Cable Car cocktail recipe

The Cable Car cocktail is considered by many to be a modern classic. Uniquely flavoured with its use of spiced rum, a rarity in cocktails, and boasting a cinnamon sugar rim, it’s an interesting drink that will be sure to get your guests talking.

The Cable Car was created in 1996 by Tony Abou-Ganim (known as the Modern Mixologist) while he was a bartender at the Starlight Room in San Francisco. It came about after spiced rum brand Captain Morgan approached him about developing a new drink featuring their product, and even though he wasn't a fan of spiced rum at the time, he took it as an opportunity to experiment. Tony modelled the drink on the Sidecar, a cocktail that, at the time, had fallen out of fashion and was rarely seen. Swapping out the base spirit from Cognac to spiced rum, he also added a cinnamon sugar rim and the Cable Car quickly became San Francisco’s new favourite cocktail, helped no doubt by being named after the city’s famous mode of transportation.

The Cable Car is is one of the best cocktails to incorporate elements that both contrast and complement each other, coming together to create a balanced drink. The spiced rum mingles with lemon juice and orange curaçao for a sour, yet subtly sweet and tasty drink that's great all year round.

The lemon juice is a key ingredient in this cocktail, so it’s best to use freshly squeezed if you can. To get the most juice out of your lemon, roll it back and forth on your counter, applying gentle pressure, for 30 to 40 seconds before cutting it open. This loosens the membranes and allows them to release more juice. Another tip that many swear by for maximum juicing potential is to heat your lemon for 20 seconds in the microwave before cutting and squeezing. And if you find the Cable Car a bit on the tart side, simply add more sugar syrup to suit.

If you're relatively new to rum and loving the Cable Car, why not delve deeper into this Caribbean spirit? Discover everything you need to know about mixing, sipping and pairing rum here, or try your hand at mixing some other rum cocktails, such as the Dark and Stormy, Rum Old Fashioned, Rum Sour, or the Mai Tai.