Daiquiri contest livens up Havana bar, a Hemingway favourite
HAVANA — Happy hour came early Thursday as 10 bartenders from six countries including Cuba, the United States and Canada vied to be crowned “king of the daiquiri” at the storied Old Havana tavern where the drink was born.
Salsa music blared in the morning at El Floridita, blenders hummed and a few dozen spectators were on hand to applaud the mixologists when they presented their frothy cocktails, using tongs to finish them off by slipping in colorful straws.
Nick Detrich, a 31-year-old from New Orleans, intently eyeballed his whirring blender as he added splashes of rum, explaining afterward that his technique involves “watching it dance” and picking up cues from the texture.
“Watching the swirl to make sure that that’s uniform, as opposed to just doing one and a half ounces and calling it a day,” said Detrich, who runs Cane & Table and two other joints back home along with his partners. “You really learn that drink while you’re making it.