White rum and cola meet over ice in a tall glass, brightened by a squeeze of fresh lime that cuts through the cola's sweetness — equal parts effortless and effervescent. The rum lends a light, clean warmth beneath the cola's caramel and spice, while the lime keeps every sip crisp and lively rather than syrupy.
Garnish: Lime Wedge
Built · Highball · On the Rocks
build
Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
add
Pour the white rum and fresh lime juice over the ice.
top
Top with cola.
stir
Give a brief, gentle stir to combine without knocking out the carbonation.
garnish
Garnish with a lime wedge.
Legend places the drink in Havana around 1900, when Coca-Cola had only just arrived and Cuban rum was raised to the independence-era cry "¡Por Cuba libre!" — the slogan behind the name of its lime-squeezed form, the Cuba Libre. The best-known telling rests on a 1965 affidavit from Fausto Rodriguez, a Bacardi advertising executive, later run in a 1966 Life advertisement, and his employer ties leave it widely doubted. A rival story credits El Floridita in 1902 instead, so no single inventor can be named. The highball has since become one of the most-ordered drinks on earth, and the IBA lists it as the Cuba Libre.