The Great Journey to Venezuela: Part III

18 October 2023 | Discover
The Great Journey to Venezuela: Part III

Part III: Santa Teresa at cocktail hour

For the last part of our trip to Venezuela, organized by Santa Teresa, we will choose the cocktail as our vehicle . It is present throughout the journey in various forms, like a punctuation to our wanderings. The cocktail appears as the object of our attention on Tuesday, during the tasting evening of Santa Teresa's new products. These are former gang members ( see part II of our travel report) who officiate that evening, with the tool of a shaker which has a very particular history.

La Mixing Tin

Santa Teresa has assembled a team of bartenders who tour around the world to present the Ron Santa Teresa 1796 and signature cocktails . The shaker we mentioned was designed by the star of the bar world, Erik Lorincz . It was made from the melted weapons of the 11th gang recruited by Santa Teresa (See part II). For these people who had been juggling firearms since childhood, giving up their weapons was a powerful act, in the sense that it immediately created a feeling of vulnerability in them.

On the lower part of this shaker, we can read this evocative phrase: “Made of the unexpected”. Produced in 225 copies , this shaker is offered to bartenders around the world, during each Mixing Tin tour.

A signature cocktail

We were able to have a demonstration of the Mixing Tin of Santa Teresa through a signature cocktail, the “ Cruz de Aragua ”. In a shaker, they pour Santa Teresa 1796 , lime juice , pineapple juice . After being shaken together, the cocktail is garnished with a sprig of rosemary and sprinkled with black pepper . This gives a generous, fruity and slightly spicy cocktail.

Bartenders from Santa Teresa
Bartenders from Santa Teresa
Signature cocktail Santa Teresa 1796
Signature cocktail Santa Teresa 1796
Shaker "Made of the unexpected"
Shaker "Made of the unexpected"

Un speakeasy au Venezuela

Hacienda Santa Teresa is attached to the Municipality of Revenga . The historic heart of this city is the community of Juan Moreno. Since 2013, the Santa Teresa Foundation has launched the Las Casas Blancas program , aimed at beautifying the city center (See part II of our travel story). In this context, a resident of the city has the ambition of creating the first speakeasy in Venezuela. This one, still under construction, is installed on the top floor of his house.

 
We were received at home for a quick presentation of the project, and the owner gave us the recipe for his flagship cocktail : Santa Teresa 1796 mixed with an infusion of Rooibos and blueberry juice , to which we add orange juice , sugar syrup , topped with sparkling water and a slice of orange as garnish. This long drink is a very beautiful standard for this speakeasy in the making.

This may seem surprising, but Santa Teresa cocktails , a rum that ultimately contains only three grams of sugar per liter, are rather dry. While we have an image of Latin rums disguised by sugar, Santa Teresa is not one of those.

The cocktail of the Santa-Teresa contract - Bacardi
The cocktail of the Santa-Teresa contract - Bacardi

A cocktail for a contract

Since 2017, Santa Teresa has been in a joint venture with Bacardi . Concretely, Bacardi ensures the diffusion and distribution of Bacardi in the world outside Venezuela, without entering into the capital of the distillery. We can imagine the difficult negotiations which preceded this agreement.

The final phase of negotiations takes place in Miami. And we need, not a cocktail, but THE Santa Teresa Cocktail to crown the exchanges . Santa Teresa had a nice list of cocktails but ultimately rum was only one aspect and not the central element. This question, although innocuous, took on more and more space in the days preceding the discussions. During a car ride, the subject came up again. The cocktail revolved around Santa Teresa 1796 and sparkling water, until the driver joined in the discussion, to suggest a simple orange peel, splashing into the glass.

Arriving at their destination, Alberto Vollmer and Andres Chumaceiro carried out tests with the bartender of the establishment, to conclude with this cocktail which has the merit of being entirely based on the Santa Teresa 1796: 2 doses of Santa Teresa 1796 , 1 dose of sparkling water and a slightly juicy orange zest , all on ice. Having tasted it, it is balanced, refreshing, and effective.

The day we created a cocktail

The rest of the stay takes place far from the Hacienda . One plane ride and we land 130 km from the coast, in Los Roques , a heavenly archipelago, to say the least, in Venezuela. We are staying in a charming posada (hostel) on the main island of Gran Roque. The accommodation contained an equally charming patio, a floor with bar and terrace, and above all a corridor which led directly to the beach.

Simon Bolivar Square in Gran Roque
Simon Bolivar Square in Gran Roque
Simon Bolivar Square in Gran Roque, on the Los Roques archipelago
Simon Bolivar Square in Gran Roque, on the Los Roques archipelago
Posada where we stayed on the Los Roques archipelago
Posada where we stayed on the Los Roques archipelago
Posada Bar, in Gran Roque
Posada Bar, in Gran Roque

The evening of our arrival, the meal was held upstairs. We are then half a handful, in advance, around the bar built in a ship's hull. Among other things, we are offered a Cuba Libre.

- Why a Free Cuba? No, a Venezuelan cocktail, we say as if we were launching a friendly challenge.  Do you have cocoa bitters? 

- We have bitter, replied the bartender 

- So a Cuba Libre with bitters. It will be perfect. That will make a Free Venezuelan. 

The result was very good. One of us renamed it the “ Free Caracas ”. The name was adopted. This drink became our signature cocktail for the rest of the stay.

We certainly didn't revolutionize the world of mixology that night. Absolutely not. And a quick look on the internet tells us that there already exists a variation of Cuba Libre with bitters. Nevertheless, the spark of this moment consisted of putting forward the idea that Venezuela, as we have observed it these few days, has the capacity , through its know-how, its sugar cane terroir, to coffee, cocoa and exotic fruits, through the Declaration of Controlled Origin of its rums , through the cocktails of which we received some examples, to assert itself on the bar scene.

An evening cocktail
An evening cocktail
Elsewhere on the Los Roques Archipelago
Elsewhere on the Los Roques Archipelago

More generally, this trip allowed us to see what we perceived as professionals, namely that Latin rums do not form a uniform block, but are an addition of specific know-how, national rum cultures, a mixture of terroirs. and traditions which are gradually opening up to the world. If Cuba stood out in the mythology of rum, Venezuela today has all the weapons necessary to place itself on the world rum map as an entity in its own right .

Going out in Caracas

Our stay ends. We avoid thinking about the next day, the airport, the plane. On the last evening, we were taken to the Moreno restaurant, which had to be highly praised. The chef wanted to adapt an art of eating well found in Europe to Venezuelan cuisine. So the chef looked for recipes in the popular tradition of the country , to give these dishes their letters of nobility . We were able to taste dishes based on pork or beef , as well as a truly remarkable seafood risotto . Note also the generosity of the quantities served as well as the care taken in the presentation of the dishes.

After this meal, we went to MoDo. Since 2015, this gastronomic center has offered to evolve in a festive space made up of five gastronomic restaurants (Asian, French, Mexican, Italian as well as an ice cream parlor) set up in front of a musical stage . We were able to enjoy a delicious concert of Venezuelan music which ended our stay.

Concert at MoDo, Caracas
Concert at MoDo, Caracas

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Written by

Matthieu Lange
Matthieu Lange
Spirits Advisor