I get together with a group of old friends for lunch from time to time. We make “expeditions” to differing locations in and around South Florida to take lunch, pass the time and generally enjoy each others company. We all share a love of good food, good cigars and collecting/shooting old firearms. Sometimes we head out to do some shooting and enjoy a cigar afterwards. Some days we head out to a nice or out of the way restaurant to eat a meal we would not ordinarily enjoy. As the “gringo” of the group I am usually the one pushing to take our meals in the Little Havana section of Miami.
I have cherished memories of Little Havana that go back to the late 60s. My Father owned a pharmacy in the area and I was often placed at the lunch counter to keep me out of trouble. The old Cubana ladies that worked the counter would give me churros, café con leche, tostado, flan, pudin de arroz, media noche, etc for lunch or snacks. In many ways the taste of Cuba is enshrined in my memory as very early taste memories of my childhood.
The group of friends all had Monday off work so we made a date to get together. It was my suggestion to head down to Little Havana to pick up some Padron 5000 Maduros and to El Credito to pick up some La Gloria Cubana’s. I decided to take a long my camera this time to snap some shots. Many of you have enjoyed the products of these two fine firms but most have not seen where these products come from. Here are a few photos:
The photo below was taken by one of the Padron's of the group of friends. This is at Padron's and was taken at their reception area.
Another photo taken at Padrons. The Padrons are almost always the ones to come out and help you when you visit. They are very nice and willing to discuss their product.
This photo was taken at El Credito. This very kind woman is showing me how to sort and stem maduro tobacco. This is a maduro wrapper leaf. This very nice woman explained how the leaf is de-stemmed, split in two and that each half becomes the wrapper for one cigar.
This photo, also taken at El Credito shows natural leaf wrapper tobacco being de-stemmed. This women, Esther, had some very sage comments about life and living as we took these photos. Very nice and interesting people.
This is a completed bundle of maduro wrapper tobacco. It is ready to be sent next door where it will be scrapped smooth and then is ready to be wrapped around a another Miami made La Gloria Cubana cigar. There is roughly enough wrapper in this bundle to make a box of large La Gloria Cubana's
This is next door. These women are making the actual cigars. Here they take the filler and binder together in a bundle. The wrapper is laid out like two Banana peels in roughly a V shape. The filler/binder bundle is then wrapper in the wrapper and then blocked.
This man was working on Torpedo size cigars. Here is is cleaning up the ends and making the cap for the torpedo. This is MUCH harder and skilled work than most of us would expect. The next time you cut the tip off a La Gloria Cubana torpedo think of this man.
Next door at El Credito's retail outlet. So much to choose from and so much to see here. I felt like saying "...but I wan't an Oompah Loompah NOW..."
Ok, so we did not get these robust figures by resisting our desires. Here we are taking some of the product home with us!
The day ended with a Cuban meal at La Rosa Restaurant in Little Havana. I highly recommend this little out of the way eatery for our out of town guests. The food and service are excellent and you will get a nice taste of real Cuban food. I hade the fried pork chunks, yellow rice with black beans and tostone's for lunch. A cafe' Cubano followed. Very nice day with great friends. I hope you enjoy our photos as much as we enjoyed the day.
I have cherished memories of Little Havana that go back to the late 60s. My Father owned a pharmacy in the area and I was often placed at the lunch counter to keep me out of trouble. The old Cubana ladies that worked the counter would give me churros, café con leche, tostado, flan, pudin de arroz, media noche, etc for lunch or snacks. In many ways the taste of Cuba is enshrined in my memory as very early taste memories of my childhood.
The group of friends all had Monday off work so we made a date to get together. It was my suggestion to head down to Little Havana to pick up some Padron 5000 Maduros and to El Credito to pick up some La Gloria Cubana’s. I decided to take a long my camera this time to snap some shots. Many of you have enjoyed the products of these two fine firms but most have not seen where these products come from. Here are a few photos:
The photo below was taken by one of the Padron's of the group of friends. This is at Padron's and was taken at their reception area.
Another photo taken at Padrons. The Padrons are almost always the ones to come out and help you when you visit. They are very nice and willing to discuss their product.
This photo was taken at El Credito. This very kind woman is showing me how to sort and stem maduro tobacco. This is a maduro wrapper leaf. This very nice woman explained how the leaf is de-stemmed, split in two and that each half becomes the wrapper for one cigar.
This photo, also taken at El Credito shows natural leaf wrapper tobacco being de-stemmed. This women, Esther, had some very sage comments about life and living as we took these photos. Very nice and interesting people.
This is a completed bundle of maduro wrapper tobacco. It is ready to be sent next door where it will be scrapped smooth and then is ready to be wrapped around a another Miami made La Gloria Cubana cigar. There is roughly enough wrapper in this bundle to make a box of large La Gloria Cubana's
This is next door. These women are making the actual cigars. Here they take the filler and binder together in a bundle. The wrapper is laid out like two Banana peels in roughly a V shape. The filler/binder bundle is then wrapper in the wrapper and then blocked.
This man was working on Torpedo size cigars. Here is is cleaning up the ends and making the cap for the torpedo. This is MUCH harder and skilled work than most of us would expect. The next time you cut the tip off a La Gloria Cubana torpedo think of this man.
Next door at El Credito's retail outlet. So much to choose from and so much to see here. I felt like saying "...but I wan't an Oompah Loompah NOW..."
Ok, so we did not get these robust figures by resisting our desires. Here we are taking some of the product home with us!
The day ended with a Cuban meal at La Rosa Restaurant in Little Havana. I highly recommend this little out of the way eatery for our out of town guests. The food and service are excellent and you will get a nice taste of real Cuban food. I hade the fried pork chunks, yellow rice with black beans and tostone's for lunch. A cafe' Cubano followed. Very nice day with great friends. I hope you enjoy our photos as much as we enjoyed the day.
