The Association of Bartenders of Cuba (ACC) will celebrate its 100th anniversary this June 27. The date will be the occasion for a day of celebrations, which will include competitions, tastings and tributes.
The program of activities begins this Tuesday at the Hotel Nacional, in Havana, with exhibitions and the presentation of the Guaragil cocktail, according to reports Travel Trade Caribbean (TTC).
One day later, and coinciding with the centenary, the International Cocktail Competition will take place and the tasting of a cocktail created for the ACC century, adds the specialized media.
There will also be a pairing between Havana Club drinks and Habanos cigars in tribute to the island’s bartenders, while, in the afternoon, the Vedado Room of the Havana hotel will host the final of the Fabio Delgado in Memoriam Competition.
In accordance with TTCthe centenary celebrations will close tomorrow night “with Havana Club brand rums and Pucara drinks.”
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As previously announced Latin Press (PL)the celebrations would also include other activities, such as meetings, tastings and talks, as well as the presence of senior managers of the International Bartenders Association (IBA), including its president Giorgio Fadda.
Then it had been reported that there would be more days of activities – from the 23rd to the 28th – although apparently this intention was readjusted amid the complex economic situation on the island.
The Asociation
The Association of Bartenders of Cuba currently has 1,582 members throughout the island in its ranks, according to Travel Trade Caribbean the president of the entity, Eddis Naranjo Carrillo.
Founded as the Cuban Bartenders Club, the association emerged as a gastronomic union that brought together not only bartenders, but also shop assistants and cooks, among others, as specified in an interview with Tribune of the Havana José Rafa Malém, former president of the ACC.
Its first president was José Cuervo, whose remains are found in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery, in Santiago de Cuba.
“The affiliation of many of its founders to Freemasonry led them to choose as their motto a phrase typical of that institution: Fraternity and Progress, upheld to this day,” said Malém, who currently holds the status of Honorary President of the association.
The rich history of Cuban cocktails, with classic preparations such as the Daiquiri, the Mojito and the Cuba Libre as a letter of introduction, supports the work of the ACC in its century of existence.
Added to this are the awards and recognitions obtained by its members at an international level, a long record to which this year have been added awards such as those won by Kenia Borges at the World Bar Lady Championship in Athens; that of Ana Carla Hernández, in the International Lady Drink Tournament, and that of José Montero, awarded for his creation in Cyprus.
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Furthermore, in January of this year Havana, the city of Floridita and Bodeguita del Medio, was distinguished as the Ibero-American Capital of Cocktails in 2024. The distinction was granted during the Madrid International Tourism Fair (Fitur), one of the main events of its kind throughout the world. This, “by virtue of their excellence in this domain.”
“Evidently, Havana is the capital of cocktail culture,” considered the president of the Ibero-American Academy of Gastronomy (AIBG), Rafael Ansón, for whom the art of mixing liquors “is a genuine expression of Cuba.”
Cuba hosted the World Cocktail Championship last year. Held in Varadero, bartenders from more than 60 countries participated in the event.
The island is a frequent venue for events, courses and cocktail parties, both national and international.
Recently the Havana Club company held a team event in Havana, won by Greece, and shortly before, in March, the International Bartenders Association IBA Judges Course was held in Varadero, in which the island reached 30 certified teachers trained to teach international cocktail courses, according to TTC.
