To Serve Man
Rum

Air Mail

Glass
Highball

A pre-tiki Cuban honey daiquiri lifted with brut champagne, first stamped on a 1930 Bacardi pamphlet.

rum cuban classic pre-tiki sparkling lime shaken
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Ingredients

  • fresh lime juice (0.5 oz)
  • honey syrup (0.5 oz)
  • aged rum (1.5 oz)
  • brut champagne (2 oz)
  • lime twist (1)

Instructions

  1. In a shaker combine fresh lime juice, honey syrup, and aged rum with cracked ice.
  1. Shake well until chilled and the honey is fully dissolved.
  2. Strain into a chilled flute or highball glass.
  3. Top with brut champagne.
  1. Garnish with a lime twist.

Sources

  1. Bacardi, Bacardi and Its Many Uses (1930), the brand pamphlet containing the earliest documented Air Mail recipe. ↩
  2. Imbibe Magazine, "Recipe: Airmail." https://imbibemagazine.com/recipe/recipe-airmail/ (accessed 2026-05-03), surveys the 1930 Bacardi pamphlet origin and the W. C. Whitfield "Here's How" (1941) reprint that brought the drink to broader US bartender awareness. ↩
  3. Berry, Potions of the Caribbean (2014), Air Mail entry, reconstructs the postal-airmail naming and the postage-stamp garnish convention. ↩