Kim, Lucas and I ended 2015 with a trip to Cuba, a destination I’ve long wanted to visit.
We had a really good time during our visit and the island did live up to expectations. However, the food was pretty disappointing. The beverages were a bit better with their soda TuKola being quite tasty and refreshing and their beers Cristal and Bucanero being enjoyable enough when drank ice-cold.
If you happen to be a beer lover you might want to pass on visiting Cuba in the immediate future.
According to Reuters, “The ubiquitous fridges that dispense beer in Cuba’s bars, cafes and gas stations are running out of the island’s favorite Cristal and Bucanero brands in recent weeks“.
So what’s the cause of this beer shortage? It seems that tourism, especially an increase in American tourists is causing this dry spell!
Cerveceria Bucanero brews Bucanero as well as the country’s most popular beer, Cristal. I found it interesting to read that “the company is a government joint venture with the world’s largest brewer, Belgium’s Anheuser Busch InBev“.
The demand is so high that the brewery needs a new plant to keep up with demand!
With US- Cuba relations improving, is it time for America to start shipping Bud and Coors Light to Cuba to help out with their beer shortage? I hope not!
Find out more from Reuters here.
Related Cuba Posts:
Everybody Hates A Tourist- Definitely good to know!
MFK- Very cool! I stuck with Cristal but did try a Bucanero a couple of times. Cristal is no worse than a cheap US beer which I do not mind when the price is right!
Jared- Thanks for sharing. My family and I flew through Canada on the inaugural Air China flight to Havana.
The beer in Cuba is really nothing special (think Budweiser). Rum is where it’s at! Here’s a good article if you want to know how to travel to Cuba now http://www.stridetravel.com/blogs/travel-to-cuba-what-you-need-to-know-now.html
I found Cristal to be decent, but Bucanero was virtually undrinkable even ice-cold. I did, however, have some good beers at a water-side microbrewery near the art market in Havana. It was a really nice (and large) space in a good location with decent food and live entertainment at night. Recommended.
Maybe they are running out of crappy beers, but Havana has a couple of craft breweries as well. They might not be up to American standards, but they’re much better than Cristal & Bucanero. I visited them when I was in Havana last year: http://everybodyhatesatourist.net/trip-reports/travel-diaries-photos/craft-beer-in-havana-cuba/
Read that post – good to know microbrews exist. Hopefully the uptick in visitors leads to better quality and quantity.
If you’re looking to visit Vancouver, let me know and I’ll point you at some solid breweries.
Sounds like an ecosystem of microbreweries would be most welcome, but given communism and the government’s deal with Anheuser-Busch this won’t happen anytime soon.