Calling a rum-and-Coke a “Cuba Libre” sounds a little pretentious, but just name-checking the main ingredients undersells this delicious, enduring cocktail by a lot. Traditionally made with rum, Coca-Cola, and lime, the Cuba Libre is a legit classic, over a century old and both Cuban and American in origin.

Our version calls for either lime or lemon juice plus Black Walnut Proof Syrup — a pleasantly nutty, surprisingly tropical-tasting addition that’s delicious with light rum.

Speaking of rum? Regular white-label Bacardi is what this recipe calls for, but use what you’ve got — or experiment with an aged, gold, or spiced version. One of the beautiful things about rum and Coke is that that combination works so well together, it’s hard to mess up.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ oz White Rum
  • ½ oz Black Walnut Proof Syrup
  • ½ oz Lemon or Lime Juice
  • 3 oz Coca-Cola to Top
  • Lemon or Lime Wheel to Garnish

 

Tools

  • Jigger
  • Shaker
  • Strainer
  • Rocks Glass

 

Steps

  1. Measure rum, juice, and Proof Syrup into cocktail shaker; add ice and shake until well combined — or just build this in the glass by pouring ingredients over ice.
  2. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and top with Coca-Cola. Give a quick stir — enough to combine without killing the fizz.
  3. Garnish with lemon or lime wheel.

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What You’ll Need:

Black Walnut Black Walnut
Black Walnut Black Walnut

Black Walnut

$34.95
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Everybody’s Black Walnut experience is different — it turns out there’s just no accounting for taste(buds). Some of us love it in our Old Fashioneds because it’s nutty-sweet in a way that reminds us of dark chocolate, glazed doughnuts, and vanilla extract. One person said it was like fuzzy socks, good company, and a comfy armchair on a quiet evening. (Not gonna lie, we love the sound of that.) In the summer, we add it to our rum & Cokes; in the fall, it's our syrup of choice for manhattans. Black Walnut Proof Syrup is a year-round yummy good time.

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