Teetotal Cuba Libre

ABV: 0.0%
Calories per 100ml: 36 (72 per bottle)

So far, the alcohol-free spirits market has been jam-packed with gin-type drinks. So it’s nice to taste something completely different.

According to legend, Cuba Libre (Free Cuba) was invented in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, when American troops fought to liberate the island from the Spanish Empire. The Americans also brought Coca Cola to Cuba, and with so much rum being produced on local sugar plantations, it was a cocktail waiting to happen.

Whatever the truth of its origins, it’s a drink that’s now recognised by the International Bartenders’ Association as a contemporary classic. It’s perhaps better-known by its more everyday name: rum-and-coke.

But if there’s drink where the absence of alcohol would be obvious, surely it’s this one? Apparently not, if you get it right! According to the Temperance Spirit Company, their Cuba Libre is made with “Caribbean flavours and selected spices”. Whatever those might be, they seem to do the trick. If you didn’t know it, you’d never guess it was alcohol-free. If rum-and-coke is your thing, buy this, plenty of it!