Cuba Libre // Origin, History, & Drink Recipe // Bacardi Rum

It’s time to take you to bartending school kids. Do you like Bacardi & cokes as much as I do? Especially on warm days…or warm islands? This simple but great drink is also called a Cuba Libre in many other places. You should always call it a Cuba Libre so you can be cool…trust me. It will make you way cooler.

My favorite presentation of a Cuba Libre was in Rio De Janiero. The waiter brought to my table a glass of ice, an unopened can of coke, and a lime wedge on a knapkin. He then returned with the bottle of Bacardi, began pouring, and it was my job to cut him off, and determine how strong I wanted my drink. He then leaves, I open the coke can, and finish it off. In 105 degree heat, 1000% humidity, it was quite a lot of work for my refreshing beverage. But the 4 shots of rum in my drink quickly made me forget about the process. Nevertheless, it was obviously a memorable moment if I’m recounting it for you bunch of strangers.

Stories of the invention of the Cuba Libre vary. But the following story is according to Bacardi. I believe them because I easily believe anything anyone says.

The world’s second most popular drink was born in a collision between the United States and Spain. It happened during the Spanish-American War at the turn of the century when Teddy Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and Americans in large numbers arrived in Cuba. One afternoon, a group of off-duty soldiers from the U.S. Signal Corps were gathered in a bar in Old Havana. Fausto Rodriguez, a young messenger, later recalled that a captain came in and ordered Bacardi (Gold) rum and Coca-Cola on ice with a wedge of lime. The captain drank the concoction with such pleasure that it sparked the interest of the soldiers around him. They had the bartender prepare a round of the captain’s drink for them. The Bacardi rum and Coke was an instant hit. As it does to this day, the drink united the crowd in a spirit of fun and good fellowship. When they ordered another round, one soldier suggested that they toast ¡Por Cuba Libre! in celebration of the newly freed Cuba. The captain raised his glass and sang out the battle cry that had inspired Cuba’s victorious soldiers in the War of Independence.

Ingredients:

1 part Bacardi Rum

3 parts Cola

1 wedge of lime

Instructions:

Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in one part Barcardi rum (I suggest more), then top off with cola. Squeeze in a wedge of lime, stir, and start drinking. Oops, first you toast, and yell, “Por Cuba Libre!”