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Cuban Liberal

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (42)
Cuban Liberal image
Measurements in:
Serves:
1
Ingredients
1 1/2 fl oz Light gold rum (1-3 year old molasses column)
1 fl oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
1/12 fl oz Amer Picon
2 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

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How to make

Glassware

Serve in a Coupe glass

Prepare

  1. Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

Method

  1. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  2. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

  1. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Cuban Liberal contains 151 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 23.69% alc./vol. (47.37° proof)
  • 18.5 grams of pure alcohol

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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History

Adapted from a drink featured in the La Florida (El Floridita) Cocktails book, this is a riff on El Presidente.

Review

Light white rum mellowed by Italian vermouth and made interesting with bittersweet French Amer Picon liqueur.

Cocktail of the day:

9th October 2026 is The anniversary of Che Guevara's death

Variations/similar cocktails

Liberal

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$0.86 per cocktail*

Makes a minimum of 16.5 cocktails.
Shipping and applicable tax calculated at checkout.


Orders are processed by a licensed Fulproof retailer. The buy now button is added simply for convenience.

Checkout

* May not include all ingredients. Price per cocktail is an estimate based on cost of one cocktail with ingredients shown above and does not include shipping.

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Comments & Discussion

Tuber Magnatum Premium Member
So I tried for a second time tonight, but as suggested by Bill Lennox below, increased the Amer Picon . I stuck with the orange bitters rather than Angostura bitters though. For me, as a fan of Amer Picon and orange, using 7.5 Amer Picon was very tasty. Others may find it too orange forward, but it worked for me; in short a lovely apertivo!
score: 1
Mel McMahon
Looking forward to trying this. Interested to know why the recipe says to fine strain the stirred mix, as I thought this was reserved for shaken drinks.
score: 0
John Hinojos Premium Member
Delightful aperitif. Perfectly balanced. Not as sweet as I was expecting. Used a good Barbados gold rum.
score: 1
Christina Bickley
Nicely balanced. Did have Amir Picon. Substituted 1/4 oz Campari and 1/4 oz of a orange liquor we had.
score: 1
James Pratt Premium Member
This is pretty similar to the Liberal Cocktail in Jacques Straub’s Manual of Mixed Drinks (1913), albeit that is made with rye whiskey rather than rum.
score: 1
Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member
Many thanks for the heads-up, James. I've added the Liberal to Difford's Guide with a link to the page in "variant" above.
score: 0
Bill Lennox
A fairly simple tasting drink. Rum and orange dominate. I would increase the Amer Picon to add a bit more interest and use classic Angostura bitters to temper the orange. Very easy to drink though!
score: 3

View 6 comments and discussion

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Difford’s Shop logo
$0.86 per cocktail*

Makes a minimum of 16.5 cocktails.
Shipping and applicable tax calculated at checkout.


Orders are processed by a licensed Fulproof retailer. The buy now button is added simply for convenience.

Checkout

* May not include all ingredients. Price per cocktail is an estimate based on cost of one cocktail with ingredients shown above and does not include shipping.

Visit Difford’s Shop USA

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