Description
In a cocktail bar in Havana, a beeswax-polished walnut fruit bowl was piled high with pineapples, nectarines and mangoes. The smell of pipe tobacco mingled happily with heady rum vapours. Taking a sip, the sweet oils of hazelnut and coconut coated the palate, while layers of praline, cereals and black treacle rolled into dark chocolate toffee. With a little water the juicy fruit became cooked in apricot jam, stewed in rhubarb crumble, and mixed into a creamy mango lassi. Delightful notes of toasted brioche merged with fragrant sandalwood, before a tart and tangy finish introduced fresh pineapple and lemons with a sprinkle of cinnamon spice.