New national drink
Submitted by casper on Sun, 2006/10/08 - 10:22.
In case you missed it, Nicaragua has a new national drink - La Macua, after a recent contest and judging in Managua. Big surprise (the contest was sponsored by FDC) the winner is rum-based with guava, lemon, sugar on the rocks.
Read more about it in NYTimes. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/world/americas/05managua.html?_r=1&ref...
La Macua
Some asked me at a party last night if I had heard of Nicaragua's new National cocktail. I said that I had but I didn't know exactly what was in it because I don't subscribe to the New York Times. He then asked me whether we have a National drink in the USA. Not that I know of I told him.
Is there a National Drink in the U.S. and if not why not? It would have to be Bourbon based I suppose. Every other type of booze was invented somewhere else.
Not necessarily
Rum wasn't invented in Nicaragua so I don't think that should be a requirement but I think bourbon would be a good start. Even George Washington had a bourbon distillery.
My choice would be Southern Comfort on the Rocks (or a Comfort based drink such as the Alabama Slammer) as it's a bourbon based liqueur that was invented in New Orlean's French Quarter.
Another good choice might be the Manhattan (invented in the Manhattan Club in NYC) made with a top notch Kentucky Bourbon.
Manhattan
Martinis started out being gin and vermouth but now more people drink vodka and vermouth martinis. They should have made a different name for the vodka one.
The first Manhattan was made with Rye Whiskey (see 2nd URL below)Manhattans can be made from various whiskeys and vermouth and when they do substitute some other liqor they at least give it a different name, e.g. A Rob Roy is made with Scotch whisky in place of bourbon. A Perfect Manhattan is made with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth. A Cuban Manhattan is a Perfect Manhattan with dark rum as its principal ingredient. A Florida Manhattan substitutes a lime slice instead of the cherry, bitters, and dry vermouth. A Latin Manhattan is made with equal parts of white rum, sweet and dry vermouth, and a splash of Maraschino cherry juice, served up with a twist. http://www.answers.com/topic/manhattan-cocktail-1
"There seem to be almost as many stories concerning the origins of the Manhattan as their are ways of mixing one, but this particular tale is the most widely accepted:
In 1874, socialite Jenny Jerome2 threw a party at The Manhattan Club in New York City to honour Samuel J Tilden who had just been elected Governor of New York. She wanted to create a drink for this special occasion and spoke to the bartender, who mixed rye whiskey, sweet and dry vermouth, and a dash of bitters. Jenny, being utterly satisfied with the result named the new cocktail 'The Manhattan', after the club."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/A1061380
The article also says: "Vermouth is made by infusing wine with herbs, spices, and other aromatic botanicals5, and is thus a fortified wine."
That statement is wrong. The herbs have nothing to do with the wine being fortified. Fortified wines such as Port, Sherry, Marsalla, Vermouth, etc., are fortified with alcohol, usually brandy.
good article
Sounds pretty good, although a pitaya drink would have been even more 'pura Nica'. Nice to read positive comments about Nica's economy in a major paper though.
Pitaya
It was considered Lauren. The folowing is from an IL newsletter:
Cuba has the Mojito, Mexico has the Margarita, and France has Champagne…but until now, Nicaragua has not been able to compete when it comes to a world-class national drink. Sure, we have the Nica Libre…rum and coke…but that’s just a knockoff of the Cuba Libre. We need a drink to call our own.
And now we have it. I am pleased to announce that the new official cocktail of Nicaragua was invented right here in Granada.
Presenting El Macuá…
Nicaragua rum company Flor de Caña recently sponsored a contest to come up with an official Nicaragua cocktail. All entries had to be rum based, but other than that, the sky was the limit. I am told there were some very creative entries, most of which capitalized on Nicaragua’s many varieties of tropical fruits, including banana, coconut, pineapple, melons, and tamarind. Even Nicaragua’s more exotic agricultural offerings were used….like the pitaya – also known as dragon fruit – which grows on a cactus. There were drinks made with sapodilla, which is about the size of a baseball and has a yellowish pulp and a red rind. And others with jocote, and even one using mamoncillo, a juice Nicaraguans use to cure stomachaches. One creative contestant even mixed Nicaraguan coffee beans with rum.
Names for these concoctions were creative, too. The Nica Rumba, the Experanza, the Fantasía del Lago…none of these made the cut. Nor did the Erupsión Pinolera, the Nicarao, or the Monbacho en las Rochas.
Instead, the winner is El Macuá. Invented by Dr. Edmundo Miranda, 67, a Granada pediatrician, the drink is one part white rum, one part guava juice, with a half-portion of lemon juice and some sugar and ice. Cool, refreshing and not too filling…just what a Nicaragua national trago (drink) ought to be.
Your Nicaragua Country Consultant,
Joe Rosko International Living / Nicaragua