El Presidente
Havana's golden-age elegance.
White rum, vermouth and a touch of curaçao and grenadine, stirred and served up. It is Cuba's answer to the Manhattan: smooth and aromatic, with a blush of colour and an orange finish.
- Aperitif
- Stirred
- Glass
- Coupe
- Method
- Stirred
- Strength
- Strong
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Ice
- No ice
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
White rum
50 ml
-
Dry vermouth
15 ml
-
Blanc vermouth
15 ml
-
Orange curaçao
10 ml
-
Grenadine
2.5 ml
Garnish
- Orange twist
Proportions
How to make
- Chill a coupe.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice.
- Pour the rum.
- Pour the dry vermouth.
- Pour the blanc vermouth.
- Pour the curaçao.
- Add the grenadine.
- Stir until well chilled.
- Strain into the chilled coupe.
- Express an orange twist over the drink and use it as garnish.
The story
Origins
ProbableA plausible account, without definitive proof.
El Presidente was born in Havana in the 1910s. The earliest known recipe appears in John B. Escalante's Manual del Cantinero, published in Havana in 1915, and by 1919 a New York paper was calling it a favourite drink of the Cubans. Historian David Wondrich credits Constantino Ribalaigua, later of the Floridita, citing a 1937 interview; others name the American Eddie Woelke of the Jockey Club, a claim hard to square with the 1915 date. The name is often linked to President Mario García Menocal. Period recipes contain no lime; curaçao, also suggested by David Embury in 1948, became part of the modern version.
Sources (4)
- Difford's Guide — El Presidente (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- Cocktail Kingdom Library — El Presidente (from the Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails) (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- Punch — El Presidente by Julio Cabrera (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- IBA — All cocktails, page 2 (El Presidente not listed) (opens in a new tab) recipe
Taste profile
- Strong
- 3 out of 5
- Sweet
- 2 out of 5
- Herbal
- 2 out of 5
- Citrus
- 2 out of 5
- Fruity
- 2 out of 5
