It’s 2016; year of the Monkey, year of the Olympics, the US Presidential Election (the UK's too), the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and, excitingly for those of the bon vivant persuasion, year of the 11th Havana Club Cocktail Grand Prix.
This year I was lucky enough to join over 40 of the world’s best bartenders at the finals in Havana, Cuba, where they competed to win the coveted title of Havana Club Cocktail Grand Prix Champion. It’s one of the most prestigious international competitions on the planet, taking place only every 2 years, and draws truly global talent in. From its judging panel who make up a number of the World’s 50 Best Bars, to its curators Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, cocktail historians and winners of more daiquiris than I could shake a stick at, the flight lists for that week are like a who's who for the rum world.
2016’s theme was cultural exchange and my next few blogs will explore this – telling you my time in Cuba living and breathing Havana fusion and exploring this vibrant country’s culture of rum, music and food. First up though….the Cocktail Grand Prix itself!!
I was in Havana for the competition for a total of 5 days, although the official finals only spanned the last 2. The 3 days before the contestants and I had been conscripted into what I can only describe as Rum Bootcamp, learning about (and drinking) Cuban rum and culture. Before you feel too sorry for us, stop, don't – it was fabulous and set the competitors up to create insane cocktails blending flavours from their own country with Cuban ones.
Bootcamp included seminars from the judging panel (some of the best bartenders in the world) on fusing Cuban rum with local ingredients from Europe, Asia and Latin America, Cuban music (including dub step!) and the history of the Cuban bar scene. We were toured round these classic bars, sampling their iconic Cuban cocktails and walking in the footsteps of Hemingway around old Havana. We visited the Havana Club distillery where over 40 million bottles a year are produced, learning how this special Cuban rum is made and aged from Maestro de Ron Cubano Abel Morales. We danced the evenings away to Cuban rhythms, from Santeria and Son, to Hip Hop and Reggaeton, and as every day passed we became ever more embroiled in Havana culture. By the time the semi finals rolled around on Thursday the group, contestants and journalists alike, were walking with a new, rum soused and more Cuban step.
Thursday came and the semi-finals hit. Early that morning contestants had been to the Cuban farmers’ market to pick up produce to use in their entries, and when they came out before a packed auditorium there were some colourful cocktail stations indeed! Each was given a few minutes to prep, then a couple more to shake up their fusion creation before presenting them to the judging panel. The competition was so tough that instead of announcing 10 finalists, 13 were taken through to Friday’s final!
On the big day of the final the standard remained just as high – I know, I tasted all of the cocktails and any could have come off the menu of the world’s finest bars. Each entrant had a story behind his/her drink explaining how it fused flavours from home with those of Cuba and some took bar theatrics to the next level, serving them in quirky containers, such as a dominos box.
Results were announced that evening at the Havana Club Cocktail Grand Prix Banquet.
People’s Choice Award: Terkel Kleist, Denmark
3rd: Marian Krause, Germany
2nd: Veilandas Povilas, Lithuania
The winner? Cuban born Amaury Cepada from Taverna Yayabo bar, Havana.
Amaury’s cocktail was inspired by the history of African slaves brought to Cuba and made using sugar cane which he pressed live on stage with an old style press. This was mixed with Havana Club 7 year old, bitter orange and honey, served on clay with a tobacco leaf (used to add flavour to the cup). When making his drink, he had some of his old friends in the audience light up huge cuban cigars, wafting smoke over the crowd to recreate the atmosphere in the bar he works at.
Amaury is 42, has lived in Cuba all his life and has never left the country. It is the first time that a Cuban has won the competition and his life will change forever. The prize for competition winners is a bottle of £1000 Havana Club Maximo and a bursary to work with the brand, travelling the world and teaching bartenders everywhere about Cuban cocktails. Amaury said, minutes after he won, that he ‘doesn’t care about fame’, but ‘loves what he does and working for a better future is the most important thing’.
So ended a whirlwind adventure of a Havana Club Cocktail Grand Prix and so began a whole new one for its 2016 winner, Amaury.
It’s been a special competition this year, made ever more so its theme of cultural exchange. It spoke of learning, a sharing of ideas and the friendships that all contestants took away. I’ll leave you with a quote Dave Broom, world spirit expert, gave us about this year’s theme. It rang and still rings true with me: ‘Fusion is not a compromise. It is a meeting of equals to create something new without losing identify.’
Keep posted to hear more about my favourite Cuban Cocktails, Havana Cultura and how to explore Havana and wider Cuba best.
