The Cuba Libre Light

The first drink I ever ordered was a Cuba Libre. I was seventeen, in Barcelona for the first time, and completely innocent to the allure of alcohol. Ah, youth; how you melt like Spanish ice cubes in my first-time highball glass.

One thing about those Spanish ice cubes :: when you are seventeen, in Barcelona for the first time and completely innocent to the allure of alcohol, and you've been told by your awesome Grand Tour Coach Captain that you cannot (under any circumstances) drink the water in Spain, well, you down that sweet, syrupy cocktail in three big gulps. Before the ice cubes even sweat, let alone melt, you've got a whole lot of Libre in your mouth. Let alone on Las Ramblas...

The Cuba Libre was originally invented in 1900 in Havana by the Spanish. In the time of the Spanish-American war, the Spaniards raised their glass (and lowered their inhibitions) to celebrate Cuba's freedom. Eventually the drink became a favorite of American ex-pats fleeing the prohibition and uptight Progressive values of their motherland, looking to find a new identity in an island fresh-cut from colonial ties.

Oh, Libre's just another word for nothing left to lose.

Which brings me to why I'm back on the blog. I'm single again. Footloose and fancy-free, and I suddenly find I have a fair amount of time to wax poetic on the well-mixed drink. And while I have walked into my share of speakeasies during the past three months, I've spent the past eight days (ah, the abacus of brand-new singledom) laying a little lower than usual. Sometimes you need a vacation... and sometimes that vacation is a post-breakup Cuba Libre Light in my tiny studio apartment.

Was it as good as the very first sip? Of course not. But did I take the time to savor it slowly, letting the ice melt and the growing cold compliment the sweetness? You betcha.

Older. Wiser. Libre. Welcome to another summer in New York, a girl like you in a place like this.

THE CUBA LIBRE LIGHT

1 1/2 oz. light rum

juice of 1/2 a lime

6 oz. diet coke

stir well and garnish with a slice of lime

serve in a highball glass filled with ice