Mismo
Encyclopedia
Mismo is an alcoholic beverage based on Bacardi
rum
and seltzer. In 1899, Santiago
was swept by a craze for a new drink called mismo. It arose when a group of Cubans and Americans met at the Cosmopolitan Club, and one experimenting Cuban ordered a seltzer rum. The next Cuban ordered Lo mismo, which means "the same" in Spanish
. The Americans, eager to explore the novel idea, also ordered Lo mismo, and found it to their liking; the next day, they returned and ordered it again. Fortunately, the same bartender was on duty, and served it straight away. "It spread with remarkable rapidity," reported the New York Tribune
, "until now every barkeeper in Santiago knows what you are after when you ask for a 'mismo.' In fact, you rarely ever hear Barcadi rum and selzter spoken of in any other way now."
It continued to be a popular drink in Cuba during and after Prohibition
.
Bacardi
Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...
rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
and seltzer. In 1899, Santiago
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
was swept by a craze for a new drink called mismo. It arose when a group of Cubans and Americans met at the Cosmopolitan Club, and one experimenting Cuban ordered a seltzer rum. The next Cuban ordered Lo mismo, which means "the same" in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. The Americans, eager to explore the novel idea, also ordered Lo mismo, and found it to their liking; the next day, they returned and ordered it again. Fortunately, the same bartender was on duty, and served it straight away. "It spread with remarkable rapidity," reported the New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
, "until now every barkeeper in Santiago knows what you are after when you ask for a 'mismo.' In fact, you rarely ever hear Barcadi rum and selzter spoken of in any other way now."
It continued to be a popular drink in Cuba during and after Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
.