Mai-Kai's Floridita Daiquiri - Authentic recipe?

I just came across this recipe apparently posted by someone at The Mai-Kai:
http://cocktail.com/2010/09/10/floridita-daiquiri-a-la-mai-kai/

Floridita Daiquiri a la Mai-Kai

3 oz Anejo rum
3 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1 oz sugar syrup (or 1 teaspoon of sugar)

Combine all ingredients into a blender, add 2 cups ice, and process until smooth. Serves 2. For non-alcoholic, substitute club soda for rum.

Submitted by the Mai-Kai, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
This is believed to be one of Ernest Hemingway’s old favorite from Havana.

That's the Floridita at left, hanging out with his friend The Mutiny

Authentic, accurate Mai-Kai recipes are so scarce I thought this needed further investigation so I had the drink last Saturday night at the Mai-Kai and then made it myself at home. Using Bacardi Anejo (which I'm guessing they use at the bar), it seems to be spot-on. It's on the mild menu, so they might cut back on the rum a bit. It says "serves 2" but this seems to be the size of a single serving at the restaurant.

It's slightly different than other "Floridita" recipes floating around (notably missing the maraschino liquor). They probably used Havana Club in the original incarnation at the Mai-Kai in the 1950s. It might be worth tapping into that bottle of Havana Club 7-year-old Anejo that I've been hoarding since Hukilau to get a taste of the real deal.

While on the subject, RumDood has some interesting info on the whole Hemmingway Daiquiri mystery: http://rumdood.com/2010/05/26/hemingway-daiquiri/

What kind of grapefruit?

Red, white, pink?

If not specified, I would guess white. Would that be right?

Yes, most definitely this drink requires white grapefruit juice. And try to find the kind labled "100% juice, unsweetened" such as Ocean Spray. If you can get your hands on fresh fruit to squeeze, all the better.

I believe it's missing maraschino liqueur and it doesn't have simple syrup (Papa Hemingway was diabetic).

This is the Mai-Kai's version, not the original from Havana. It's a bit different.

For what it's worth, "The Florida Keys Cookbook" reports that Hemingway in Key West, at Sloppy Joe's, always favored a drink that they named for him the Papa Dobles. It was 3 oz. white rum, 2 ounces fresh grapefruit juice, 1 oz. fresh key lime juice and 1 oz maraschino cherry juice. Sloppy Joe's still has a Papa Dobles on the menu, but the recipe is different now.

Try it with your recipe, but using honey syrup instead of sugar syrup. That's how I make 'em at home, and they are great! The honey adds a little richness. If you zest a little grapefruit peel on top of the drink, it gets a nice bouquet that really transports you. I've always liked this drink, it's an often-overlooked treasure on the Mai Kai's menu.

On 2010-09-17 11:37, Captain Squid wrote:
For what it's worth, "The Florida Keys Cookbook" reports that Hemingway in Key West, at Sloppy Joe's, always favored a drink that they named for him the Papa Dobles. It was 3 oz. white rum, 2 ounces fresh grapefruit juice, 1 oz. fresh key lime juice and 1 oz maraschino cherry juice. Sloppy Joe's still has a Papa Dobles on the menu, but the recipe is different now.

That's marachino liqueur, not cherry juice.

That's marachino liqueur, not cherry juice.

The book I referenced says cherry juice and if we're talking Key West in the 1930's it may have been easier to get cherry juice than cherry liqueur. Just sayin.

On 2010-09-17 14:56, Captain Squid wrote:

That's marachino liqueur, not cherry juice.

The book I referenced says cherry juice and if we're talking Key West in the 1930's it may have been easier to get cherry juice than cherry liqueur. Just sayin.

That's interesting. I've always seen that recipe listed with marashino liqueur. Hemingway liked his drinks notoriously dry, and he was a diabetic as well. I can't belive that he would have used juice from maraschino cherries, which is just sugar syrup, in his daiquiri. But you never know.

Check out the Rumdood link above. He has a lot of great info on the history of the Floridita. Might answer some of your questions.

On 2010-09-17 18:33, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
Check out the Rumdood link above. He has a lot of great info on the history of the Floridita. Might answer some of your questions.

The that Rumdood link confirms that it is in fact maraschino liqueur, not the juice from the candied cherries in Hemingway's daiquiri. For those who haven't tried it, maraschino liqueur has nothing to due with maraschino cherries. Maraschino liqueur is a clear, dry-ish liqueur made from Marasca cherries and includes the crushed pits in the distillation, which give it a subtle bitter almond flavor. The cherries are processed and distilled much like brandy, and later combined with a pure cane syrup before it is aged and filtered. Maraschino was a key ingredient in many 19th & early 20th century cocktails, Jerry Thomas' Bon Vivant's Companion & Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book are both filled with recipes calling for Marashino Liqueur. The liqueur fell somewhat out of favour in the post-war period and is currently enjoying a renaissance thanks to the rebirth of pre-prohibition cocktails. Luxardo is the gold-standard brand.

[ Edited by: CincyTikiCraig 2010-09-17 22:12 ]

I'm with you, CincyTikiCraig. I discovered maraschino liquor via Grog Log (Gone The Beachcomber is one of my all-time favorites). I'd also highly recommend the Demerera Dry Float from Intoxica. Finally got my hands on a bottle of Luxardo recently and it blows away the cheap brand I had been using.

I'm guessing that the Mai-Kai doesn't use maraschino, hence the sugar in their recipe.

More research and history of the Floridita Daiquiri are posted in The Mai-Kai cocktail guide on The Atomic Grog:

http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2012/02/24/mai-kai-cocktail-review-the-story-of-the-floridita-daiquiri-rivals-any-novel/

Okole maluna!

I'm thinking that in the 1950's, when the Mai-Kai opened, they probably used CUBAN Bacardi, not Havana Club.

Looking at the sister drink, the Derby Daiquiri, the original rum used was Don-Q from Puerto Rico. Actually, it still is the rum used today unless you ask for something special.

The Floridita Daiquiri a la Mai-Kai is an awesome drink; I think it works with either red or white grapefruit(when fresh). Funny how everyone mentions that Hemingway skipped the sugar cause he was a diabetic, considering that he once downed SIXTEEN of 'em in an evening! Can't say healthy living was a big concern, imho.

Thanks jokeiii, I should know my Cuban rum history being so close to Havana. If they had taught my old high school "Americanism vs. Communism" course with a few daiquiris, I might have a better recollection.

I meant to say that Cuban rum was likely used in the Floridita, and you're correct that in those days that meant the Bacardi brand. As for the Derby, I like to think that Cuban rum would have been used if not for the drink's ties to the Rums of Puerto Rico contest.

An interesting side story (this was related to Swanky by old Mai-Kai GM Bob Van Dorpe): The Thornton brothers used to very regularly head to Cuba on Fridays for the weekend. This left him with a lot of things to juggle in their absence, much to his annoyance. They had a chaffeur who was connected to the Batista regime, so they avoided any problems on these weekend jaunts.

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[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2012-02-27 21:29 ]

An interesting little factoid about Cuban rum is that the "white" rum was more like the equivalent to a reposado tequila, i.e. with a tiny bit of unfiltered age to it. When trying to replicate this at home, I usually mix white and gold rums 3:1.