About the Book
From the co-owner of Death & Co., America’s Best Cocktail Bar, these 100 recipes celebrate Cuba's rich cocktail culture. Featuring classics (Daiquiri, Floridita) and modern concoctions (Cienfuegos Shake, Isla de Tesoros), Cuban Cocktails captures the tropical elegance of Cuba with mouthwatering drinks and enlightening sidebars, quotes, and facts on the country's legendary bars and nightclubs.
About the Author :
Ravi DeRossi began his career as an artist but soon set his sights on New York nightlife. His first venture, the Bourgeois Pig, was a press favorite. Then he co-founded Death & Co. and shortly thereafter Desnuda Cevicheria, described by the New York Times as "one of the most creative and innovative restaurants that New York has to offer." Mayahuel, his tequila and mescal bar, won the Best New Cocktail Bar Award at Tales of the Cocktail, and then he opened the Cuban rum bar Cienfuegos, among other notable establishments. Nominated by Wine Enthusiast for International Tastemaker of the Year, DeRossi is a founding member of NYC Hospitality Alliance and established BEAST Foundation for a cruelty-free world for animals. He lives in New York City.
Jane Danger began her bartending career at CBGB in the East Village before moving to Death & Co. and then the PDT cocktail lounge. She also worked at Little Branch and Dutch Kills before opening Cienfuegos and Jane's Sweet Buns, a boozy bakery specializing in cinnamon rolls and cocktail-inspired pastries. From there she moved to the newly opened Nomad and Nomad Bar. She consults on and contributes to cocktail menus all along the East Coast, and her work has appeared in Food and Wine, Imbibe, New York magazine, Time Out New York, New York Post, New York Times, The PDT Cocktail Book, Mister Boston 75th Anniversary Guide, the Food Network, Cooking Channel, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City.
Alla Lapushchik assisted with the opening of the Bourgeois Pig while studying at New York University before moving to Mayahuel, Death & Co., Desnuda Cevicheria, and 124 Rabbit Club. After opening the Post Office whiskey bar in South Williamsburg, she opened OTB, focused on craft spirits and comfort food. She lives in Brooklyn.
Review :
*“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.” —Library Journal (STARRED review)
*“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.” —Library Journal (STARRED review)
