El Presidente (cocktail)

The El Presidente cocktail is a Cuban alcoholic drink made of rum, orange curaçao, vermouth, and grenadine. The original recipe calls for blanc vermouth.[1][2][3]

El Presidente
Cocktail
TypeCocktail
Primary alcohol by volume
ServedStraight up; without ice
Standard garnishtwist of orange peel
Standard drinkware
Cocktail glass
Commonly used ingredients
  • Two parts rum
  • One part curaçao
  • One part blanc vermouth
  • Dash grenadine
PreparationStir well with ice, then strain into glass. Garnish and serve.

Some believe it is the only bona fide classic cocktail that is supposed to use harder to find blanc vermouth (Chambéry vermouth) and is frequently mismade with dry vermouth.[4] While variations are made using other orange liqueurs than curaçao, the drink is traditionally meant to be red in color, so blue curaçao should not be used. The red comes from red curaçao, or when paler colors are used, from the grenadine.

History

The El Presidente earned its acclaim in Havana during the 1920s through the 1940s during the American Prohibition. It quickly became the preferred drink of the Cuban upper class.

There are two rival stories of who the cocktail is named after. One is Mario García Menocal, President from 1913-1921. The other is Gerardo Machado, who was a General and also President from 1925-1933.

There are also multiple claims as to the invention of the cocktail. One story is that it was American bartender Eddie Woelke, who named it after Gen. Menochal after moving to Havana. Another claim is that it was invented as early as 1915 in Cuba, 5 years before Woelke stepped foot on the Malecón in 1920.[5] This premise if true is even further debated, as either being invented at the Vista Alegre (a Havana establishment frequented by Americans), or by Pres. Menocal himself.

Similar cocktails

Pres. Machado gave Pan American Airways (Pan Am) exclusive rights to fly the Florida-Havana route. This may be the reason that Pan Am served a variation of El Presidente on their larger planes, known as the Clipper Cocktail. It consisted of only gold rum, vermouth and grenadine.

Sources
  • Curtis, Wayne (May. 1, 2006). El Presidente. Lost Magazine.
  • Eric Felten, How's Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well, pp. 105–108, Agate Publishing, 2009 ISBN 1572846127.

References
  1. "How the El Presidente Cocktail Came to Be". tastingtable.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  2. "The Original El Presidente". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  3. "Classic El Presidente Cocktail". imbibemagazine.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  4. "Cuba's Overlooked Role in Cocktail History". punchdrink.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. "Cuba's Overlooked Role in Cocktail History". punchdrink.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
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