Name: Old Cuban
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 6 fresh Mint leaves; 45 ml Aged rum (6-10yr); 22.5 ml Lime juice; 15 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 2 dash Aromatic bitters; 22.5 ml Brut sparkling wine

Old Cuban
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
6 fresh	Mint leaves
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Caribbean blended rum aged 6-10 years
³⁄₄ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₂ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
2 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters
³⁄₄ oz	Brut champagne/sparkling wine

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of mint leaf.
SHAKE first 5 ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
TOP with sparkling wine.
Garnish with mint leaf floated on the cocktail or pegged/stuck with spot of honey to the rim.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Brut champagne/sparkling wine - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A luxurious, minty Daiquiri topped with a splash of fizz.

View readers' comments

Variant:

The Cab

History:

Created in 2004 by Audrey Saunders, New York, USA.

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Egg McKenzie

25th May at 13:28

listen it's just a great, great drink. like a daiquiri like a mojito but it's got champagne come on now.

Beverly Stanton

12th April at 19:29

delicious!!! Lol great taste with a little kick and hint of mint!

Vera Lycaon

15th July 2023 at 09:52

Made this with Abuelo 7 Años and a decent but not too pricy prosecco. Decidedly in the general area of a mojito or Queen's Park swizzle flavor profile-wise, but a completely different drinking experience served short. Lovely!

John Hinojos

7th July 2023 at 01:30

Perfect. Just a hint of mint which is not overwhelming. The rum and lime adds a great tropical flavour. Went wonderfully with a spicy orange peel beef stir fry.

Michael Pulcinella

25th September 2022 at 15:46

I call this a "sparkling mojito". I like it better than a traditional mojito.

Be sure to double strain to keep the mint pieces out.

Nathalie O'Flynn

18th June 2022 at 09:08

I would like your opinion Simon on this idea, what about if I made this as a Punch , respecting the proportions ? Am having a small party and made several punches before but they required lots of ingredients and more work. I was thinking of making this in a punch bowl, add the champagne just at serving time and add big ice balls to slow down the dilution. Would this work ? I havve a nice punch bowl with nice little tea cup style serving glasses.

Simon Difford

18th June 2022 at 16:29

Worth trying, Nathalie. Perhaps test with a mini version first. Hitting the right dilution will be key. I use a huge loaf of ice I make in a silicon bread mould for punches.

Nathalie O'Flynn

29th May 2022 at 19:28

Oh my. Never came across this one on here and why not I ask myself, well many thousands of cocktails…. I discovered this one at the Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo a week ago (wedding anniversary) and I was blown away ( well not literally I didn’t fall off my chair lol). I made this since at home and again it was fabulous even if I say so myself.

Simon Difford

30th May 2022 at 06:25

The old Cuban is one of our Hall of Fame Cocktails - my attempt to flag the better and most popular cocktails to help them stand out from the 1000s of others. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Anonymous

13th March 2021 at 17:16

I’ve made this twice, and I’ve found that really the champagne matters more than anything, it goes from almost tart to a true summer drink

Kristof Jacobs

29th September 2020 at 18:25

Waw I made it with prosecco and this was a treat :-)
I made it soon after again with another prosecco but it didn't blow me off my socks. Although the prosecco wasn't cheap, the taste wasn't great at all and spoiled the cocktail.

Does anyone have any suggestions for sparkling wines? Even better if the brand has small bottles because I'm not a professional :-)

Annabelle Egginton

5th October 2024 at 11:40

Yes, you’re right on this so use a decent Cremant from either Alsace, Bourgogne or Loire. Or a Blanquette de Limoux; all using the méthode traditionnelle but can’t be called champagne because of the AOP. I can only comment on French regional ones because I know them best.
If not any other good quality sparkling white wine would not ruin you’re cocktail.

Val Lamb

7th May 2022 at 10:54

I use Freixenet cava, it comes in 200ml bottles. I always have those in the fridge for making single serve cocktails at home. If I am making more cocktails then I use a half bottle of Waitrose blanc de blanc champagne. I have found both of those to make delicious cocktails.