Our cocktail workshop at El Super Pan might have been the most delicious one yet. We were hosted by Chef Hector + his team and they were as gracious as they were hospitable. They taught us how to make 3 amazing tropical cocktails + we’re giving you the recipes (plus some really cool history) so you can recreate at home!
Son Del Ron
This drink made by our friend + mixologist Alejandra Dudley, was created for ESP at Ponce City MKT a few years back and became a signature of our bar program. It takes its inspiration on the pre-prohibition tropical drink of that era. It combines various rums, Real McCoy bourbon cask (a pre prohibition style rum from Barbados) that provide a sweet vanilla note. The Blackwell Rum (a Jamaican Black Strap Molasses and pot distilled rum) has a rich, spiced banana note and it’s finished with Smith and Cross (Navy Style Jamaican Rum) that provide us with the FUNK - a flavor developed by pot distilling, and then aged in the docks of London. All balanced and refreshed by pineapple and sour orange mix.
1oz Real McCoy, 3 yr
1oz Blackwell rum
1.5oz pineapple simple syrup ( equal parts fresh pineapple juice + sugar)
1oz sour orange mix ( 2parts OJ, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part lime juice)
1c crushed ice
1bar spoon smith and cross rum
1 mint sprig
1 dehydrated lime wheel
Classic Mojito
A classic drink that once lacked the mint. Back then, the minty version of this drink was call a Rum Julep. Today we combine rum, lime, and mint to enjoy this refreshing drink. Our version is built for speed and omits the famous muddling of the mint and lime, we make a mint-lime shrub that extracts the oils that are infused into the lime syrup for a quick, delicious drink.
2oz Cuban rum
1 part lime juice
lime shrub (see below)
1 part soda
1 bunch mint leaves
Mint shrub: 4 limes, zested, 12 sprigs Mint, 1 cup white sugar, 4oz hot water, 8 oz lime juice
Coco Riko
A drink inspired by the classic Pina Colada. We combine a very smooth white rum from our neighboring island of Trinidad (Angostura Oak Barrel) with sweetened coconut cream (Coco Lopez) and lemon juice to make it more refreshing. This mixture gets combined with soda water for fizziness!
2oz Angostura oak Barrel rum
1oz Coco Lopez
½oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 oz Topo Chico soda water
Lemon zest and a lemon wheel to garnish
We’re so grateful for the entire El Super Pan team for hosting + teaching us. Here’s a little more about their story below.
Chef Hector Santiago was born in Puerto Rico. Nearly 25 years ago, he took his first culinary job cooking in the San Juan kitchen of his mentor, Chef Giovanna Huyke. Under her advisement, Chef Santiago attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Following graduation, he trained in the kitchens of the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia, the Manhattan Ocean Club, Stony Hill Inn in New Jersey, and Heartland Brewery.
Fast forward to 2001, when he moved to Atlanta and opened his restaurant Pura Vida—a highly regarded Latino tapas restaurant. For over a decade, Chef Santiago traveled, explored, and cooked, bringing the authentic flavors and ingredients of his beloved Latino America to Pura Vida. He researched and expanded his technique with stints in the kitchens of renowned international chefs, including José Andrés, Wylie Dufresne (WD~50) and Andoni Luis Aduriz. As Chef-Owner of Pura Vida, Santiago was a three-time, James Beard Foundation “Best Chef of the Southeast” Semifinalist, and has also been named as Star Chef’s Rising Star of Atlanta in 2011 and had a spot on Bravo’s Emmy-winning show, “Top Chef Las Vegas” (Season 6).
In 2015, Santiago and his pupils, Chefs Pedro Matos and Luis Guevara, officially opened El Super Pan at Ponce City Market, which has received accolades in VOGUE, Travel + Leisure, Eater, The Local Palate, CNN, Thrillist, USA Today, Travel Channel, Food Network, Zagat, Food & Wine, and many more. In 2018, he opened a second El Super Pan location at The Battery Atlanta.
El Super Pan is a classic Latin kitchen- highlighting all the bold and rich flavors of Cocina Criolla- a beautiful melody of Caribbean indigenous food, Spanish and African cuisine. Our inventive takes on tropical cocktails lead our guests through time in the Caribbean- highlighting rum flavors from both Puerto Rico and Cuba.