Old Cuban Cocktail

1/2 Lime (to yield 1/2 oz of juice)
scant 3/4 oz Simple Syrup
1 sprig Mint Leaf
1.5 oz Bacardi 8 Year Rum
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 splash Champagne (good domestic or French non-vintage)

Chill Champagne saucer. Cut lime into 3-4 pieces. Mull lime, simple syrup, and mint sprig in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Try to mostly mull the mint stem and not the leaves. Add ice, rum, and bitters. Shake and strain into Champagne saucer--you should strain out the mint stem. Top with a splash of Champagne.

Ingredient Profile

Details

Servings 1
Category Tall Sour
Family
Structure
Attributes Aperitif, Caribbean, Muddled, Pretty
Proof 33.1
Strength 1.1 standard drinks
Flavors Herbal, Lime, Spearmint
Glass Champagne Saucer
Temperature Cold

Notes

You can think of this drink as a dressed up or fancy Mojito. It really is a fantastic drink. Sipping it, I imagine I'm at an old sugar plantation house on St. Kitt's looking out at a beautifully manicured lawn.

Watch the amount of syrup that you use. I found just less than 3/4 oz balanced well with brut Champagne. If you use a sweeter Champagne, you may want to reduce the syrup.

You can also try bar sugar instead of syrup. It will abrade the lime skins a little to release more of the oil (granulated will abrade even more, but will need more mulling to dissolve).

This drink has a color similar to Paulaner Hefe-Weizen beer--an orange hue. Little bits of mint will be floating in it, too.

If you don't have a Champagne saucer, a tulip or small wine glass will work.

This drink was invented by Audrey Saunders, a student of Dale DeGroff.