#HMS Danae (D44)

[lonestarbattleship]

HMS Danae and HMS Repulse at Princes Pier, Melbourne, Australia.

Photographed by Allan C. Green.

Date: March 17, 1924

State Library of Victoria: 1016

[barinacraft]

Death In The Afternoon Cocktail [and Book]

A Deadly Potion?

When a drink is called Death In The Afternoon you'd probably think it has something to do with the Day Of The Dead celebrations or something haunted on Halloween. After all there are lots of zombies and assorted Halloween spooks rising from the dead and painted skulls like on these Day Of The Dead tequila bottles are associated with that occasion.

However, those assumptions would be wrong.

Its Really A Novel Drink

Death in the Afternoon is both an absinthe champagne cocktail and a book about Spanish bullfighting which were both created by author Ernest Hemingway in the 1930s. Actually, the cocktail was named after the book.

First, Let's Set The Tome

After immersing himself in the world of bullfighting during his trips to Spain in the early 1920s, where Pamplona and the bullfights held during the religious festival of San Fermín became the backdrop for some of The Sun Also Rises most memorable moments, Hemingway celebrates the history, meaning and magnificence of Spanish bullfighting in his 1932 non-fiction book Death In The Afternoon. Not only does he explore the ceremony and traditions of Spain's national sport, he also tries to explain it emotionally by contemplating the nature of fear and courage in his writing.

The chances are that the first bullfight any spectator attends may not be a good one artistically; for that to happen there must be good bullfighters and good bulls; artistic bullfighters and poor bulls do not make interesting fights, for the bullfighter who has ability to do extraordinary things with the bull which are capable of producing the intensest degree of emotion in the spectator but will not attempt them with a bull which he cannot depend on to charge...

Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor.

~ Ernest Hemingway, from Death in the Afternoon

Let's Let That Soak In A Moment

A few years later, along comes an invitation to concoct an original holiday drink recipe, along with lots of other literati, to be named after their books and bound together as part of a collection of celebrity cocktails.* Of course, Papa liked to party and couldn't pass up the chance to partake.

Hemingway's spirited submission came with the author's backstory of how it was formulated by himself and three Royal Navy officers of the HMS Danae, presumably while stationed in the British West Indies as part of the 8th Cruiser Squadron before the outbreak of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.† This was after the four of them had spent seven hours overboard trying to get Key West charter boat captain, and Ernest's friend, Edward ‘Bra’ Saunder's stranded fishing vessel off a bank after a northwest gale. No doubt they were thirsty after all that.

Behind The Bar - How To Make A Death In The Afternoon Drink At Home

Death In The Afternoon Cocktail Recipe:

1 ½ oz absinthe

3 - 4 oz champagne

Pour the absinthe into the bottom of a champagne flute. Then slowly top the glass with champagne.

Would you like to hear it straight from the author's mouth? Here's Hemingway's earnest instructions, waxed poetic, as only he could do:

Pour one jigger of absinthe into a champagne glass. Add iced champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness.‡ Drink three to five of these slowly.

~ Ernest Hemingway, from So Red The Nose

Follow his drinking quantity recommendations at your own risk though. As the editor notes, it takes a man with hair on his chest to drink five absinthe and champagne cocktails... adding that after six The Sun Also Rises.

Want A More Authentic Spanish Flair?

That probably depends on your perspective. Is Death In The Afternoon a nautically themed cocktail since it was created by sailors out at sea or is it more of a bullfighting drink because it was named after Hemingway's book on the subject?

If you think its the latter, then you may want to substitute some cava for the champagne. The generally more modestly priced cava, mostly from the Catalonia region of Spain, is a Spanish sparkling wine made in the same traditionnelle / champenoise method as the more famous French bubbly is. Its flavor profile will be similar too, especially if made with chardonnay or pinot noir grapes like champagne, but since cava “runs with the bulls,” its the real deal. Salud!

Feel like a book and a beverage from Hemingway's library bar?

Similar Drinks

American Rose Cocktail - brandy, champagne, grenadine and pastis garnished with a peach slice.

Bacardi Absinthe - champagne, maraschino liqueur, pastis and rum.

Earthquake Cocktail - cognac and absinthe.

Old Man & The Sea No. 2 - gin, absinthe, lemon juice, sugar syrup and champagne sprinkled with flakes of sea salt.

Orlena Cocktail - brandy, champagne, pastis, sugar and lemon twist.

Pick Me Up Hiball - brandy, champagne, orange curacao, oj and pastis.

Sea Captain's Special - champagne, pastis, rye whiskey, sugar and aromatic bitters.

The Sun Also Rises No. 2 - sloe gin, absinthe, lemon juice, simple syrup, Peychaud's bitters and champagne.

Other drinks that start with ‘D.’

References

* - Sterling North and Carl Kroch, SO RED THE NOSE or Breath in the Afternoon (New York: Farrar & Rinehart Inc., 1935), Cocktail Number 1. Print.

† - Various contributors. "HMS Danae (D44)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia Web. 24 May. 2017.

‡ - McGee, Harold “Trying to Clear Absinthe’s Reputation.” The New York Times January 2007.