Golden Glove

Cuba is responsible for many classic cocktails, including the Mojito and Daiquiri. But there’s one drink that has stayed hidden in the shadows of these heavy-hitters, only popping up in old recipe books and at the bars of rum fanatics and drinks historians.

The Golden Glove can be traced back to the “Bar La Florida” recipe booklet, which was published in 1935 by Constante Ribalaigua Vert, owner of the Floridita bar in Havana. The watering hole is famous for serving venerable regulars like Ernest Hemingway and for turning out some of the best drinks in Havana. That includes the Golden Glove. Consisting of rum, lime juice, sugar and Cointreau, it’s like a Daiquiri-Margarita hybrid. But Ribalaigua, a boxing fan, actually fashioned the cocktail as a riff on his Daiquiri No. 2, which featured orange liqueur and orange juice in addition to the trifecta of rum, lime and sugar.

The Golden Glove is easy to like, combining familiar flavors into a drink that is strong, refreshing and citrusy. It tastes great whether consumed on a sunny isle or at your local bar. And given the easy-to-obtain ingredients, you can also make this cocktail at home.

The below recipe comes from distiller and cocktail expert Allen Katz. He suggests using Flor de Caña 4-Year-Old Extra Dry, a lightly aged rum that’s been filtered clear. That’s a fine starting point, but you can experiment to find the rum you like best. This recipe also calls for shaking the drink and straining it over crushed ice into a rocks glass, but Ribalaigua was known to blend his with ice and pour the frosty mixture into a cocktail glass. Whichever path you take, you get to drink a Golden Glove, so don’t overthink it—instead, enjoy this taste of Cuba’s rich cocktail history.

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