Cuban Cocktails

Starred review from December 1, 2015

This handsome compendium is also well timed: since the relaxing of trade and travel restrictions earlier this year, Cuba is having a long-overdue moment. Not that the authors of this book are jumping on a bandwagon--their Cuban-inspired East Village bar Cienfuegos, named after a small island resort town, opened nearly a decade ago. DeRossi, Jane Danger, and Alla Lapushchik are aficionados of Cuban drinks and keen to prove that it's not all rum and tired Ernest Hemingway references. Their drinks celebrate the island's culinary heritage and bring new flavors into the mix (especially in the final chapter, which invites their mixologist friends to share recipes featuring unexpected flavors such as herbal Fernet Branca, absinthe, and Amaretto). But rum is undoubtedly king, showcased here in an array of punches and sours, flips and swizzles, daiquiris, tiki drinks, and warming toddies. The recipes are interspersed with colorful histories of those who built Cuba's venerable drinking culture, from the early distillers and hard-drinking sailors to the American exiles from Prohibition (and, yes, a certain bearded writer). All that's needed now is the Havana Club. VERDICT A stylish and timely collection of recipes that respects Cuba's history yet offers a fresh look at a world opening up.--Joanna Scutts, Astoria, NY

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