Cuba Libre Cocktail Recipe: How to Make a Cuba Libre

The phrase "Cuba Libre!" ("Free Cuba!") was a rallying cry during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Not long after Spain lost the war and withdrew from Cuba, Coca-Cola began exporting its cola syrup to Cuba. In 1900, a 14-year-old named Fausto Rodriguez was at a bar in Havana and witnessed his employer order a Bacardi rum mixed with Coca-Cola—or so he claimed. Rodriguez later became a Bacardi advertising executive and, in 1965, produced a signed affidavit verifying his story, though some question the validity of his tale.

Today, most Cubans use the Cuban cola brand tuKola in the cocktail instead of Coke.