It’s hard to find a sadder national history than Cuba in the 20th Century. Even now, 18 years into the 21st Century, there remain holdover issues that shadow that nation’s progress and its relationship with the United States. There is one positive avenue: everybody eats and almost everybody drinks.
Cuban Cocktails is a history of a glorious cocktail past, a portrayal of a vibrant cocktail present, and hopeful promise for the years to come.
Cuba has been isolated and therefore able to stay “cocktail pure” as the authors of this book depict. Cuba never underwent the deprivation of Prohibition. They id not “dissolve into a dark age of convenience aimed at easier, faster, sweeter intoxication.” In one current Cuban bar, the man behind the bar showed his copy of the cocktail manual with 1,100 recipes. There are footnotes on many of the drinks describing the history and the ultimate perfection of the beverage. Cuba is a land of cocktail treasures.
The 100 recipes here span Cuban history from Spanish colonial days through the Golden Age before World War 2, the Tiki Age of the Cold War, and now the contemporary, modern drinks pointing to a grand cocktail future. Here’s a sampling of the recipes, old and new:
Between the Sheets: rum, cognac, Cointreau, lemon juice, bitters
Island Lightning: spiced rum, applejack, demerara syrup, lemon juice, bitters, cinnamon stick
Twenty-first Amendment Punch: cognac, rum, whisky, simple syrup, lemon juice, bitters, sparkling wine
Pink Daiquiri: white rum, maraschino, grenadine, lime juice
Honeysuckle: rum, honey syrup, lime juice
Bittersweet Symphony: rosemary, demerara syrup, rum, pear liqueur, honey liqueur, lemon juice
Navy Grog: rum, honey syrup, cinnamon syrup, grapefruit juice, lime juice, bitters
Siboney: rum, passion fruit syrup, lemon juice, pineapple juice
Missionary’s Downfall: rum, peach brandy, honey syrup, lime juice, pineapple wedges, mint leaves
I like that last idea, the Downfall. If you are about the traipse into forbidden territory, why not do it in style, peach brandy and all.
This lovely cocktail book is complex. The recipes here will send you to your shelves or your store. The mingling of alcohol with fruits and syrup conducted with ready style. There’s a lovely two page spread with 17 ideas for syrups and infusions, including a recipe for your own homemade banana rum. It is that personal aspect that distinguishes the mixologists of Cuba. And this book is a wonderful sampling of their skills and power, past and present and surely in your future.