I now fear British politics more than I do the undead.

But, as far as this week's drink, The Zombie, is concerned, I am very excited. I have mentioned in previous posts my love of Rum and Juice combinations, (HECK! Toss in Nachos and Peanut M&Ms and you'd have my 'Four Basic Food Groups!') and The Zombie is no exception.

Now, there are a number of people throughout history whom I hold in high regard for their contributions to society; The Earl of Sandwich, The creator of the first bikini, and, (a personal hero of mine,) Donn Beach, A.K.A. Don The Beachcomber .

Don the Beachcomber was a rum connoisseur and THE man responsible for the The Vicious Virgin, Three Dots & a Dash, Navy Grog, The Dr. Funk, the Mai Tai, (a personal favorite,) and The Zombie, among many, many others.

According to legend, the drink was created for a friend of the Beachcomber's who was going on a trip by airliner. The friend, in his blissful ignorance, had three of these results-oriented mixes before departing and claimed to "be a zombie for the entire flight!" Hence the name.

The juices apparently hide the amount of alcohol to such an extent that, in an early example of a CMA, restaurants limited Zombies to only two per customer.

Of course, I couldn't let this post go without a couple of Zombie movie clips! Enjoy, (and thank you, cherubim and seraphim for your "funny little objects!")

- Zombie definition from "Ghost Breakers"

- Zombie vs. Shark from "Zombie,"

- The Shaun of the Dead movie trailer,

- "Zombiekill of the week" from 'Zombieland'

And lastly,

- The 'Fido' movie trailer.

And of course, a 'related' (finally!) token music video! (Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie!)

The Perfect Storm

Our regular drinks author, Joe the Bartender, decided to take a little time off, leaving me with the opportunity to go on a little field trip. In the very same neighborhood as my regular Friday night barstool, is The Lobster Shanty, a local establishment that boasts a wide assortment of accolades to it's name. It is also the home of this week's Greatest Drink, The Perfect Storm.

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail shaker full of ice, add:

- a 1 count white rum,

- a 1 count Malibu Coconut Rum,

- a 1 count Captain Morgan Spiced Rum,

- a 2 count pineapple juice,

- a 2 count orange juice,

- Shake "tempestuously,"

- Strain into a 16 ounce pint glass full of fresh ice,

- sink a splash of cranberry juice, (DON'T splash that splash, though!)

- Float a generous ½ count of Myer's Dark Rum on top,

- Garnish with a wedge of lime and a cherry.

Bartender's notes: Diane, one of the owners of the Lobster Shanty, explained the creation of The Perfect Storm to me: "It was a group effort. No one wants to take the credit for the beverage publicly, but it was invented not long after the actual storm of the same name, (see movie with George Clooney.) Given the name because the Myers float makes the drink look like a foreboding sky over an angry ocean.

We see it as three drinks: One if you drink it from the bottom up with a straw, one if you sip it from the top down with yer mouth, and yet another if you stir or shake it - yet all are delicious."

Chris's notes: The Perfect Storm is one of the more famous of The Lobster Shanty's 'signature drinks,' (another being the "Lobstertini," but I decided to save that one for another day! Maybe this summer!) and I loved the name of this drink the first time that I heard it! It just screamed out 'summer' with a local accent. I knew I needed to try it out, and now that warm weather is hitting New England, (in random spurts, anyways,) the time was upon me!

Now, in that little poll over to the left in the sidebar, I voted for Rum. Twice. Because I love a good rum drink in the warmer weather. And that's what The Perfect Storm is. A good rum drink! The sinker of cranberry, (also a nice local touch!), gives it flavor, but not the overwhelming sweetness that comes with a shot of Grenadine. The pineapple and orange are sweet enough for that, and they are complimented nicely by the Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. All this flavor is followed by that last blast of Myers, just when you need it. Delish!

The Lobster Shanty's Perfect Storm recipe also appears in The Bartender's Black Book by Stephen Kittredge Cunningham.

(And, of course, a video, related and everything!)

The Salem Sunrise

Ahhh, Spring here in Witch City; Salem, Massachusetts. The birthplace of The Greatest Drink in the World... This Week. And the city is all abuzz. From the Spring Fling, (an annual celebration of food, wine, beer, music and art! See sidebar,) to The Greatest Drink in the World... This Week's own contribution, The Salem Sunrise, (A.K.A. Sunset Over the Power Plant!)

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail shaker full of ice, add:

- a 2 count of Passionfruit Rum

- a 2 count of Mango Rum

- a 2 count of White Rum

- a "sploosh" of mango Juice

- a "sploosh" of lemon Juice

- a "sploosh" of pineapple Juice

- Shake "wickedly,"

- strain over fresh ice,

- Float Gosling Black Rum across the top,

- garnish with a slice of orange, and maybe some fresh apple.

Original Recipe by Joe the Bartender, Passage to India Restaurant, Salem, MA.

Joe's notes: 
To quote the lyrics from the great Dinah Washington "What a difference a day makes."

One day I am watching umbrellas scuttling past my window like an army of horseshoe crabs, and the next, shorts and t-shirts flow past as the temperature reaches the mid-seventies. On witnessing the first days of spring I immediately reel in this opportunity to introduce a good-weather drink: The Salem Sunrise. With its warming, exotic fruit-flavored rums and its summer-like fresh fruit-juice ingredients, I feel it epitomizes the change in seasons. The promise of summer makes me remember my summers as a young man.

Much of my young adult life in London was spent living, travelling and working under the streets of the city. I often felt like one of H.G. Wells' Morlocks. On the few occasions I did surface, I would head for one of the many parks in the city or maybe even for a seaside town .

For those of you unfamiliar with an English seaside town of twenty something years ago, allow me to give you a short description.

The attached beach would have two very different generations on display. The younger group consisted of skinny, milk bottle white young men in speedos and their accompanying girlfriends lying topless on towels, (usually borrowed bath towels from the guest houses where they where staying.) The girls would be smothered in suntan oil, trying desperately to get a tan from the weak sun intermittently peeking out from between the threatening rain clouds. The young men would kick a football about while drinking warm Carlsberg beer, (It was always Carlsberg) from a can. This would cause a chorus of profanities from the oil covered girls as they desperately tried to scrape the sand from themselves. It would also bring about threats of violence from the families on the beach as they would be shaking sand from their pies and sandwiches they where eating. English people for some reason always bring vast quantities of food with them to the beach. The football playing would stop every so often so the young men could pick up one of the young ladies and throw her in the sea. This would cause much laughter, screaming and yet again another string of profanities.

The second group was that of the older generation. They headed for the beach not so much for the sun but to get fresh air in their lungs. Many where from the city and it has been a long held belief in England that the sea air had healing properties. The women in this group would rarely take off any of their clothes, as the very thought of exposing naked skin was "Quite unnecessary". The men would roll their trouser pants up to the knees, strip off their shirts but opt to leave on their string vests. This, if they did get sun exposure left a very strange pattern on their chests and backs. Some men who where either bald or balding would wear a knotted handkerchief on their heads to prevent burning . The idea of putting on sunblock or even wearing a hat didn't seam to occur to them.

The seaside town would be full of people either walking about eating Ice cream, newspaper wrapped fish and chips or pickled shell fish floating in vinegar from a glass jar (strange but true). At the end of the day the pubs would be very busy. No A/C existed in the pubs.The sweaty, semi clad young men continued to drink their pints of carslberg alongside the same families that had earlier threatened them with violence. As the kids drank Coke from a bottle and ate packets of crisps, their dads would blatantly flirt with the young ladies. The mums would unwrap yet more sandwiches from their bags, handing these now warm and wilting offerings to the children as well as the ever-hungry young men. All is forgiven, and everyone has had a jolly good day!

Chris' notes: We had some absolutely incredible weather to usher in the spring here in Salem, and those tropical, fruity, rum-laced, "boat-drinks" are foremost on the minds of the educated panel of researchers and our knowledgeable conspirator, toastmaster, and mixologist, Joe.

Joe proceeded to show us why he is known amongst the Hekawi Tribe of the American Southwest as "Dances With Liquors," and whipped us up a local favorite and an early creation of his shortly after coming to Salem on the Mayflower.

The Salem Sunrise is a very rich, and thick drink, thanks primarily to the Mango and other juices, and the flavored rums, but the Dark Rum on top adds just the right balance. This is truly a warm weather masterpiece of a drink, (and will no doubt rock this summer!) and a great way to usher in the changing of the seasons!

Cheers!

The Black Lagoon

The whole bar was very excited the day that the Kraken Rum arrived. A black, spiced rum, in, let's face it, a WAY cool bottle, all present wanted a drink that featured this as it's prime ingredient. Joe didn't make any that night, instead deciding to reflect on the matter. After much meditation, (a day or two,) he said to me, "I need some falernum."

"I know a guy who can get any of that stuff," I told him, "but he doesn't like strangers."

Joe explained, patiently, that although he didn't know what I was mistaking falernum for, I was wrong, and it was nothing illegal. "Falernum," he went on, "was a syrup used in tropical-style rum drinks with flavors of ginger and lime."

As it turns out, it wasn't all that difficult to get, and in no time, a recipe featuring the newly acquired falernum, and the long drooled-over Kraken Rum was assembled and ready.

During its debut, (mixed up special for me, thank you very much!) no fewer than four more were ordered and zealously consumed, all before 6:00 PM! Not bad for an opening night.

The Recipe:

Into a tumbler of ice, add:

- A 4 count of Kraken Black Rum

- a 1 ½ count of falernum

- the juice from ½ of a freshly squeezed lime,

- Shake viciously,

- strain into a 10 ounce brandy snifter filled with fresh ice

- garnish with a wedge of lime

Joe the Bartender's notes: The Black Lagoon is a drink I have both recently discovered and enjoyed. It came about one evening while I was walking home. One of my younger, (and more attractive,) local costumers was standing outside a bar smoking her licorice cheroot. She greeted me enthuasiasticly and insisted I join her and her boyfriend inside for a drink. Not wishing to disappoint, and having an insatiable thirst I agreed.

The bar was very dark and crowded and as my eyes adjusted to my new surroundings it became apparent that I had entered into a "Goth Night". Everyone was dressed in black. I saw a great many had partial tattoos crawling out from beneath their clothing. I could only imagine what piercings lay beneath. (Only to say that I imagine a strong magnet would have drawn quite a crowd.)

My young friend was drinking what looked to me like swamp water. On inquiry she told me it was a Black Mojito. That is a Mojito made with "Kraken" black rum, pointing out a bottle of Kraken at the bar. Althought he drink looked quite awful it actually tasted rather good. I chose a Kraken and ginger beer and settled back to watch the nights events. A number of both male and female Goths where on the dance floor, which rather impressed me as i didn't realize that the "living dead" could actually dance. Finishing with a Kraken on the rocks I hurried home, (before daybreak,) to investigate this rum further.

The following evening, I arrived at work armed with a list of Kraken cocktails to present to the panel of experts, (see last weeks post.) The Black Lagoon came out lead favorite. I had found a variation of the Black Lagoon listed as a "Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail."

It didn't appear to have a name other than that so we decided to name it. Chris came up with the rather fitting name of the Black Lagoon.

Before I end a note on the Falernum. I have used both the syrup and the 11% alcohol versions. In my opinion the Falernum with alcohol makes for a better drink (No surprise there). You may only be able to find the syrup at your local bottle store and that is fine.

You will still be able to make the Greatest Drink in the World....This Week.

Chris the Barfly's notes: The Black Lagoon , (the cocktail, that is,) suits the Kraken, (the rum,) extremely well. This rum itself has flavors of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in it which combine with the almond, ginger and lime flavors the falernum in an almost perfect proportion, (half a lime later, and it IS prefect proportion!)

Since the day that Joe first brought in the Kraken, and we got a little smell, a little taste, I had been very anxious to try whatever recipe would be developed around it. It was worth the wait.

My first Kraken-based cocktail experience may not have had the same amount of "guy-liner" as Joe's did, but I don't feel like I was shortchanged.

Cheers!

"...once by man and angels to be seen,   In roaring he shall rise..." - The Kraken, Lord Alfred Tennyson,