Old Cuban

45ml aged rum (Brugal Extra Viejo)

30ml demerara syrup (Trois Rivieres)

22.5ml lime juice



2 dashes Angostura bitters



8 mint leaves

30ml Champagne (Comte de Senneval Brut)

Combine all ingredients except Champagne in the bottom of the shaker. Muddle mint. Shake over ice and fine strain into a chilled coupe. Top with Champagne and garnish with a mint sprig.

I believe the first time I made this my first words were ‘holy shit’. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this cocktail; it’s rich, tasty, refreshing and just overall beautiful. I’ve seen this discussed as a sort of high-class Mojito, but I much prefer it. It’s just so damn good. And better with Champagne than the Freixenet Cava I’ve previously used, even if it’s not the best bottle in the world (hey, for £7.99/35cl in Lidl what do you expect? It’s still not bad).

The Brugal rum was bestowed on me by my mother whilst clearing out the spirit cabinet - she thought it was some cheap brandy, but it turned out to be a smooth drinker of a completely different family. Notes of vanilla and a natural caramel. I’d recommend it, but whether I would over the Havana 7 Year I’m not so sure.

The original recipe just calls for simple syrup, but I like the character demerara brings with brown spirits. Similarly I used less Champagne; probably a habit from when I was making this with Cava, which I find can dominate - and this is a nice cocktail without it. If I had a better bottle; something like a Drappier, I’d probably use more. This is a smooth drink; the champagne hits first; with the rum backbone providing a strong support for the lime. Mint, on the nose from the first sip, lingers at the back of the throat. I could drink a gallon of these. But I shouldn’t. Probably.

Recipe adapted from Audrey Saunders’, Pegu Club, Soho, UK (via PUNCH).