I am definitely on an alcoholic mode today. I predict this Friday is going to be a good one. (^_-)

Writing my previous post about the discovery of Ron Caney, I realized that I should also post a few words about Guayabita del Pinar. It is not fair to leave aside my old but eternal love for this exceptional drink from Pinar del Río.

Guayabita is a miniature guava that grows in the westernmost part of Cuba (Pinar del Río) and it is used to make the liquor. I would not know how to define it since it is not a rum, it is not a whisky…There are two kinds of Guayabita, sweet and dry (dulce y seca). I prefer to buy the dry one as it is already sweet enough for me. I sometimes mix it with a little bit of coke, but really, less than a finger.

Most of the people I know declare Guayabita to be their last option to drink due to previous hangovers. I never had a problem and I can confess I have drank it enough. Although, I am sure those Cubans talking had more than a drink or two.

Friends make fun of me when I say I have to stock up on Guayabita before leaving for Canada. I once gave a bottle to a Canadian co-worker and told him: -take this home, have a drink and guess how much I paid for the bottle. He fell in love with Guayabita and could not believe the price.  A bottle of guayabita costs a little more than $3 CUC, even less than rum. A few years ago, I was visiting Cuba and Guayabita disappeared from the all the stores. I ran to some little shop in Regla (a municipality across the Havana bay) when someone told me they still had some.

I am aware of how much I praised Guayabita del Pinar but I would not change it for the most expensive liquor out there. In fact, the idea of being on a Pinar del Río mountain, camping and warming yourself up with a shot of GP gives me a lot of ideas for the future.

Cuban musician Cándido Fabré composed this hilarious song about Guayabita del Pinar and I love Willy Chirino’s version of it: