The Mojito is a mainstay of classic rum cocktails, bright with mint and bubbles and refreshingly crisp. But what happens when the Mojito dresses up for a night on the town? In the earliest days of the new century, New York bartender Audrey Saunders gave the familiar Mojito an upscale makeover, creating a modern classic along the way. Keeping the original’s core elements of mint, lime, and sugar, Saunders swapped out the Mojito’s crisp white rum for the richer vanilla-and-caramel tones of an aged rum. Adding Angostura bitters for depth, spice, and complexity, she capped the transformation by putting aside the club soda in favor of Champagne (as one does). Served in a coupe, with the bubbles dancing around a green sprig of fresh mint, the Old Cuban was perfectly suited for a brewing cocktail renaissance. Saunders introduced the Old Cuban in 2002 at Bemelmans Bar. There, it quickly became an Upper East Side classic, then a downtown standard following the 2005 opening of Pegu Club, one of the foundational cocktail bars of the current century. Before long, the drink spread to menus across the country including Zig Zag Café in Seattle and Nopa in San Francisco. After a quarter century, the Old Cuban remains a dependable crowd pleaser, appealing to cocktail-bar veterans and rum newbies alike.