Down in Florida visiting my folks, I went to the local ABC Liquor to see what brews I could discover. One of the things I came away with was a nice little sixer of Cerveza Palma.
If Palma looks familiar, I suspect that you have spent a little time in Cuba and drank Cristal. Cristal is brewed and enjoyed in the island nation and exported to Europe as Palma Cristal. Palma, on the other hand, is the bastard brother of Cristal.
Despite the tagline on the Palma can, “La preferida de Cuba,” the beer is actually brewed in Nicaragua and imported into the States by Bucanero USA. And, from what I can gather, it is a wholly separate endeavor that totally rips off Cristal’s flavor profile and label design. Even Palma’s website clarifies that the beer “is inspired by the number #1 (sic) selling beer in Cuba and the favorite beer of Cuba for more than 75 years.”
Of course, Bucanero is not operating in some vacuum. The reason they are able to import a product into the USA that seems to be violating the intellectual and trademark rights of a Cuban brewing company is all a product of the US embargo on Cuba. In fact, finding out all this information makes me feel a little dirty about drinking Palma.
I will, however, happily finish the last couple cans of the six pack, because the shit is tasty. It reminds me of so many other Caribbean beers, light and refreshing with just a little hop bitterness, akin to a Carib Beer. The brew is prefect for drinking in the pool under the warm Florida sunshine. And at 4.9% abv, you can consume quite a few Palmas throughout a good vacay day.
Palma is good. And if you aren’t bothered by them stealing from Cristal, then I heartily recommend grabbing some. For my part, I will keep to the other similar brews. And I will definitely be on the lookout for some Cristal, either when I finally make my way to Cuba or the next time I am across the pond in Europe.
