Ingredients
The rum
- 60 mlDominican rum
- white or light gold
- Brugal or Barceló
The mixer
- lemon-lime soda
- 7UP or Sprite
- well chilled
- to top up
The lime
- half a lime
- or more, to taste
- cut into wedges
The glass
- a tall glass
- plenty of ice
Directions
- Arrange transport before you start. The drink should be light and clean. Squeeze it rather than just garnishing. Squeeze the wedges into the glass. Fill a tall glass right up with ice.
- Fill it genuinely full of ice. Use them straight from the freezer. Squeeze the lime wedges into the glass.
- Squeeze them firmly over the ice. They keep releasing oils as you drink. Pour the measured rum over the ice. That is how you keep proper track.
- Pour it directly over the ice. Top the glass up with cold soda. Pour it slowly down the glass side. The soda must be genuinely cold.
- Warm soda foams right up violently. Chill the soda well beforehand. Stir it once with a long spoon. Lift the spoon from the bottom once. That single stir is quite enough.
- Adjust it but know the strength. Serving it is always done at once. Serve it immediately while cold. The fizz fades within minutes.
- Make them all up one at a time. Alcohol and hot sun combine badly. Mix each one fresh as it is needed.
Technique
- This is a full strength alcoholic drink whose sweet soda hides the strength considerably, making it easy to drink too much of — worth saying plainly. Measure the rum rather than free pouring, know your bottle’s strength, keep count, and do not drive afterwards, since the strength is easy to misjudge and that misjudgement causes real harm.
- Alcohol and hot sun combine badly since both dehydrate — drink plenty of water alongside and stay in the shade.
- Pour the cold soda slowly down the side of the glass, which preserves the fizz and stops it foaming over, then stir once gently — vigorous stirring kills the carbonation.
Substitutions
- Any lemon-lime soda works in place of 7UP or Sprite; a white or light gold rum suits it, since a heavy dark rum overwhelms the soda and the drink should be light and clean.
- Fill the glass genuinely full of ice using large cubes rather than crushed, since more ice and larger cubes both slow the dilution.
Variations
- Lime is used genuinely generously and is what distinguishes this from a Cuba libre — half a lime per glass is a minimum and a whole one is not unusual. Squeeze the wedges firmly and then drop them into the glass, since the peel oils keep flavouring the drink as you go.
- Santo comes from Santo Domingo and libre echoes the Cuba libre, which is rum with cola; replacing the cola with lemon-lime soda is the whole difference, and the name plays on that deliberately.
- Colmados are corner shops selling groceries and drinks where people sit at plastic tables outside; rum is sold by the bottle with soda and ice alongside and people mix their own at the table.
History
The local answer to the Cuba libre, built on Dominican rum and 7UP or Sprite, drunk at colmados and beach bars.
Frequently asked questions
What is Santo Libre?
Santo Libre is a cocktail from Dominican Republic: dominican rum lengthened with lemon-lime soda and plenty of lime. The local answer to the Cuba libre, built on Dominican rum and 7UP or Sprite, drunk at colmados and beach bars.
How long does Santo Libre take to make?
Santo Libre takes 3 minutes of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 1 glass. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Santo Libre?
Yes, within limits. Any lemon-lime soda works in place of 7UP or Sprite; a white or light gold rum suits it, since a heavy dark rum overwhelms the soda and the drink should be light and clean. Fill the glass genuinely full of ice using large cubes rather than crushed, since more ice and larger cubes both slow the dilution.
What is the most important thing to get right in Santo Libre?
Arrange transport before you start. The drink should be light and clean. Squeeze it rather than just garnishing. Squeeze the wedges into the glass. Fill a tall glass right up with ice.
