26 Jul Hemingway Drinks: Bailey Cocktail Recipe

Hemingway Drinks: Bailey Cocktail Recipe

We’re spending this week celebrating the larger than life exploits of one of the brightest stars in the drinkers’ constellation by sharing five of our favorite recipes from Philip Greene’s To Have and Have Another, a tour of the drinks from Ernest Hemingway’s life and writings. We hope our teaser inspires you to read the whole thing, a fun and fascinating read and drink.

Last summer, we spent a glorious week in Antibes, a wonderful little medieval town on a cape between Nice and Cannes. Little did we know that we were following in the footsteps of giants. When he lived in Paris in the 20s, Hemingway would slip down to Antibes for the summer in the company of a few friends, like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso. The center of the Antibes crowd were Gerald and Sara Murphy, famous for their dinner parties and the cocktail hours that came before.

Hemingway is well-known for his macho approach to cocktails. For instance, he liked his Daiquiris to be double-sized, and without sugar; and he was obsessed by making his martinis ice-cold and super dry, at 15 gin:1 vermouth proportions. It was a surprise, therefore, to discover that he had a soft spot as well for rather delicate, somewhat light cocktails of which this Gerald Murphy creation is a great example.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1 tsp simple syrup (optional)
• 2 sprigs of mint, 1 for garnish

Instructions

• Break the first sprig of mint leaves into the bottom of a mixing glass.
• Add the gin, and let the mint steep in the gin for a minute or two.
• Add the juices and simple syrup.
• Fill with ice to the level of the liquid.
• Stir vigorously, long enough to chill but not so long that you get too much dilution.
• Strain into a cocktail glass.
• Garnish with the second mint sprig.