Cuba, 1900, just after independence from Spain — the story goes that a group of soldiers and locals were celebrating with rum, ice, and the newly arrived Coca-Cola, and someone raised a glass with “¡Por Cuba Libre!” (“For a free Cuba!”). The name Cuba Libre stuck to the drink, though most people just call it ‘rum & coke’ and leave the politics out of it. It spread fast — easy to make, easy to love, and didn’t need a bartender to get it right. A century on, it’s still one of the simplest, most reliable pairings going: good rum, good cola, and not much else required.