Castro
Aged rum, calvados, lime, orange and sugar with a dash of bitters, shaken. A modern rum-and-apple sour named for the revolution — fruity, dry and better than its politics.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Add the rum, calvados, lime juice, orange juice, syrup and bitters to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake hard for 12 seconds.
Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass, or up into a chilled coupe.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
A thoughtful finish
- An amber rum, not a dark one; the apple needs room.
- A real calvados; apple schnapps is sugar.
- Serve it up if you want it sharper.
Common mistakes
- Carton orange juice.
- Too much syrup; the orange is sweet already.
- A heavy Jamaican rum, which buries the calvados.
A few good questions.
What does a Castro taste like?
Rum and apple with lime and orange — a fruity, dry sour with a bitters edge.
Who created it?
Unknown; it is in American bar guides from the 1990s.
Why the name?
The Cuban rum, presumably. It has no connection to the man.
Calvados or applejack?
Either; calvados is drier, applejack rougher.
Variations
- Daiquiri — White rum, lime and sugar.
- Jack Rose — Applejack, lemon and grenadine.
- Stone Fence — Apple brandy or rum with hard cider.
- Planter's Punch — Rum, lime, sugar and bitters.
Where it comes from
c. 1990s · United States
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
The Castro Cocktail appears in American bar guides of the 1990s and 2000s — Gary Regan has it, and Difford’s — as aged rum with calvados, lime and orange juice and a little sugar, shaken, with a dash of Angostura; the name is the obvious Cuban joke, and nobody has claimed authorship. It is a good drink regardless: rum’s molasses and the apple brandy’s fruit are natural partners, the citrus keeps it bright, and the bitters tie it together. It belongs to the family of rum-and-apple drinks that includes the Stone Fence’s cousins and the Apple Daiquiri, and it suits an amber Cuban-style rum rather than a dark Jamaican.
Sources
- Gary Regan, The Joy of Mixology, 2003 (book)
- Difford's Guide, Castro Cocktail, 2010 (reference)
- Liquor.com, Castro Cocktail, 2019 (reference)
Strength. About 1.6 US standard drinks at an estimated 21.7% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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