El Presidente
Rum stirred with blanc vermouth, orange curaçao and a touch of grenadine. Havana's elegant answer to the Manhattan.
- MethodStirred
- GlassCoupe
- IceNone (served up)
- Strengthabout 21.8% ABV
- BaseRum
- Tastestrong, sweet, fruity
Recipe
| 45 ml 1½ oz | White rum (light, Spanish-style) or Aged rum |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Blanc (bianco) vermouth |
| 7.5 ml ¼ oz | Dry orange curaçao |
| 1 barspoon | Grenadine (pomegranate syrup) |
Garnish. A strip of orange peel expressed over the surface and dropped in.
Method
- Chill a coupe.
- Put the rum, vermouth, curaçao and grenadine in a mixing glass and fill with ice.
- Stir for about 25 seconds.
- Strain into the coupe and express the orange peel over it.
About the El Presidente
El Presidente is a stirred rum cocktail from Prohibition-era Havana: rum and a sweet white vermouth, with orange curaçao for depth and just enough grenadine to tint it a soft coral pink. It is silky and aromatic, closer to a Manhattan than to a Daiquiri. Too much grenadine turns it cloying, so measure carefully.
History
Earliest record 1915: John B. Escalante, Manual del Cantinero (Havana)
Documented
The drink was a Havana fashion in the 1910s and 1920s, when American visitors came to Cuba to drink legally during Prohibition. The earliest recipe usually cited is in John B. Escalante's Manual del Cantinero, published in Havana in 1915. Basil Woon's 1928 guide When It's Cocktail Time in Cuba praised it as the aristocrat of Cuban cocktails. Early versions vary a good deal, some with bitters or orange juice, and the vermouth was a French-style blanc rather than a dry vermouth.
Legend and lore
Several Cuban presidents of the period, among them Mario García Menocal and Gerardo Machado, are said to have given the drink its name, and different accounts credit the Havana bartenders Constantino Ribalaigua or the American Eddie Woelke with creating it. None of these attributions is backed by contemporary evidence.
Disputed or unclear: Who created the drink and which president it honours are both unknown.
Variations
- With dry vermouth. Many mid-century recipes used dry vermouth; the drink becomes sharper and leaner, and needs a little more grenadine.
- Manhattan. The whiskey and sweet vermouth template El Presidente borrows its shape from.
- Daiquiri. Havana's other great rum cocktail, shaken with lime rather than stirred with vermouth.
Bartender's notes
- Use a blanc (bianco) vermouth; a modern extra-dry vermouth makes a thin, sour-tasting drink.
- Real pomegranate grenadine gives colour and tartness; a bright red artificial one only adds sugar.
