Cuba Libre

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Cuba Libre

There’s this little… thing… that some bartenders, like myself who are from a certain generation do, and I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why we do it. And it’s probably going to sound super weird to you at first, but hopefully by the end of this piece you’ll be convinced and might even want to try it for yourself. What is it? Well, I put a splash of gin in my Cuba Libre.

Okay. So while the most bartenders will tell you that a Cuba Libre is just a Rum and Coke with lime, I’m going to disagree with that dismissive statement and try to convince you that the Cuba Libre can be elevated to new heights by the addition of gin. Here goes nothing.

The Cuba Libre was reportedly created sometime during the Spanish-American war, when America was helping Cuba fight for its independence from Spain. Coca-Cola was a hot new beverage in the States, limes practically grew on trees, and Cuban rum was actually available to Americans. (Yes, this was quite some time ago.) The Cuban and American soldiers toasted the future of a free Cuba (Cuba Libre) with their new concoction, which they drank and drank.

After Prohibition, when rum was again (legally) plentiful in this country and Americans had a fever for all things Carribean, the Cuba Libre enjoyed widespread success. The drink even spawned a hit song by the Andrews Sisters, which helped further the public’s awareness of this hot new drink:

If you ever go down Trinidad
They make you feel so very glad
Calypso sing and make up rhyme
Guarantee you one real good fine time

Drinkin’ rum and Coca-Cola
Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter
Workin’ for the Yankee dollar

But there was trouble in paradise, as some folks weren’t too enamoured with the drink’s syrupy-sweetness. Charles H. Baker writes about the drink on page 27 of his Gentleman’s Companion of 1939:

The only trouble with the drink is that it started by accident and without imagination, has been carried along by the ease of its supply. Under any condition it is too sweet.

Hand Painted Coke Sign

Not too worry, however, the ever-opinionated Baker offers a solution:

The improved Cuba Libre consists of 1 big jigger of Carta de Oro Bacardi, the juice of 1 small green lime, and the lime peel after squeezing. Put in a Tom Collins glass, muddle well to get oil worked up over sides of the glass, add lots of ice lumps, and fill up with a bottle of chilled coca cola. Stir up once, and salud y pesetas!

Sure. Drink’s too sweet, so let’s add a bunch of fucking lime juice and muddle the peel so the bitterness overpowers everything. It’s a nice thought, but an amateur move. How about we try something a little more elegant?

Paul Harrington, in his 1998 book Cocktail – The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century also grappled with the sweetness of the drink, and laid part of the blame on the now-sanitized formula of Coca-Cola…

Coca-Cola no longer contains exotic ingredients, but we’re still convinced that the soda made in South America tastes better than that mixed elsewhere.

…and offered his own gin-spiked solution:

Whenever we consider the Cuba Libre our best option at a given bar, we remind ourselves that this drink was once viewed as exotic, with its dark syrup – made, at that time from kola nuts and cocaine. A few American drinkers had hoped that this wonder … would go on to compete with the great bitters of Europe. The drink, when worth drinking, contains 2 to 3 ounces of the new far from exotic soda, the juice and hull of ¼ lime, 1 ounce of rum, 2 dashes of bitters, and ½ ounce of gin. (The last two ingredients are our own additions.)

An elegant solution, with an eye on former production methods, an attentiveness to modern palates and a sharp degree of sophistication. Take that, Baker.

Isidro Gutiérrez, a bartender at Town at the Chambers Hotel in New York City, offered up a strikingly similar recipe to the New York Times in 2002:

Mr. Gutiérrez cites a 1952 article from a Cuban newspaper suggesting that some turn-of-the-century Cubans drank a Cuba Libre with a decidedly different kick, one including cocoa beans, gin, bitters and a splash of cocaine. (In its early days, Coca-Cola also contained trace amounts of cocaine.)

So Mr. Gutiérrez, who fancies himself something of a drink historian, decided to bring back that type of Cuba Libre — minus the cocaine, of course. He also dropped the cocoa beans after he discovered they were a bit too bitter.

As a side note, I would like to remind you, the reader, that gin and white rum have a very similar flavor profile, an as an experiment suggest you try substituting white rum for gin in your favorite gin cocktails. You’ll find that a whole new world of interesting (and yes, potentially disgusting) mixological options awaits you.

Cuba Libre (Harrington's Proportions) Print Me

  • 2-3 oz/60-90 ml Coca-Cola
  • 1 oz/30 ml rum
  • ½ oz/15 ml London dry gin
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters (Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Bitters are super good here, too)
  • 1/4 lime
  1. Mix the Coca-Cola, rum and gin in a highball glass.
  2. Add the bitters and squeeze in the juice from the lime, dropping the hull in the glass.
  3. Top up with ice and serve.

Recipe printed courtesy of jeffreymorgenthaler.com

21 Replies to “Cuba Libre”

  • Tais Larsen says:

    So, I know this is an old post but have you ever considdered boiling down the Cola to use as a syrup instead of as a mixer? I have been fooling around with it and found some of the results really nice. I might try this recipe but in a cocktailglas with cola syrup instead.

  • joe says:

    had a 1.75 bottle of Beefeaters i wanted to put a dent in awhile back, browsing my local market i saw Blue Sky Ginseng Cola & the idea of some sweet spice w/the herb of Beefeaters sounded worth a try… i liked it A LOT (on the rocks) just occcurred to me to investigate gin+coke online, since i hadn’t heard it ordered here in NCali… great post! never cared for Cuba Libres, now i know what they’re missing 🙂

  • Ziggy says:

    Tried this and found it grows on you. Used Gordons Gin, Angostora Bitters and Flor de Caña Rum. At first the smell of the bitters and gin seemed out of place with the Rum and Coke. But after finishing the first I found I had an appetite for another. A spiced rum would probably mesh better. Gonna try the next one with tonic instead of soda. Would have never thought that gin would work well with rum. Good Idea.

  • Glad you enjoyed the cocktail, Debra!

  • Debra says:

    We had this drink at a friend’s house last weekend, and it was such a hit (i.e. no one wanted to move onto wine) that I’m making it for guests tonight. Mmm.

  • Dominik MJ says:

    I really don’t want to spoil this party! And I admit that it could really work…

    But mixing two different spirits together doesn’t sound right to me…

    Any how, very nice background story Mr. Morgenthaler!

    Was again a quite successful Mixology Monday – and I am looking forward to the next one, hosted by you!

    Cheers!

    Dominik MJ

  • Scottes says:

    All this talk of rum and coke really makes me want to experiment… I’ll get to it soon, I hope.

  • Dan says:

    I tried this tonight with some Cruzan and it was a refreshing change from my usual Cubra Libre recipe, made with gold rum and a little extra lime juice.

    I’ll be making this version more often!

  • Dr. Bamboo, I’d recommend Fee Brothers’ Aromatic Bitters or Angostura. As for rum, I’m sure some of these people have some suggestions. Sounds like Havana Club is a big hit!

  • Dood says:

    I think I’ve found a new way back into the arms of my long-forgotten bottle of Tanqueray in the back of the liquor cabinet!

    Thanks for the tip…

  • Marleigh says:

    As always, a fun and enlightening post. If I had any Coke in the house, I’d go home and try this tonight!

    Sidebar: Thoughts on how Mexican (cane sugar) Coke would work in the rum-gin Cuba Libre formulation?

  • Rum loves cloves: (Falernum, Coca-Cola). I like to have guests sample tiny sips of Stroh 80 with a Coke back. The clove and spice of the Coca-Cola jump out and marry with the butterscotch aftertaste of the Stroh wonderfully.

  • Kevin says:

    I tried this drink twice tonight so far, once with my Havana Club Blanco that I am nursing (after all, I can’t buy more in the States), and once with plain old bacardi, and I have to admit, I like the bacardi better. Saves me from going through my Havana Club too!

    I find the addition of the gin is very nice and makes it taste like I’m using a decent aged rum when I’m really not. I approve.

  • Dr. Bamboo says:

    Any particular rum or bitters you’d recommend?

  • Dan says:

    Might I add, I’ve always used spiced rum in my cuba libres. It just seems to work better with the lime and the coke…

  • Dan says:

    I like to push Cuba Libres on my guests as an alternative to the standard college rum and coke that consists of a couple ounces of rum and an entire can of coke. Bleh.

    I’m trying this variation tonight.

  • I can’t wrap my brain around a Tanqueray Mai Tai right now, Modern Serf, so you’ll have to try that one out and let me know.

    But how about a Singapore Sling made with rum? I’ve made Alexander cocktails with white rum and can testify that they’re delicious.

  • Sarah says:

    Rum and tonic is good, so your theory works here.

  • the modern serf says:

    does that work the other way around? i.e. should i make a mai tai with tanqueray?

  • Anita says:

    We wrote about a Gin & Coke drink last year about this time and I feel like some folks have never forgiven us!

    http://marriedwithdinner.com/2006/12/22/dotw-la-orpez/

    Now I feel (at least partially) vindicated. 😀

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