In the 1920s, El Floridita's star barman, Constantino Ribalaigua, refined the drink by substituting shaved ice for the boiled water. Today, El Floridita's Daiquiris are made in an electric blender, but little else has changed over the years. The spacious bar area is designed in an neoclassical Art Deco style, with tall, slender columns and scarlet cocktail tables. Behind it, and three steps up, the round dining room is decorated in cream and gold, with a large mural depicting the old port. The waiters, in red tuxedo jackets and white trousers, are formal but friendly.
Musicians serenade the room.
Working here is like traveling the world. Tourists come and go, but El Floridita's refinement inhibits the raucous crowds that stampede La Bodeguita. Inspired by a Daiquiri or two, James Suckling, Cigar Aficionado's European editor, and I decide that it's the perfect place for a full-scale tasting of Cuban rums. Those made outside Cuba lack the best raw material that exists, molasses made from Cuban sugarcane. The sugarcane plant is a tropical perennial native to Asia.