DRINKS!

There appear to be only three typical drinks :

Coffee
Beer
Rum based cocktails

We did our best between us to sample them all on a daily basis, sometimes two or three times, just to ensure we could give accurate feedback!

Coffee:  Considering that coffee is grown in Cuba and arrabatica beans make wonderful coffee, it was a surprise to find that coffee was a very unpredictable drink. We sampled as much milky dishwater and bitter coffee demanding sugar to lessen its unpleasantness as we did delicious aromatic cafe con leche and expresso. Beware the happy traveller who having found some of the good stuff decides to buy it to bring home! The best place we found for coffee was in Havana in the Old Square. It takes about 45 minutes to arrive due to the relaxed staff, but it is worth the wait!  If you are very lucky you can queue for another 30 minutes with the locals to buy a kilo of fresh ground coffee ....... provided the grinders are working!

 

Beer: the regular Cuban brands are a nice light Crystal and the stronger Buccaneer. As beer is priced about the same as fruit juice or fizzy drinks, it just didn't make sense to drink anything else when really thirsty! Micro breweries are just making an appearance in Havana.

Rum is the national product, and the base ingredient for countless Cuban cocktails!  We got to like it neat as a nightcap, in daiquiris when we were hot, and with lemon and honey to keep away thickly coughs whether we had one or not!  Mojitas were pretty good when we weren't hot, coughing or going to bed! Some of the home-stays provided the best cocktails in the whole of Cuba!