new era · shaken
Old Cuban recipe
Audrey Saunders' aged-rum mojito, topped with sparkling wine.
A Old Cuban is 45 ml (42.3 g) Aged Rum, 22.5 ml (23.2 g) Fresh Lime Juice, 30 ml (33.3 g) Sugar Syrup, 60 ml (59.4 g) Sparkling Wine and 1 ml (1 g) Angostura Bitters, shaken and served in a coupe. It pours to about 158.5 ml before ice, at roughly 15.8% ABV. Weighing the ingredients instead of measuring them is what keeps the balance identical from one round to the next.
- Glasscoupe
- Methodshaken
- Pour volume158.5 ml
- Strength (est.)15.8% ABV
- Time5 min
Old Cuban ingredients — in millilitres and grams
Grams are what the PourPilot coaster actually targets. They are not the same as the millilitres: a spirit is lighter than water, a syrup is heavier, so 30 ml of one is never 30 g. The right-hand column is the density we use, in grams per millilitre.
| Ingredient | Volume | Weight | g/ml | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aged Rum | 45 ml | 42.3 g | 0.94 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Fresh Lime Juice | 22.5 ml | 23.2 g | 1.03 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Sugar Syrup | 30 ml | 33.3 g | 1.11 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Sparkling Wine | 60 ml | 59.4 g | 0.99 | Top with sparkling wine |
| Angostura Bitters | 1 ml | — | 0.98 | 2 dashes; muddle with mint |
How to make a Old Cuban
- Set your coupe on the scale (or on the PourPilot coaster) and zero it. Every measurement below is given in millilitres and in grams, so you can use either.
- Add Aged Rum, Fresh Lime Juice, Sugar Syrup and Angostura Bitters to a shaker, weighing each ingredient rather than eyeballing a jigger.
- Fill with ice and shake hard for 12–15 seconds.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
- Top with Sparkling Wine and give it one gentle lift with a bar spoon — never stir the bubbles out.
- Garnish: 2 dashes; muddle with mint.
Old Cuban: the questions people actually ask
How strong is a Old Cuban?
Roughly 15.8% ABV as poured, before the ice dilutes it — typically another 15–25% water by the time you finish stirring or shaking. Medium strength. About the same as a fortified wine, poured short.
What glass should a Old Cuban be served in?
A coupe. Chill it first — a room-temperature stemmed glass will undo half the work you just did in the mixing tin.
Can I make a Old Cuban without a jigger?
Yes — that is what the gram column is for. Put the glass or tin on a kitchen scale, zero it, and pour to the weight. It is more accurate than a jigger because nothing is left clinging to the inside of the measure. The PourPilot coaster does the same thing without you having to watch a display: it lights up as you approach the target and tells you when to stop.
Why are some ingredients not weighed?
Dashes of bitters and rinses are too small to weigh reliably — a dash is roughly 0.8 ml, well inside the noise of any bar scale. Count them instead. Everything else in this Old Cuban is weighed.
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