A Cuban Love Affair with Rum Cocktails
Almost every Caribbean island has an interesting history of rum production, and proudly produces its own brands. A document discovered in Barbados dated 1651 read: “The chief fuddling they make in the island is Rumbullion, alias Kill-Divil, and this is made of sugar canes distilled, a hot, hellish, and terrible liquor.” This essay focuses on the connection of the Caribbean island of Cuba to three iconic cocktails arising from this long Caribbean love affair with that ‘hellish and terrible’ liquor, rum.
The Mojito
Interestingly, sugarcane isn’t native to the Caribbean. Columbus brought it to the climatically-suited islands from South Asia. Sugarcane production became successful and it spread to almost every Caribbean island. On Cuba, colonists established a working sugar mill in 1595. And as might be expected, sugarcane workers were soon making liquors they named Aguardiente de Cana and Cachaça from fermented sugarcane juice. It was a medicinal use of the Aguardiente that may have led to the ancestor of the modern Mojito cocktail. The subject of cocktail ancestry sets the imagination in motion, and as it mixes with history, another tale of the Chronicles of Cocktail Connections unfolds.
The year was 1573, and a young Englishman hurried purposefully along a beach of the Isthmus of Panama. Francis Drake, called ‘El Draque’ by the Spanish, was returning to Nombre de Dios, the gold and silver shipping town that he and his men had recently captured. He was flushed with excitement, but physically his stomach was reacting adversely to the tropical climate. On his way to his quarters, he passed his cousin Richard.
“Welcome back, Cousin,” greeted Richard. “How went your travel inland?”
“My god, Richard! It was amazing. After two days on rainforest trails, my native guides led me to a tall tree that allowed me to clamber up to the top of the canopy. Looking west, my eyes beheld a vast beautiful new ocean on which we can hope to sail one day. It was a glorious sight. I should be filled with the joy of discovery. But, I am sadly distracted by a lingering bout of some intestinal malady. I must retire to my bed.”
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that, Francis. Go rest, but I will visit you soon, as I may have the very thing to help ease your pain.”
Richard hurried off to the area of their encampment reserved for food preparation. There, he kept the ingredients for making a medicinal drink. Several escaped slaves had joined their crew when the ship was anchored off Havana, and had brought the mix onboard. He went to work, mixing well-defined proportions of sugar, juice from small locally grown limes, crushed mint leaves, and a distilled beverage the locals called Aguardiente de Cana, or fire water of the sugar cane.
He quickly returned to his cousin’s quarters. “Sit up and drink this, Francis. It is a local potion that brings fire to the heart and soothing to the belly.”
An hour later, Drake emerged from his room and sought out his cousin. “By the grace of God, Richard, it is a miracle. I feel so much better. What do they call this elixir?”
Richard smiled. Pleased that he could aid his cousin and captain. “They call it Mojito, which means to cast a little spell.”
“Well, it is a great spell you have cast upon me. I feel ready and eager to return to good old England, to report news of our victories and discoveries!”
We now know that the lime juice of that elixir was the helpful ingredient, but the others surely made it far more palatable! Not coincidentally, a drink named ‘El Draque’ using very similar ingredients became popular in Cuba after that time. Later, plantation slaves discovered that they could ferment the molasses by-product of sugar production and produce another alcohol. Distillation of this alcoholic byproduct produced the first modern rums. Over time, that rum would replace the aguardiente of the early Mojito. And, although carbonated water would be added to the drink later, the basic Mojito remains nearly the same today.
When Prohibition went into effect, many Americans chose to visit Cuba to legally drink. It wasn’t far, the weather was beautiful, and there was plenty of legal rum waiting for consumption. It was during this time that many Havana bars, including El Floridita and Sloppy Joes, became hangouts for the rich and famous. La Bodeguita del Medio, another famous Havana bar, opened later in 1942, but likewise attracted some of the most important artists, journalists, and writers of the time. It is La Bodeguita that claims to be the birthplace of the modern Mojito.
The Daiquiri
The Daiquiri’s history is not quite so old. However, its story of origin and evolution is just as colorful, and perhaps a little more clearly defined. Daiquiri Beach is famous for being the point of American invasion of Cuba in the 10-week Spanish-American War in 1898. But it is more famous for being the source of the name given to a drink by an American engineer named Jennings Cox. Cox signed and dated a recipe card for the drink in 1896, when he and his fellow mining engineers were working for an iron mine near Daiquiri Beach.
The drink likely just evolved naturally, because all of its ingredients were locally readily available. But, some say that the group of American mining engineers invented the cocktail in a bar named Venus in Santiago, about 23 miles east of the mine. Other stories persist that Cox himself invented the rum drink when he ran out of gin while entertaining guests. In any case, the name Daiquiri was hung on that tasty early mixture of rum, lime juice, and sugar.
Bartenders in Cuba picked up on the recipe. And, for a time, the Daiquiri remained only locally available. In 1909, however, naval medical officer Lucius W. Johnson brought the tasty cocktail to the Army and Navy Club in Washington DC. It became so popular and influential there that the club named a second floor room after it, The Daiquiri Lounge. That popularity spread rapidly throughout the States, particularly after Prohibition, when rum cocktails and Tiki culture flourished. Tiki historian, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, has said that the Daiquiri is the foundation of all tropical drinks. He concluded that all Tiki drinks are complicated versions of the Daiquiri.
Then, there is the Daiquiri’s Hemingway connection. Ernest Hemingway may have been the king of all writer-drinkers. He traveled extensively, and wherever he was, he seemed most at home on a barstool. “Don’t bother with churches, government buildings or city squares,” he once said. “If you want to know about a culture, spend a night in its bars.” And, Cuba was one of his favorite places.
While living in Cuba, Hemingway spent many hours at the famous El Floridita Bar. It was there that he developed his love affair with the Daiquiri. There is a tale of him having put away 17 double Daiquiris in one Floridita evening drinking session. His fondness for this cocktail led him to immortalize them in his novel, Islands in the Stream. Part of the novel is set in a Havana bar where main character Thomas Hudson enjoys double, sugarless Daiquiris served by a bartender named Pedrico. Hemingway’s own documented preference for making a Daiquiri that way, once again wakes the imagination to embellish history in another page from the Chronicles of Cocktail Connections.
Ernest Miller ‘Papa’ Hemingway preferred to do his writing in the cooler morning hours. Today was no exception. He had worked hard all morning on his latest novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and was leaving his room at the Hotel Ambos Mundos in Havana, Cuba for a late afternoon walk.
It was March of 1939, and Hemingway was alone, having recently separated from his second wife, Pauline. He had sailed across to Havana from his home in Key West on his 38-foot fishing boat, Pilar. Now, when he wasn’t writing, he was usually either fishing on his boat or hanging out in some of the local watering holes enjoying a cocktail or six.
Today, he just wanted to take a leisurely stroll to a favorite place, and enjoy the wonderful ambiance of Havana along the way. He headed north for a couple blocks, pausing in the plaza, as he always did, to admire the sunlit Cathedral of Saint Christopher. The afternoon light was turning the twin white bell towers of the nearly 200-year-old church various shades of pink and red. Turning west on Empedrado, he passed by the spot where 3 years later he would enter La Bodeguita del Medio and savor its mojito. Shops and restaurants beckoned as he walked. However, he had another objective.
He stopped a few blocks further to view the main purpose of his walk, a statue of another writer. A bronze Miguel de Cervantes, regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language, stared down at him from a seated writing position. Hemingway had become enamored with Spain ever since his recent time covering the Spanish Civil War as a newspaper correspondent. In fact, his current novel in progress was centered on the brutality of that conflict. While in Spain, he immersed himself in its culture and customs, and naturally he was drawn to Spain’s most famous writer. After enjoying the small Cervantes Park for nearly an hour, he smiled with inspirational satisfaction and continued down the Avenida.
A short while later, the unmistakable sounds of cocktail enjoyment spilling forth from the entrance of a pink block building in front of him jarred him from his thoughts. The sign read Floridita, and as a few customers exited the restaurant/bar, he overheard their praise of the Daiquiri cocktails within.
Hemingway was looking for a restroom anyway, and needed no further invitation for entering this quaint bar. It was la ‘happy hour’ after all. After seeing to his business, he took a seat at the bar. He addressed the bartender. “Buenos tardes, señor. My name is Ernest, but people call me Papa. I seem to have a yearning thirst for one of your house Daiquiris.”
Constantino Ribalaigua, the Floridita owner and most well-known cantinero in Havana knew who Hemingway was without the introduction. He quickly produced the requested Daiquiri, and before long they were deep in a mixological discussion.
As Hemingway finished his drink, he said with pleasure, “I have to say, Constantino, your Daiquiri is one tasty cocktail. I thoroughly enjoyed your addition of maraschino and grapefruit. However, I do love my drinks a bit stronger and less sweet. Could I be so bold as to have my next one with twice the rum and no sugar.”
Constantino was thrilled to have the world-renowned author feeling so comfortable in his Floridita, so was not offended by Hemingway’s rearranging his recipe. ‘For you, Papa, I will make a new Hemingway special…double the rum, no sugar.”
The rest is history, as Hemingway completed For Whom the Bell Tolls, bought his house Finca Vingia (lookout house) outside Havana, and lived in Cuba for the next 21 years. Constantino renamed his Hemingway special the Papa Doble, and Floridita became famous and known as La Cuna del Daiquiri, the cradle of the Daiquiri.
The Cuba Libre
Although it is refreshing and tasty, Rum and Coke might be called a lazy drink, because of its two-ingredient ease of preparation. In our younger days, we might have tried Captain Morgan and cola as one of the first “get our feet wet” cocktails. And, it is a red-solo-cup simple drink of all-inclusive beachside resorts, free happy hours at chain motels, and college dorm parties.
However, the Rum and Coke began its existence over a century ago in Cuba as a Cuba Libre. The expression “Cuba libre” is old. Cubans adopted that “Free Cuba” cry in support of their cause while they fought for independence from Spain. During the Ten Years War (1868-1878), soldiers would sip a drink they called Cuba Libre, a mix of honey or molasses, water and rum.
The modern version of the drink appeared in Cuba in the early 1900s. After the Spanish American War, the heavy American presence in Cuba resulted in Coca-Cola importing its products. History is cloudy regarding the story of how rum first found its way into a glass of coke. One tale simply states that the drink was first created in 1902 at the same El Floridita bar of the Daiquiri fame, to celebrate the anniversary of Cuban independence. The Bacardi Company offered another explanation in a 1966 Life Magazine advertisement with an affidavit written in 1965 by a Mr. Fausto Rodriguez. Many have questioned the truth of Fausto’s story given his position as a Bacardi executive. But, his sworn testimony fits within the bounds of the Chronicles of Cocktail Connections, and reads as follows:
“In 1899 I was employed as a messenger in the office of the US Army Signal Corps. I was friendly with a Mr. X, who worked in the office of the Chief Signal Officer. One afternoon, in August 1900, I went with him to the bar and he drank Bacardi rum and Coca-Cola. I just drank Coca-Cola being only 14 years old. On that occasion, there was a group of soldiers at the bar, and one of them asked Mr. X what he was drinking. He told them it was Bacardi and Coca-Cola and suggested they try it, which they did. The soldiers liked it. They ordered another round and toasted Mr. X as the inventor of a great drink.”
Regardless of who Mr. X was and where the Cuba Libre originated, the drink became popular quickly. But, it was a simple Rum-and-Coke that soon migrated north and became popular in the American South. Coke, of course, is a very forgiving and easy to obtain ingredient, which is probably why Bacardi (biased a little) calls the Rum and Coke “the second-most-popular drink in the world.”
But why is it that we always ask for “coke,” as in Rum and Coke, Jack and Coke, Amaretto and Coke? In 1940, Morey Amsterdam (remember him from the Dick Van Dyke Show), wrote a song called “Rum and Coca-Cola.” Pepsi, in hot competition with Coke, said they would pay him handsomely to change the title to Rum and Pepsi-Cola, but he checked in with Coke and they paid him more. The Andrews Sisters recorded the song and it became the second highest grossing song of the 40’s, just behind “White Christmas.”
But the Cuba Libre is not merely another name for a Rum and Coke; it is a Rum and Coke and lime. Lime had long been a companion to rum in early mixtures like grog, so it was natural to be included when the first coke was added. To make a traditional Cuba Libre, you juice half a lime, and muddle the lime rind in the bottom of the glass with the juice to bring out some of the oils in the lime. Then add the ice, rum, and coke. It is this infusion of lime that makes the Cuba Libre a little more complex and tastier than the “lazy” Rum and Coke.
But sadly, Cubans themselves have not enjoyed a Bacardi Cuba Libre for a long time. Due to problems with the Castro government, Bacardi moved its distillery to Puerto Rico in the 1960’s. As a result, the Castro Government banned the sale of Bacardi in Cuba. The story with Coca Cola is similar. When the US declared its trade embargo, Fidel Castro seized all private assets of the company in Cuba. The sad result, no Bacardi, no Coca-Cola, no famous cocktail for the Cubans.
A Rum Culture
Cuba has had a complex history much like our own, with native conquest, slavery, and revolution adding their own aspects to its cultural mix. However, throughout all that complexity there is imbedded a wonderful rum cocktail culture. Rum and the famous cocktails of Cuba clearly have become part of the island’s national identity.
