Classic Cuban Cocktail Culture Is Thriving in Miami

Congos beat, trumpets boom, and bodies twirl around a makeshift dancefloor. But it’s the clean-shaven men in crisp white shirts and crimson-lapeled black tuxedo vests who steal the show, using shakers filled with Daiquiris as percussion. This is the 100th anniversary of El Día Del Cantinero, and their celebration honors these cocktail-slinging whirling dervishes. 

Julio Cabrera, award-winning master cantinero and co-owner of Cafe La Trova, puts on a masterclass behind the bar. Through deftly executed classic cocktails poured with flair, Cabrera introduces revelers to the proud Cuban tradition of professional bartending. He also helps mentor a new generation of cantineros. 

Cuban bartending culture

Long before Cabrera came to Miami, cantinero culture flourished in Cuba. 

Bartending always held esteem in Cuba, but on May 9, 1924, the profession took a giant step forward, according to Jared Brown, cocktail historian and co-author of Cuban Cocktails. On that day, a group of bartenders met in the billiard room at Havana’s Hotel Ambos Mundos to compile regulations for a new guild of cantineros.

The charter of El Club de Cantineros de la Republica de Cuba was approved by the government on June 27, 1924. José Cuervo Fernandez served as president, and Cristóbal Blanco Alvarez was secretary-general.

In six months, the charter had 121 members. They set up educational programs and co-wrote best practices and a recipe compendium. “Back in its early days, an apprentice cantinero completed a two-year course in hospitality, bartending, English, and other aspects of the business [that] the club felt critical to the professionalization of Cuban bartending,” says Brown.

When Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, he disbanded the organization. In 1998, Cabrera and a group of bartenders resurrected it as the Association of Cuban Cantineros, which still operates in Cuba today.

Cantinero culture finds roots in Miami

Cabrera has deep roots in hospitality. His father was a cantinero and owned a bar prior to the Castro regime. However, he never thought he would follow in his footsteps. 

“My whole family worked there,” he says. “I remember being in the bar as a little kid in the ’60s, stealing sweets and candies.” 

When Castro shut down all the private properties in Cuba in the 1960s, they lost the bar. Cabrera went to college and studied coffee and citrus engineering. But orchard work and studying coffee in the mountains did not capture his heart. He longed to be surrounded by people and music. 

An opportunity to enter the hotel business in Cuba presented itself. All those childhood stories drew him back like a magnet. He made his way behind the bar.

A cantinero is renowned for their bartending technique, knowledge of 200-plus classic recipes, and meticulous grooming. But at heart, a cantinero is a master of hospitality. 

Cantineros will “throw” cocktails from tin to tin, take a swing on the dance floor, and serve frosty Mojito Criollos crafted with the best ingredients.

“A cantinero has elegant technique and is always part of the show,” says Cabrera. “If you work behind the bar, you move with the music, dance with the customer. We are Cuban, and in Cuba, live music is in every bar, in every place you work, part of your day. I wanted to bring authentic Cuban culture to Miami.”

Gabriel Urrutia is a fellow Cuban, and a professor and “bevpreneur-in-residence” at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University. He remembers Cabrera’s emergence in the Miami cocktail scene in 2007 with his underground Cuban parties. 

“I would show up to six people sitting at a table in this private club in Miami Beach,” he says. “Nobody knew Julio, but he is a living legend. If you walk the streets of Cuba, people know his name.” 

A father’s legacy

Julio’s son, Andy Cabrera, couldn’t take the traditional cantinero route, as American citizens are barred from travel to Cuba. Instead, he learned under his father, who rigorously tested and challenged him. Through these tutorials, he soaked up his father’s lessons about life and bartending.

Known for his showy Espresso Martini, Andy loves “…when someone sits in front of me and says, ‘Wow, you’re an artist,’ or ‘You look like a magician making cocktails,’” he says. “When I make an Espresso Martini, I put a 360-degree spin on the pour, with the liquid moving around without dropping a single drop.”

Like all cocktails at Cafe La Trova, the Espresso Martini has a Cuban flair. However, due to the embargo, it doesn’t contain Cuban coffee. Instead, it uses Cabrera’s own coffee blend, named in honor of his father’s coffee shop in Cuba, called Sacrificio. 

“My grandfather named it Sacrificio because it took a lot of sacrifice to open,” says Andy. “He built it with his own two hands and started with a few bags of coffee, which later turned into a bunch of coffee, rum, and a booming business. We have a picture of it hanging in the bar at Cafe La Trova.”

Advice for aspiring cantineros

As a kid, Andy rarely talked and struggled to make eye contact. The cantinero style of hospitality forced him to cast aside his shyness and connect with people. He and his father now take their show on the road, where they bring their style of bartending, music, and classic cantinero culture to other parts of the world. 

For aspiring cantineros, Andy advises to stay hungry, check your ego at the door, and find a good mentor. 

“You’re not just doing it because it’s your career,” he says. “You do it because you love to see people smile, make people happy, give a good experience. All the cantineros that work under Julio Cabrera work exactly like Julio Cabrera does. 

“Ten years from now, wherever they are in their career, they will still work like Julio Cabrera because it’s how they learned their fundamentals. And that’s a pretty high bar. When my dad came here, he pioneered the art of the cantinero in Miami. I love working with him and respect what he has accomplished.”

At the Tales of the Cocktail conference during the summer of 2024, a Cafe La Trova pop-up took center stage, Urrutia floated from group to group as he puffed on a cigar. His Panama hat pulled low, Urrutia’s hips swayed to the La Trova band that traveled to New Orleans for the event. 

Despite a steady mist, Andy drew a crowd with his elegant cocktail-throwing and wide smile. A trombone player popped up behind the bar, and the semi-soaked crowd came alive with dancing. The cantineros fell in line to sing and dance with their guests, just as they have for a century.

“Julio achieving the American dream inspires us all,” says Urrutia. “Now, his son, who I watched grow up, works beside him behind the bar, doing an incredible job. It makes us all proud because they’re part of our Cuban family. 

“Andy, like Julio, wears his Cuban pride on his sleeve, whether traveling across the world, behind the bar at La Trova back home, or at Tales of the Cocktail. Trends come and go, but being classic and hospitable will never die. And that’s cantinero culture.”