Travel with me to the sunny Caribbean island of Cuba – where the times are a-changing, even though it looks like the 1960s – with this recipe for a summery cocktail called Dolce Havana.

Many rum-based cocktails emerged from this region, mainly because of the quality and variety of rums produced here. Many of them also include sugar cane but western diets are changing so these drinks can come across as being too sweet or too strong. This one does not include any sugar directly in the drink (but rum can be made with sugar, so it’s not like these drinks aren’t sweet already)

Ingredients

• 4 cl White Rum. White rums generally add a little sweetness to a drink without much of any other flavour. Amber or dark rums are stronger, so change this only if you have a sweet tooth.
• 2 cl Aperol
• 1.5 cl Cointreau, or any triple sec. Cointreau works well with the fruit.
• 3 cl Orange Juice
• 2 cl Lime Juice 

Using Malibu rum, a pop culture favourite for some reason, means that your drink will be sweeter than you may expect.

Instructions

• Squeeze the fruit and pour all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice
• Shake vigorously
• Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
• If in season, and if you find one, cut a slit into a Cape Gooseberry and place it on the rim 

Now, walk on to the deck of your SunSeeker boat, your white linen shirt billowing in the breeze carried over the water, and sip the summer as the sun sets.