Old Cuban Cocktail
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
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.