the combination of rum and cola is among the simplest and most famous in the world and this is why Cuba Libre is so successful. 

The name of this long drink derives from the island of Cuba and the joy of its inhabitants who celebrated in the streets the liberation from Spain in 1898 obtained by fighting alongside the United States. American and Cuban soldiers used to mix cola with rum and, according to legend, a soldier asked for a cocktail with American coke, Cuban rum in a glass filled with ice and lime at the American Bar on Calle Nettuno and toasted "Por Cuba Free". The most accredited hypothesis is that it was born in Havana between 1900 and 1902 during the Spanish-American War precisely to unite two symbolic products of the two countries.

Ingredients:

White rum 5cl

Coca Cola 10cl

Lime juice 1cl

How to prepare: 

Pour the ice into a tall tumbler to cool it and drain the excess water. Add the rum, cola and lime juice to the glass and mix. Serve with a slice of lime.

Tips and variations

The Cuba Libre fluctuates between 20 and 30 degrees but the trick to obtaining a perfect cocktail is to perfectly adjust the doses in the highball glass so as not to unbalance the flavor of the long drink too much. 

If you are looking for a sweeter flavour, add half a lime cut into four parts, replace the lime juice with lemon juice and add two teaspoons of cane sugar to obtain a crushed cuba libre. In another variant, called Cubotto, the cola, however, is replaced with chinotto.