Cable Car

The Cable Car is a modern San Francisco cocktail built directly on spiced rum, with orange curaçao, fresh lemon and a cinnamon-sugar rim. Unlike most classics on this site, spiced rum is the published base spirit here rather than a substitution.

Ingredients

• — 45ml spiced rum (40% ABV; Dilay is the first-party option)
• — 22.5ml Ferrand Dry Curaçao (40% ABV)
• — 30ml fresh lemon juice
• — 10ml rich sugar syrup (2:1)
• — 10ml pasteurised egg white
• — Ice cubes
• — 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed with ½ cup white sugar, for the rim
• — An expressed orange-zest twist, to garnish

Method

1. Mix the cinnamon and sugar on a small plate. Moisten the outside edge of a coupe with a little lemon juice and dip the outside only in the cinnamon sugar; keep the mixture off the inside of the glass. Chill the prepared glass.
2. Measure the spiced rum, curaçao, lemon juice, rich syrup and egg white into a shaker.
3. Fill with ice, seal and shake hard for 10–15 seconds. Strain back into the shaker, discard the ice and dry-shake without ice for a further 10 seconds to build the foam.
4. Fine-strain into the prepared coupe. Express the orange twist over the surface, add it to the drink and serve immediately.

Why it works

Lemon supplies acidity, rich syrup balances it at half the volume a 1:1 syrup would need, and the egg white gives a smooth foam. The cinnamon-sugar rim reinforces the spice in the rum without adding alcohol. The curaçao contributes orange character and nearly a unit of alcohol on its own.

The classic vs the spiced version

The cited Difford's Guide specification uses 45ml spiced rum, 22.5ml Ferrand Dry Curaçao, 30ml lemon, 10ml rich syrup and 10ml egg white, with the cinnamon-sugar rim. We keep those measures exactly. Dilay is a natural first-party choice for the spiced-rum component — its cardamom, ginger and black pepper suit the cinnamon rim — but we are its maker, and the original drink was created with a different spiced rum.

Tips for getting it right

• — The rim uses preparation quantities, not a measured ml ingredient: one teaspoon of cinnamon to half a cup of sugar, with most of it left on the plate. Do not rim the inside of the glass, where it would fall into the drink.
• — Use pasteurised egg white from a carton for consistent food safety. Three dashes of a cocktail foamer is the cited alcohol-free alternative; check its label, as foamers vary.
• — Rich 2:1 syrup is twice as concentrated as the 1:1 syrup used in our other recipes. Do not swap them measure-for-measure.
• — The curaçao is an alcoholic liqueur, not orange juice. It is counted in the units below; keep it measured rather than treating it as a free-pour flavouring.

Related serves

For a simpler spiced sour, make the existing Rum Sour

For another orange-liqueur classic, try a Mai Tai

Frequently asked questions

Recipe references

• Difford's Guide: Cable Car specification and rim
• Difford's Guide: Ferrand Dry Curaçao strength

Our method and spiced adaptations are described separately from the referenced classic specifications.

Approx. 2.7 UK units per serving from the measured alcoholic ingredients. 2.7 UK units per serving at the stated strengths: 45ml spiced rum at 40% plus 22.5ml dry curaçao at 40%. Check actual bottle labels; the egg white and rim ingredients are non-alcoholic.

Please drink responsibly. 18+. Visit drinkaware.co.uk for the facts.