The Internet Travel Guide "Getting to Know Cuba"

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Cuba Libre

The world's most popular mixed drink was created during the Spanish-American war at the beginning of the 20th century.

Cuba libre

One afternoon, a group of soldiers gathered in a pub in the old town of Havana. A captain entered the bar and ordered Bacardi Rum with Coca Cola on ice with a slice of lemon. He seemed to enjoy this drink and the soldiers became curious. Therefore, they ordered a round of the captain's drink. During the next round, one soldier proposed a toast. "Por Cuba Libre," "Free Cuba" - to celebrate the Cuban Independence. The captain raised his voice and his glass and shouted the war cry that had motivated the triumphant Cubans during their War of Independence. "Cuba Libre," he shouted, "Cuba Libre" they shouted back. From this moment on, the former war cry, became a synonym for the mixture of rum and coke, and was the epitome of happiness and comradeship. Although Bacardi Rum and Coca Cola conquered the world on different routes, the combination of the two was soon to become the world's most popular mixed drink.


Daiquiri

After the Spanish-American War, an American mining engineer was so inspired by the Cuban sun that he invented a new refreshing drink. Jennings S. Cox was the leader of an American engineer group, which worked near a small Cuban village named Daiquiri. The working days were hot and sticky and with few comforts. To keep the people motivated, they paid princely wages. In addition, lodging and cigars were free and every engineer received a gallon of Bacardi.

Daiquiri

For hours, Cox experimented with enthusiasm on a drink made out of local ingredients and rum, which was to help him relax after a long working day in the mines. One evening, Cox announced to his colleagues that he had come up with a new creation. He showed them how to mix a drink with limejuice, sugar, crushed ice and rum in order to make a refreshing beverage. This new creation was a great success among his colleagues because it was not only delicious, but mild and thirst-quenching.

The original recipe

While Cox and his engineers where sitting at the bar of the Venus Hotel in Santiago de Cuba, drinking their new cocktail, they came up with the idea to give the cocktail the name "Daiquiri." Almost overnight, the cocktail became popular over the entire island. Wherever Cox went, he handed out a copy of his recipe to everyone he met. In no time, the barkeepers did not only follow his recipe but they modified the cocktail, creating Daiquiris based on fruit or mixed with mellow rums or heavy bodied rums.

A Daiquiri is mixed as followed:
6 cl Light-Dry
1 teaspoon of sugar
juice of two limes
crushed ice
Mix it in a shaker and strain it into a glass.
Enjoy!



Mojito

In the center of Cuba, where endless sugar cane plantations and rows of high-quality tobacco grow, another drink was created, that won the hearts of the people; mojito. This drink was once called "Draque," but in the middle of the 19th century, when Don Facundo Bacardi developed his charcoal-filtered rum, the draque recipe was changed. Now rum was added to the drink and it therefore acquired its new name?mojito. In the twenties, mojito became the unofficial Cuban national drink.

Mojito

A perfect mojito is made of squashed mint leaves (purists insist on using only the Cuban yerbabuena mint), sugar, limejuice, soda water, and light-dry rum. It is served in a tall cocktail glass to underline its clear color and its sweet and slightly bitter taste. There is also a mojito without sugar, which was created exclusively for Ernest Hemingway. Instead of sugar, this mojito is made with the Cuban sherry liquor, Gustos Maracino and a dash of grapefruit juice. The result is a very tasty, smooth mojito. In contrast to the distinguished daiquiri, the mojito was always a drink for everyone. The question of how to mix a perfect mojito is being discussed passionately among connoisseurs. Currently, the mojito celebrates a kind of worldwide renaissance. Although it is the oldest Cuban cocktail, it has lost nothing of its appeal.