Connoisseurs of the cocktail will be intoxicated (figuratively, of course!) by the upcoming presentation at the Key West Art & Historical Society. On Thursday, February 11, from 6:00pm-7:00pm, the Society welcomes the public to the Helmerich Research & Learning Center at the Custom House for “Hemingway’s Favorite Drinks: His Days in the Gulf Stream,” a presentation by Philip Greene, attorney, writer, cocktail historian, and co-founder of the Museum of the American Cocktail.

An authority on the drinks of Ernest Hemingway, Greene has presented on this topic for many events and institutions including the Hemingway Home in Key West, the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center. He will offer an evening of anecdotes, excerpts and delicious drinks from the pages of Hemingway’s novels, short stories, letters and more. His entertaining PowerPoint presentation will leave attendees thirsty for more, revealing vintage photos, folklore, and the recipes behind the drinks Hemingway loved so much.

“In addition to being a world-traveling bon vivant, Hemingway used food and drink to convey an additional layer of complexity and depth to his prose,” says Greene. “So if the story took place in Key West, or Cuba, or Italy or Spain, his characters were likely to be enjoying drinks from that locale. Further, he described the drink, the way it tasted, how it made the character feel, etc., in a way I’ve never seen in any other writer. This excerpt from Islands in the Stream is a good example:”

Thomas Hudson took a sip of the ice-cold drink that tasted of the fresh green lime juice mixed with the tasteless coconut water that was still so much more full-bodied than any charged water, strong with the real Gordon’s gin that made it alive to his tongue and rewarding to swallow, and all of it tautened by the bitters that gave it color. It tastes as good as a drawing sail feels, he thought. It is a hell of a good drink. The cork glass-holder kept the ice from melting and weakening the drink and he held it fondly in his hand and looked at the country as they drove into town.

Greene’s book To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion has received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast, Garden & Gun, Kirkus Reviews, HuffingtonPost.com, and many others, and remains a best seller in its category. He is also a Brand Ambassador and consultant for the Hemingway Rum Co., and their new line of award-winning rums under the Papa’s Pilar brand, which is building a distillery in Key West on Greene Street.

“Hemingway’s Favorite Drinks: His Days in the Gulf Stream” is sponsored by The Helmerich Trust, Key West Marriott Beachside Hotel and the Marion Stevens Fund and is part of the organization’s Distinguished Speaker Series, a twice-monthly program that highlights the abundant history and cultural assets of our islands through informal lectures.

Tickets are available at through KWAHS.ORG/LEARN; $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers. For more information, contact Adele Williams, Programs & Education Director at 305.295.6616 x 115 or visit KWAHS.ORG. Your Museums. Your Community. It takes an Island.