In an attempt to come-up with an official cocktail for Nicaragua, it is reported that Rene Hauser, the owner of a popular French restaurant in Managua held a competition of Nicaraguan drinks, true to the climate and agricultural wealth of Nicaragua. Facts provided by the New York Times show that the competition finally gave its verdict for the national cocktail to a guava juice, rum, lemon juice, sugar and ice combo called as el macua, named after a tropical bird of Nicaragua.
Despite of typical rice and beans, beefsteak, fried cheese and plantains platter, and slow-aged smooth and full Nicaraguan rum, Nicaraguan cuisine was relegated to the background because of borrowed drinks in Pina Colada and Nica Libre. Nicaraguans can be hopeful of an identity in filling-up the place for refreshing beverages that can attract the tourists beyond the flavors of corn and cacao and frescos.
However in place of guava juice, pitaya juice would have been more authentic in nature in giving an unusual flavor to el macua, usually identified in Cuba’s Mojito and Mexico’s Margarita.
Nevertheless, as the Nicaraguan restaurateurs have identified a refreshing appeal in the el macua, they did not even consider the out-of-the-box, Nicaraguan coffee beans in rum. El macua’s claim to compete with Mojito and Margarita worldwide can come true only when el macua meets the versatility, to go trendy like the Cuban cocktail.
