Welcome to Wonkette Happy Hour, With This Week's Cocktail, The Isla Del Encanto!

A mega-mojo version of a Cuba Libre. With Puerto Rican rum, of course.

If a regular rum and coke is a cup of coffee, this is a triple espresso.

Greetings, Wonketeers! I’m Hooper, your bartender, and for some reason I feel the urge to do something with Puerto Rican rum today. Something comforting, familiar, and very strong is in order. Let’s make a riff off a classic Cuba Libre, only more intense. How about an Isla de Encanto? Here’s the recipe.

Isla del Encanto*

2 oz Bacardi 8 year rum

½ oz cola syrup

½ oz Amarena cherry syrup

½ oz lime juice

2-3 dashes cocoa bitters

Mexican Coca-Cola

Combine all ingredients but cola in a chilled double old fashioned glass. Stir 8-10 times. Top with cola. Garnish with a lime wedge and Amarena cherry flag. 

Cola Syrup

20 oz Coca-Cola

8-10 allspice berries, whole

5-6 cloves, whole

1” cinnamon stick

Place all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and reduce to a low simmer for 1 hour. Strain into a stoppered bottle and refrigerate. 

I do love fancy cocktails. Brew me up something with Fernet Branca or Angostura Bitters as the main ingredient and I’m all in. But my day-to-day cocktail is generally a rum and Coke, with a generous wedge of lime. Of course, me being me, I like to experiment with different flavors and combos along the way. Simplicity is wonderful, but I found myself adding more ingredients, like cherry syrup and allspice liqueur to complement the rum. After a while, there isn’t much space for rum in my rum and Coke. I loved how complex I could make this humble drink, but its identity was disappearing behind the panoply of flavors. 

Eventually I hit upon the idea of making a cola reduction syrup. Coca-Cola concentrate plus regular Coca-Cola is pure mad science, but durned if it doesn’t work. The Coca-Cola finally had enough backbone to stand up to other intense ingredients in the glass. While I was at it, I decided to simmer some classic rum spices with the cola. I’d picked up a bottle of St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram recently, and it’s lovely with rum but a bit pricier than I like to recommend for the Wonketariat. Making the syrup with spice cut out an expensive ingredient and brought a welcome Captain Morgan vibe to the glass. (Genuine Captain Morgan is terrible, by the way. It’s bad rum, caramel color, and artificial flavor. You don’t want that.)

As long as we were focusing on the cola in the glass, it was high time to add some flavors that complemented the soda as well as the rum. Cherry Coke is a huge favorite of mine, but the bottled Cherry Coke is kind of weak. When I think of cherry cola, I’m thinking of Waffle House “Cherry Coke” — cola with a huge dollop of cheap grenadine, intense enough to give the cola a reddish hue. Chocolate and cola also pair up wonderfully. Finish off with the requisite lime juice, and we’ve got a Cuba Libre for the ages. 

Let’s talk ingredients:

Ingredient shot. The cocktail vanished mysteriously after this photo was taken.

Bacardi 8 Year Rum: Bacardi 8 Year is overkill for this glass, but last week was absolutely horrible and I wanted to treat myself. Bacardi Gold works just fine here. Bacardi 4 Year is better, but basic Bacardi will do. Bacardi, of course, is the rum producer in Puerto Rico bar none. (The story is long and fascinating, but suffice it to say that the Bacardi family supported Castro up until the leopard ate their faces and they decided to move the entire operation to friendlier places. Once again Rebecca highly recommends this book.) I love other rums dearly, but Puerto Rican rum tastes like “rum” in a way that no other liquor does.

Cola Syrup: I used basic Coca-Cola for this syrup, but Mexican cola would certainly be better. Other local colas deserve examination as well. I like Pig Iron Cola lately. Boylan’s Cane Cola is not too hard to find, but it’s a touch spicier than I expected. If you use this cola as your base, swap the cocoa bitters for Angostura. 

Amarena Cherry Syrup: Amarena cherries are rolling out at Trader Joe’s. They’re just as tasty as Luxardo, and they’re half the price. Pour some syrup out of the jar for this recipe, and snack on the cherries that aren’t submerged anymore.

Lime Juice: Always fresh. Plastic limes give plastic juice.

Cocoa Bitters: These really shouldn’t be hard to find, but orange bitters will do. Earthy cocoa notes play with cola extremely well. 

Mexican Coca-Cola: Always the superior option, but try a local cola brand if you can. If you do go local, use the same brand of cola for your reduction. 

Garnish: A “flag” is a classic cocktail garnish — a thin slice of fruit wrapped around a cherry on a cocktail stick. I can’t resist using the same garnish on my remake of this classic. 

In summary and conclusion, drink well, drink often, and tip your bartender — donate to Wonkette at the link below!  

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DRINK!

*There was originally a typo here, which a commenter on another post thinks needs to be noted each time we fix one, so. — RS