I’m sure there are other beers in Cuba, but everywhere I went in Havana seemed to serve two in particular. One was Bucanero, the other Cristal. I tried both on my first day, and made Bucanero my regular choice. Its strength is 5.4 percent. Since Havana was quite hot, a beer at lunch or in the early evening provided a good cooler.
The other drinks were nearly all based on rum, with Havana Club served everywhere. The most popular cocktail is a mojito, made from 5 ingredients. There is sugar, lime, sparkling water, mint and white rum. In Cuba they serve a local aromatic plant called yerba buena (”good herb”) instead of mint, which is why they claim you can only get a ‘real’ mojito in Cuba. The second most popular cocktail seemed to be a Cuba Libre, with rum, coke and a wedge of lime. I was told that 10 year-old Santiago de Cuba is a better rum for drinking neat. And the other cocktail I took to was (bar) Floridita’s version of a Long Island Iced Tea, with vodka, gin, tequila, rum and triple sec, plus lime juice and cola, and not very much cola, either!