Tuesday, September 8, 2026

hemingway's ruin

2 oz Caña Brava Rum (Hamilton's White 'Stache)
1 1/2 oz Don's Mix (1 oz Grapefruit Juice + 1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass.
Two Tuesdays, it was time to dispatch my garnish grapefruit into juice and begin what turned into a series of five grapefruit cocktails. The first one I started with was Hemingway's Ruin from Golden Tiki in Las Vegas that I uncovered through online recipe flashcards for their inaugural menu in 2015. Eater wrote about the drink in an article about the bar opening with, "Don's Mix, composed of cinnamon and grapefruit, is added to Caña Brava rum, Maraschino liquor, and lime juice to create a delicious Hemingway [Daiquiri] variation." A Reddit post about the bar in 2019 contained a photo of the drink, and the current menu has the rums as Hamilton White 'Stache and St. Lucia White Rum given that Caña Brava has been discontinued since 2019. For the rum, I went with an adaptation of the modern version with White 'Stache alone. In the glass, Hemingway's Ruin ushered in a nutty cherry and cinnamon aroma. Next, lime, grapefruit, and light cherry notes on the sip cascaded into rum, nutty cherry, and cinnamon flavors on the swallow.
posted by frederic at 8:00 AM
ingredients: , , , ,

1 comment:

Chris B., Santa Fe said...

No Hamilton White 'Stache, and rather than go with a run-of-the-mill white rum I used a blend (couldn't make up my mind) of Neisson Rhum Agricole Blanc and J.M Rhum Rhum Agricole Blanc. This makes it more complex than a daiquiri variant, which is what I was after. In lieu of cinnamon syrup I soaked a cinnamon stick in the white rums while squeezing the lime, and sweetened the drink with agave syrup. Would also be good, and different, with my homemade unsweetened pimento dram and agave syrup. It's pretty big so I served it in tiki mugs on the rocks.

September 15, 2026 at 10:13 PM

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