Cuba Libre

Don't say it's "just a Rum and Coke" because it's more than that. It's easy enough to mix up Rum and Coke, but adding a bit of lime juice and presenting this cocktail in a lovely fashion sets it apart. Not just something to pour down your throat, the Cuba Libre is a nice and refreshing drink.

While it's not known exactly when the Cuba Libre was invented, it came about some time in the early 1900's when Cuba was liberated from Spain. This is around the time when there was a high U.S. presence on the island and bottled Coca-Cola was first imported. It wasn't going to take long before people started putting some rum in there!

Enjoy.

Total Time 3

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

60 mL White Rum
120 mL Cola
1 Lime

Instructions

Juice half the lime and put it in a tall glass.
Cut the remaining half a lime into two wedges and drop it in your glass.
Fill glass with ice.
Pour in Rum and Cola. Stir gently.
Enjoy.

Notes

As mentioned, this cocktail is a little more than a boring Rum and Coke. The addition of Lime adds a little bit more action to this drink, so don't leave it out (otherwise you'll be stuck with a Rum and Coke). Sure there's more exciting cocktails out there though, but the Cuba Libre has been around for awhile for a reason.

Our Review of the Cuba Libre

It already says it at the beginning of this recipe, and I agree, don’t just call a Cuba Libre a Rum and Coke. A Rum and Coke implies mediocre rum tossed into a glass with some Coke without much thought. Although a Rum and Coke is technically a cocktail, I’m going to take a risk here and say that a Cuba Libre is more of a cocktail. Take care when making a Cuba Libre and a Cuba Libre will take care of you. Use fresh lime and it’s all the better.

While your typical Cuba Libre recipe calls for a white rum, I like to change it up depending on what I’m in the mood for. Rum is a diverse class of spirits with so many different flavours, it’s worth exploring with cola.

While you’re at it with a nicer rum, why not try making a Cuba Libre with a nicer cola, not just Coke. Make a Cuba Libre with nicer ingredients and like it’s a really high end cocktail and it becomes something extremely interesting and enjoyable to drink.

Or yeah, just whack some cheap rum in with some coke and call it a day, your choice.

Obviously I enjoy a Cuba Libre, but, kind of as implied, it’s much better with quality ingredients, and the flavour can change quite a lot depending on what you’re using. These days cola isn’t limited to just Coke or Pepsi. Instead people can get all sorts of small batch colas from different manufacturers. And these more “craft” colas have more subtle and complex flavours than the mass produced ones. And those show up in your cocktail.

The same goes for rum. A white rum with a great cola can go very well, but it can be interesting to try combining a darker rum with a more subtly flavoured cola. There’s a lot that you can do. In this way, the Cuba Libre becomes like a Gin and Tonic. Yes, it’s still a simple cocktail, but there are a myriad of fancy tonic and gin combinations to create something unique each time. Do that with the Cuba Libre.

7.5/10

Review by Emily

This site is full of cocktail recipes, so keep on browsing

The Cuba Libre is so easy to make, you’re probably already done making it. While you enjoy it, why not take a look around our website to see what other cocktails you can whip up:

Top 10 Rum cocktail recipes: keep your Rum out, because this is our favourite Rum cocktail recipes. You’ll be sure to find something great there.

All Rum cocktail recipes: if you didn’t agree with our top ten, why not take a look at our other cocktail recipes. There’s tons of good stuff in there.

All White Rum cocktail recipes: if it’s just White Rum you’re interested in, we also have a bunch of recipes that are just White Rum. Have fun.

All simple cocktail recipes: or if you’re just after whipping up something easy, check out easy cocktail recipes section.