The Cocktail King Of Cuba: The Man Who Invented Hemingway's Favorite Daiquiri
Earning a spot on the author's list of most beloved drinks was no small feat. But bartender Constantino Ribalaigua, of Havana's now 200-year-old El Floridita, created a still-legendary cocktail.
Ernest Hemingway liked to get up early.
He did his best writing in the morning, standing in front of his typewriter, plucking the keys as fast as the words might come to him. This was fortunate, because by 11 a.m., the Havana heat began to creep into his rented room at the Hotel Ambos Mundos. He couldn't think in the swelter, much less write.
If the trade winds were good, Hemingway might make his way to Havana Harbor, where his boat, Pilar, was docked in the 1930s. But on other days, he would take the ornate caged elevator down from Room 511 to the lobby and make his way out to the sun-speckled street. It was just a 10-minute stroll, Hemingway's favorite bar.
