You can ask around and everyone will answer the same: El del Frente has the best cocktails in Havana. This place is so approachable it has shared with us the secret of its success. Five mouth-watering recipes of some of their star cocktails follow, for those who put in some time at this bar and want to enjoy a hint of modern Havana in a glass at home.
Preparation: The order of the ingredients instructs the proves: pour and mixing all elements, add plenty of ice and then decorate. It is important that the glass is large.
1. Bloody Mary “Cesar Premium”
– 1 ring of celery salt on the rim of the glass
– 1 cachucha pepper cut in half
– 1 coriander leaf cut in half
– 1 half of jalapeño pepper
– Lemon juice: 30 ml
– Worcestershire sauce: 15 ml
– Soy sauce: 5 ml
– Kermato (spiced tomato) or regular tomato juice: 180 ml
– Vodka: 60 ml
Garnish: Depending on your taste, we recommend using the same ingredients that we use in the preparation, plus the octopus!
– 3 fried octopus tentacles
– 1 culantro Leaf
– 1 cachucha pepper
– Black pepper ground from above
2. Michelada de la casa
– 1 ring of salt around the glass rim
– 1 cachucha pepper cut in half
– 1 coriander leaf cut in half
– Lemon juice: 30 ml
– Worcestershire sauce: 10 – 15 ml
– Soy sauce: 5 ml
– Kermato (spiced tomato) or regular tomato juice: 30 ml
– Abundant ice
– 1 beer, preferably Cristal or Bucanero
Garnish: Depending on your taste, we recommend using
the same ingredients that we use in the preparation:
– 1 culantro Leaf
– 1 cachucha pepper
– Black pepper ground from above
3. Gintonic “Red Point”
– 1 cachucha pepper, split in half.
– 3 juniper berries
– 2 cardamon pods
– 1 strip of lemon (for decoration)
– Tanqueray Geneva: 60 ml
– Abundant ice
– 1 bottle of Schweppes tonic
– 5 drops of orange bitters
Garnish:
– Half lemon
4. Piña Colada “La Horchata de Emilito”
– Horchata (mixture of coconut milk and pineapple juice), preferably Emilito’s one: 60 ml
– Havana Club Rum 3 years: 60 ml
– 1 tablespoon of milk powder, preferably if it is from the corner cellar
– 5 ice cubes.
Garnish:
– 1 pineapple slice
Preparation:
– Pour the ingredients in this order and then beat. Decorate to your liking.
5. Mango daiquiri with cachucha pepper
– 4 tablespoons of sugar bar
– Lemon juice: 60 ml
– Maraschino: 5 ml
– Havana Club Rum 3 years: 60 ml
– 2 tablespoons of mango in pieces
– 1 red cachucha pepper
– Abundant blended ice
Garnish:
– 1 lemon wedge for glass rim with thin lemon peel strips that coil down glass stem
– 1 sprig of peppermint
Preparation:
Pour the ingredients in this order and then beat. Decorate to your liking.