It’s hard to see where in the primordial mists of cocktail creation that the Old Cuban comes from. It doesn’t seem to be Cuba, directly anyway, but great drinks, just like Genius, take circuitous routes. Famed mixologist Audrey Saunders created it, with the original inspiration of a Mojito, and her working title was “El Cubano”, which sounds like a dodgy bar in a James Bond movie.
Then along came equally renowned Charlotte Voisey, who reimagined it into a delicious and refreshing concoction, and rechristened it the Old Cuban Cup, which she serves at Bar Tetto Rooftop. Bar Tetto Rooftop is not dodgy. It scrumptiously tops the new Merchant Hotel, at 79 Rivington Street on New York City’s Lower East side, one of the last, if not the last, Manhattan neighborhoods to resemble its immigrant past.
“Originally from London, I moved to New York City in 2006 and was instantly inspired by the bars and nightlife scene here. It has been so exciting to work on the cocktail menus for Bar 79 and Bar Tetto as instant New York hot spots,” she says, clearly loving her life.
Her career started with the restaurant group My Kinda Town in England, and took her to Barcelona and Buenos Aires, before she returned to London in 2002 to open Apartment 195, on the Kings Road in Chelsea, near the Chelsea Registry Office (where at least two WONDERLUST editors once got married).
“I ran Apartment 195 from 2002-2006. After my time as the General Manager there, I moved to New York to join William Grant & Sons as the company’s first Brand Ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin. After an 18 year stint with them, leading the Global Brand Ambassador program, I am now the Executive Director for Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, but still find time to consult on great bars around the world, including No. 79 Bar and Terrace and Bar Tetto,” she explains.
And if you google Bar Tetto and find there are others — because there are, in Brisbane Australia and Paso Robles in California, but they are not related — then she explains that too. “Tetto means ‘Roof’ in Italian, so a natural choice for a Rooftop bar with any Italian nuance, I suppose…”
The Drink
The Old Cuban Cup
The Old Cuban Cup is a riff on a modern classic cocktail, the Old Cuban, created by Audrey Saunders and shared with the world at Pegu Club, one of Manhattan’s most important cocktail bars in recent years.
This was an elegant cocktail served up in a coupe. Inspired by the Old Cuban, I took the same ingredients and reworked the recipe to suit the backdrop of the Bar Tetto Rooftop views and made the Old Cuban Cup a longer, more refreshing version, served over crushed ice in a beautiful silver Julep cup, perfect for lazy days or stunning sunsets at Bar Tetto. (And they really are stunning, you have to see for yourself.)
The Old Cuban Cup should always use an aged rum for depth of flavor.
To make the Old Cuban Cup simply combine rum, simple syrup, fresh lime juice and bitters (per the recipe below) in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well.
Ingredients
1 ½ oz aged rum
¾ oz simple syrup
¾ oz fresh lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Preparation
Combine ingredients and shake well.
Strain into a Julep cup over crushed ice, top with sparkling wine.
Garnish with a large sprig of fresh mint.