Forum
Cuban Liberal
Rum mellowed by Italian vermouth and given interest courtesy of a splash of bittersweet liqueur. Don't forgo the orange zest twist
Dan Casselman
10th October at 00:01
Lovely choice for drink of the today. I had made up a bottle of "Truffles on the Rocks" recipe for Amer Picon a while back so gave this drink a go. I did double the Amer Picon to increase the Orange, and had a very zesty Orange peel. I do like Cuban Rum. (the Orange bitters had not yet been added to the recipe)
9th October at 17:50
I’ve updated and hopefully improved this recipe. For those looking for the previous version:
45ml (1½oz) Light gold rum
30ml (1oz) Rosso vermouth
2.5ml (½ barspoon) Amer Picon
2 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
45ml (1½oz) Light gold rum
30ml (1oz) Rosso vermouth
2.5ml (½ barspoon) Amer Picon
2 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
9th October at 14:23
Not for us which is unusual hard no amer picon so I used cointreau and Aveze as an alternative (half and half) as advised en ligne. Ended up mixing lemon juice and sugar syrup but still not for us
9th October at 03:49
If this was featured in "La Florida (El Floridita) Cocktails" then it should be called the Cuban Conservative; not exactly a Che Guevara tribute drink! Used Barcelo Gran Anejo Dominican rum with a bit of Trinidadian Scarlet Ibis. Cocchi Storico vermouth. No French Amer Picon so used American Picon (Golden Moon's Amer Dit Picon, Colorado's finest), and, following other comments, doubled it to a full teaspoon for some added bitterness. That made for a bracing, distinctive rum drink somewhere between a Rum Manhattan and a Kingston Negroni. Will NOT be confused with a Cuba Libre, which is what my wife was afraid I was making!
4th December 2025 at 00:35
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!
28th June 2025 at 05:48
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.
9th October at 06:48
Indeed, it was an error, and it has now been fixed. Many thanks for bringing to my attention.
3rd May 2024 at 00:38
Delightful aperitif. Perfectly balanced. Not as sweet as I was expecting. Used a good Barbados gold rum.
9th October 2022 at 00:28
Nicely balanced. Did have Amir Picon. Substituted 1/4 oz Campari and 1/4 oz of a orange liquor we had.
9th July 2022 at 17:26
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.
10th July 2022 at 21:40
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.
5th November 2021 at 19:58
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!