Cuban bar mixes giant cocktail, eyes world record

Havana: Cuba`s Floridita bar, one of the favourite haunts of US writer Ernest Hemingway during his time in Havana, mixed a giant 275-liter daiquiri to beat the world record as part of the celebrations of the establishment`s 195th anniversary.

In 33 minutes, 12 bartenders used a battery of blenders at the Floridita to make the equivalent of 1,466 normal daiquiris, enough to fill an enormous cocktail glass, the work of local artist Lazaro Navarrete, with 275 liters of the establishment`s signature cocktail. To achieve their goal, they used 88 bottles of white rum plus great quantities of the other daiquiri ingredients like lemon juice and ice. The bartenders, aided by 55 local workers, carried out their work under the "gaze" of the bronze statue of Hemingway, which, life-size and leaning on his elbow at one end of the bar, is one of Floridita`s attractions. When the gigantic daiquiri glass was full, those in the bar sang "Happy Birthday" to the author of "The Old Man and the Sea". With this "maxi-cocktail", the Floridita sought to make the Guinness Book of Records, though it won`t be known for three weeks whether the new record will be registered, the bar`s manager Andres Arencibia told reporters. Last July 6 marked the 195th year that the legendary Havana bar has been one of Cuba`s most famous establishments and most frequented by tourists, and which also claims to be the "birthplace of the daiquiri". Nestled in Old Havana on the corner of Obispo and Monserrate streets, the bar restaurant opened its doors in 1817 under the name La Pina de Plata, and since then has hosted many personalities from the worlds of politics, literature, art, music and films. One of the famous clients who became a regular and who became part of the bar`s history was Hemingway, who showed up almost every day at this bar during his long stays in Cuba over a period of 20 years. "My daiquiri in the Floridita": the phrase is attributed to the American author, who is also responsible for one of the most famous variations of the daiquiri offered here - the "Papa Hemingway", which, unlike the original recipe, contains no sugar but instead is a blend of grapefruit, maraschino and a double shot of rum. The Floridita bar belongs to the Cuban state-run group Palmares. IANS