Cuba libre

[ kyoo-buh-lee-bruh ]

noun

1. a drink of rum and cola.

Cuba libre

/ ˈkjuːbə ˈliːbrə /

noun

1. a drink of rum, cola, lime juice, and ice

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cuba libre¹

1895–1900; < Spanish: literally, free Cuba (a toast used in the uprising against Spain in 1895)

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cuba libre¹

Spanish, literally: free Cuba, a toast during the Cuban War of Independence

Example Sentences

Michigan’s “restricted” list includes Leonard’s thriller “Cuba Libre,” set right before the 1898 Spanish-American War, and Frederick Forsyth’s “The Day of the Jackal,” about a professional assassin’s attempt to murder French President Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s.

From Seattle Times

Just as Petzold didn’t realize how funny “Afire” was until his actors showed him, he also wasn’t fully cognizant that Leon’s pathetic attempts to present himself as a serious artiste were, really, a unconscious plumbing of Petzold’s own early career struggles, when he followed up his well-received debut with a strained dud, 1996’s “Cuba Libre.”

From Los Angeles Times

To cocktail aficionados, it is tinged with the slightly cheesy veneer of the marketing stunt, and it is not wrong to say that the enduring cache of the Cuba Libre is a result of branding.

From Seattle Times

“Rum and Coke” is just a list of ingredients, but “Cuba Libre,” the slogan of Cuban independence, is a far sexier moniker.

From Seattle Times

The Cuba Libre became an immensely popular combination immediately after its creation, widely sipped through Cuba’s following decades of glamour and tumult, only falling from its perch in 1960, when the American embargo forced Coca-Cola to cease doing business with Cuba completely.

From Seattle Times