July 24, 2013

Maid in Cuba


During my visit to Tales of the Cocktail I wrote home to a friend, that I hadn't tasted a single cocktail that made me go wauw! And that is still true. However now that I'm home there was one, I couldn't quite forget.

It was served during a very interesting seminar about the relationship between forbidden absinthe and the Savoy hotel in London.

Absinthe connoisseur Alan Moss has counted 108 recipes with absinthe in the Savoy Cocktailbook and he and Eric Lorincz and Tom Walker had some interesting insights into how the green fairy made it's way to London in spite of the ban.

And to demonstrate that the American Bar at the Savoy has an enduring love affair with absinthe we got a taste of Tom Walkers creation Maid in Cuba.

A cocktail inspired by both the Mojito, the Daiquiri and one of my all time favorite new classics Audrey Saunders' Old Cuban.

Since the weather is almost tropical here in Denmark, I figured it would make an excellent sundowner, not that the sun sets this early in the far north but it does disappear from my patio around 6 pm.

  • 6 cl white rum - I used Plantation 3 star
  • 3 cl lime juice
  • 1.5 cl simple syrup
  • Absinthe rinse
  • 3 slices cucumber - and 1 for garnish
  • leaves from a sprig of fresh mint
  • seltzers
In a shaker add cucumber, mint, rum, lime juice and simple syrup. Shake hard with ice but do not muddle cucumber and mint.

Give a chilled low ball glass an absinthe rinse and double strain cocktail into it. Top up with seltzers and garnish with the last cucumber slice.

This cocktail has a very endearing chlorophyll taste, very much a summer drink. However the next time I'll not add the water and I'll serve it up in a coupe.

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