Bolero – Recipe from David Embury’s ‘The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks’

Rum, like gin, blends well with many other liquors. Here is a cocktail using a rum and cognac combination as a base. 

1 part Sugar Syrup 

2 parts Lime Juice 

4 parts Gold Label Cuban Rum

4 parts Cognac 

teaspoonful Orange Juice to each drink 

Shake with finely crushed ice.

Bolero was a Spanish musical composition created in 1928 for a ballet, and proved quite the hit at the time. For me the name always conjures up images of Spain as I think there used to be a Spanish restaurant of the same name close to where I grew up. The composer was Ravel, who seemed to spend his life perched somewhere between lunatic and genius. One night a woman was heard shouting that Ravel was mad, to which he replied that she had obviously understood his music.

It reminds me of a time when music had great names, and drinks were practically begging to be named after them. I shall not be naming any drinks after anything by Drake, or anything else in the charts at present.

The drink itself is a good one, really just a daiquiri, only halving the rum with some Cognac, and a dash of barely discernible orange juice thrown in. its good if not excellent, and a little to formulaic to be exceptional.