During the past decade, the cocktail world has changed in the same way every cultural group changed: it went global. Nowadays, every major city, from London to New York, Paris or Dubai has its venues, its spirit festivals and its tasting events. Havana Club International SA, through Havana Cocteles, has the aim of keeping all the spirit aficionados in touch with this new world of activities, whilst keeping its special bond with the city of Havana itself.
The capital city of Cuba hasn’t lost one bit of its stature. Its history makes it an undefeatable leader of the cocktail world. Havana is the birthplace of legendary rum cocktails such as the Mojito, the Daiquirí, El Presidente and the Cuba Libre among others. Through the creation of the “Club de Cantineros” (Bartender’s association) in 1924, the Cuban cocktail has become a secular tradition. This is the place where a legion of celebrities, including the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Greta Garbo and Nat King Cole to name but a few, would come in search for the finest drinks in the world.
That’s the reason why our attachment to Havana remains absolute: it's a different and unique city, charming and romantic, talented and energetic, surprising and confusing, old-school, and even a little bit weary at times and yet still so full of promise. We’ll keep sharing it with everyone, especially the professionals, through the biannual Grand Prix, the Master classes and, of course, through Havana Cocteles.
But, we also have to keep our eyes open and see what’s going on beyond the shore of Cuba. This is also the reason why we chose to create this blog: to offer an informative ride across the cocktail world, not a dictionary or a “mixipedia”, but a sincere and simple journey. With that idea in our minds, we’ll try to find the person behind the beverage through interviews and portraits of bartenders and mixologists from all over the planet.
We’ll also try to find an alternative way of speaking about cocktails since behind every recipe hides a story, a tradition, a breakthrough, a place or a name. All those little chronicles will be our way to explore, at our own tempo, a world that keeps surprising and enchanting us.