The President's Cocktail
The El Presidente was created in Havana during the 1920s, most likely at the American Bar at the Hotel Sevilla or at the Vista Alegre club. It was named in honour of Cuban president Gerardo Machado (or possibly Mario García Menocal — accounts differ). During Prohibition, when Americans flooded into Havana seeking legal drinks, the El Presidente was the sophisticated cocktail of choice for the wealthy and well-connected. It was, briefly, as famous as the Martini.
A Stirred Rum Cocktail
Most rum cocktails are shaken — citrus demands it. The El Presidente is different. With no citrus juice, it is stirred like a Manhattan or a Martini, producing a silky, limpid cocktail with a beautiful amber-pink hue from the grenadine. The stirring technique matters: gentle, consistent rotations for 30 full seconds. You want dilution and chill without aeration.
The Vermouth Partnership
This cocktail belongs to the same family as the Martini — spirit and vermouth in elegant partnership. The dry vermouth provides herbal complexity and aromatics that lift the rum. Use a quality vermouth (Dolin Dry or Noilly Prat) and, critically, keep it refrigerated after opening. Oxidised vermouth will ruin any drink it touches.
The Grenadine Touch
The grenadine is measured in bar spoons, not ounces — it should tint the drink a pale rose gold, not turn it red. Use real pomegranate grenadine (Jack Rudy or homemade from pomegranate juice and sugar). The artificial bright-red syrup you find in most supermarkets has no place in this cocktail or any other.
Why This Cocktail Deserves Revival
- It proves rum can be as elegant and restrained as any whiskey or gin
- The flavour profile — orange, pomegranate, herbs, sugarcane — is genuinely unique
- It is a magnificent aperitif: light, dry, and appetite-stimulating
