Cerveza Cubana

Working hard to finish Slow Train to Guantanamo, my epic account of travelling Cuba by train in June this year. Started in Havana and took it in stages down the country to Santiago de Cuba, capital of 'Orient', but definitely NOT the orient express.

One of the big surprises though was that there are more beers in Cuba than most tourists ever come across. The two you get in most Peso Convertible bars are Buccanero (available in fuerte - strong - at a chunky 5.7 pct ABV and even stronger MAX 6.5 pct), in red cans, and Cristal (, in green cans. Either will cost you CUC2 peso (roughly the equivalent of USD $1) in most bars in Havana, but half that almost anywhere in the country.

The thing to remember about travel in Cuba is that the convertible peso CUC1 is worth 25 CUP, the Cuban peso which is what nearly all ordinary Cubans earn. They can possess both but obviously one is vastly more coveted than the other, and when you understand that a VERY good wage for the ordinary Cuban is CUP 400-500 a month (many earn just CUP 200 = about $9 USD) the average Jose in the street doesn't drink a lot of beer.

Or at least not the same beer as foreigners. There are, however, good brews that can be bought for CUP. Chief among them (haha - it's what the name means) is Cacique, which has a lot more evident hops and less sugary sweetness than say Buccanero fuerte, which can be positively cloying.
Almost equally good is Mayabe. Both of these come in 330ml cans and can be bought in CUP shops, and ordinary bars intended primarily for natives but more than happy to serve foreigners too. The downside is that at 22 CUP (Cacique) or 20 CUP (Mayabe), they aren't much cheaper for the Cubans

BUT there are others, nearly all served in smaller (250ml) bottles for 10 CUP (one of the things about a socialist economy is that they cost the same whether bought in a 'supermarket' or in bar). Some can be significantly stronger, around 6.5 pct, and often from regional breweries. I tasted Tinima from Camgüey in the newly named World Heritage site of that name.

Weaker but more than adequate in alcohol terms at 5.2pct was Rubia (as you might expect a red lager) which I drank at 2.00 am in an open air bar in the charming but unpretentious little town of Las Tunas, and Latina (Cerveza Classica), which comes in at a modest 4.2pct, brewed in Guantanamo. The Cuban city (famed for the classic song Guantamera dedicated to a local girl) rather than the intimidating fenced-off US base!!!