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Barmans Juan Carlos Valladares e Nelson Cano
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They are three heavyweights of Cuban cocktails. Neither randomly nor just for being part of prestigious recipe books worldwide, they are known under the sun. They are daiquiri, Cuba Libre and mojito

Daiquiri
Natural daiquiri was all the rage in Havana since the early dawn of the Cuban republic, thanks to celebrated bartender Emilio Gonzalez “Maragato”, who used to work at the Plaza Hotel. Later on, Catalonian Constantino Ribalaigua Vert “Constante”, a famous bartender at the La Florida Bar & Restaurant, started dishing out his crushed-ice version of the drink. But it was the 1954 Nobel Prize-winning American author and great Cuban friend Ernest Hemingway who actually put it on the map when he said: “This drink can’t get any better, not even close to being better, anywhere else in the world.”
How to make...
- 90 ml. white rum
- Lemon juice
- Ice cubes
- Two tablespoons of sugar

Cuba Libre
Cuba boasted pretty good rums by the late 19th century when Coca Cola jumped on the scene. The entry of this universal drink on the island nation came on the heels of the Hispanic-Cuban-American War and briefly before the first U.S. intervention in 1898. Coupled with the abundance of lemon from the tropical lands and the arrival of ice to Cuba, this combined drink eventually elbowed its way through.
How to make...
- Four parts of white rum
- Cola drink
- Ice cubes
- A slice of lemon

Mojito: from Francis Drake to the World
One of the versions on the birth of this cocktail points to renowned bartender Emilio Gonzalez “Maragato”, probably based on some kind of recipe attached to the classic Julep, an American-origin drink generally consisting of Kentucky bourbon, sugar, fresh peppermint leaves and ice cubes. Other variants include Scotch, rum and brandy.
How to make...
- Two teaspoons of sugar
- The juice of a lemon half (good enough to cover the sugar)
- Two sticks of peppermint
- 9 cl. of carbonated water
- 4.5 cl. of 3-Year Havana Club rum
- Four ice cubes