cola libre

1 1/2 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup (*)
1 Egg White

Shake egg white with lime juice. Add cinnamon syrup and ice, and shake again. Strain into a Collins glass with 3-4 oz cola. Add more cola to shaker tin, lightly swirl to rinse ice cubes, and strain again; repeat until glass is full. Garnish with a lime wheel studded with 5 cloves, and add a straw.
(*) Vanilla syrup, nonalcoholic falernum, or other spiced syrup would work well here too.

Earlier in the week, I tinkered with a mocktail version of my Kingston Fizz. Since I find cola to be too sweet for my palate, I took the route of the classic Cuba Libre and added lime juice to the mix. Besides the Kingston Fizz's spice elements, the egg white aspect that I repeated here aided to smooth over the drink and helped cut back on the sensation of sweetness as well. I originally did this on a smaller lime and cinnamon syrup amount and later upped it to the above recipe to make for a more flavorful and balanced libation.
The cinnamon syrup and lime donated greatly to the drink's aroma. A creamy lime and caramel sip gave way to lime and cola spice on the swallow with a cinnamon finish. Indeed, the extra lime juice here helps to cut back on the soda's sugar attack and made the drink seem less like cola itself. Besides the one that I made for myself and photographed above, I made one for Cristin, one of the servers; she commented that the flavor profile reminded her a lot of Key Lime Pie.