In short
The Cuba Libre is one of the best-known mixed drinks in the world. On the one hand because of its widely available ingredients and simple recipe, and on the other because of the myth that formed around its origin and meaning. It’s also still a very popular choice at our mobile cocktail bar—so it’s worth taking a closer look at the background and how this classic among highballs came to be.
Prerequisites: rum, sugar, and Coca-Cola
Sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, rum and Coca-Cola must have found their way together in Cuba—and the drink must have acquired its name, “Cuba Libre”. Cuba was a Spanish colony and, over the course of the 19th century, became the world’s largest producer of sugar. The by-product of sugar production from sugarcane—molasses—was increasingly used to produce rum, creating an additional lucrative business.
Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton, originally as a remedy for headaches.1 He sold the rights in 1887 to the pharmaceutical wholesaler Asa Griggs Candler, who founded The Coca-Cola Company in 1892 and marketed the product in the U.S. and, from 1896 onward, in neighboring countries. From around 1900, Coca-Cola is said to have been available in Cuba as well.
Historical context: Cuba, Spain, and the United States
From the mid-19th century onward, there were repeated attempts in Cuba to break free from Spanish colonial rule. It was only the U.S. intervention in 18982—driven more by power politics and economic interests than by the liberation of the Cuban people—that brought an end to the occupation. The result was Cuba’s official independence, which in practice still meant economic and military dependence on the United States.
That’s the set of prerequisites and the historical backdrop in which the Cuba Libre is said to have emerged. Now let’s take a closer look at the associated myths and stories.
The most common story: soldiers and a toast
Most commonly, you’ll read that the Cuba Libre was created by American soldiers after Cuba was freed from Spanish rule. The soldiers brought Coca-Cola with them and mixed it with local rum. Supposedly, they toasted the successful mix with “por Cuba Libre” (“for a free Cuba”)—and that’s how the drink got its name.
In 1965, Fausto Rodriguez claimed that in 1900, as a 14-year-old messenger for an American officer in Cuba, he witnessed the first Cuba Libre being mixed and named.3 Unfortunately, at the time of his statement, Fausto Rodriguez worked in Bacardi’s advertising department—right when Bacardi had entered into a partnership with Coca-Cola :-)
A document from 1898—and what it implies
A historical document suggests that the name “Cuba Libre” was used for a drink even before 1900. In the Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) issue from December 1, 1898, a visit by a Cuban administration to Washington is described, and a cocktail named “Cuba Libre” was reportedly served at the reception.4 In Cuba, a drink made from rum, molasses, and water is said to have been known under the name Cuba Libre among Cuban rebels.
Our conclusion: the “official” or most widely repeated version—that American soldiers invented the Cuba Libre from rum and Coca-Cola in 1900—doesn’t hold up particularly well and is likely more the result of Bacardi’s marketing campaign in the 1960s.
What is documented is the existence of the name for a mixed drink by 1898—and it seems likely that Cuban freedom fighters were already toasting “free Cuba” with alcohol in the mid-19th century. The rest of the story is the unique success of a soft drink and its triumph around the globe.
Highballs, Prohibition, and the “little lie”
Coca-Cola is simply excellent for mixing and works with all sorts of spirits. The highball5—which became increasingly popular in the early 20th century—was therefore often mixed with Coca-Cola as well. During Prohibition (1920–1933), Americans celebrated the freedom to drink in Cuba; in the 1940s the Andrews Sisters sang about “Rum and Coca Cola”; and Cubans who were driven into exile after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 celebrated the Cuba Libre in the U.S. as mentirita (“little lie”), while in Cuba it was seen as a symbol of liberation from dictatorship—though no longer mixed with Coca-Cola, but with the Cuban TuKola instead.
And then there’s lime
Today, lime is a fixed part of a Cuba Libre, but it’s never mentioned in the drink’s early years. Sometime during the 1920s/30s, it must have found its way into the glass. Citrus was also used with other highballs as an addition or garnish—whether as a zest, a wheel, or a wedge in or on the glass.
If you add the juice of a quarter to half a lime (instead of letting a single wedge simply float), the acidity rounds out the drink beautifully and acts as a bridge between the sweetness of Coca-Cola and the alcoholic character of the rum base.
Which brings us back to the classic success formula for mixed drinks: base, acidity & sweetness.
Our recipe
- 4–6 cl Cuban golden rum (e.g., Havana Club 3y)
- Juice of half a lime
- Coca-Cola
- Garnish: a lime wedge
If you feel like experimenting, you can try a Cuba Libre with different rums (e.g., a dark, aged Jamaican rum), add a few drops of Angostura bitters, vary the cola, or add mint.
If we can’t welcome you at our mobile cocktail bar soon to mix you a Cuba Libre, we’ll raise a glass to you in spirit: “Por Cuba Libre”.
Your moving bars team