Macuá
The Macuá is a cocktail of white rum, guava juice, lemon juice and sugar, shaken or blended with ice. It was chosen as Nicaragua’s national drink in a contest held in 2006 and takes its name from a bird of the region, the pájaro macuá.
Key facts
- Origin
- Nicaragua; chosen in a national drink contest in 2006
- Main ingredients
- White rum, guava juice, lemon juice, sugar, ice
- Created by
- Dr Edmundo Miranda Sáenz, a paediatrician
- Named after
- The pájaro macuá, a bird of the region
- Contest sponsor
- Flor de Caña
Rum, guava and lemon
The recipe is short. Directo al Paladar, the Spanish food website, reported the winning mix in October 2006 as white rum, guava juice, lemon juice, sugar and ice, and Wikipedia gives the same ingredients in the proportions of two parts rum, two parts guava juice and one part lemon juice, with sugar to taste, blended with ice and served well chilled.
Wikipedia recommends Flor de Caña white rum, and the travel publication Uncommon Caribbean builds its version on the same brand, shaken with ice and served in a tall glass over ice with a slice of lemon or orange. Directo al Paladar noted that one of the contest’s requirements was a drink suited to Nicaragua’s hot climate.
A national drink by competition
Nicaragua found its national cocktail through a contest. Wikipedia and Uncommon Caribbean both describe a national competition, backed by the Nicaraguan rum maker Flor de Caña, to choose a drink that would represent the country; Wikipedia counts more than twenty entries, all based on the sponsor’s rums, and Uncommon Caribbean says recipes came in from all over the country.
The Macuá won, and in October 2006 Directo al Paladar reported its victory and the organisers’ hope of making it known worldwide as the country’s typical drink. Wikipedia notes that it is now regarded as Nicaragua’s national drink.
A paediatrician from Granada
The winning recipe came from a doctor rather than a bartender. Wikipedia and Uncommon Caribbean both credit Dr Edmundo Miranda Sáenz, a paediatrician; Wikipedia places him in Granada and says he perfected the recipe with the help of his wife, daughter and son-in-law.
The name comes from nature: Wikipedia traces it to the pájaro macuá, a tropical bird of the country, and Directo al Paladar likewise says the drink is named after a bird typical of the region.
Not everyone raised a glass
The contest had its critics. Wikipedia cites the Nicaraguan newspaper El Nuevo Diario, which objected that the theme drew on only a few parts of the country, Lake Cocibolca and Granada, to define the national identity. Both Wikipedia and Uncommon Caribbean point to the rule that eligible drinks had to contain at least 50 per cent Flor de Caña rum, the sponsor’s own product, and Uncommon Caribbean asks whether other Nicaraguan rums deserved a say.
In Emblem World, the Macuá sits in the Nicaragua drink collection, where people discover and rate local food, drink and music.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Macuá
- Directo al Paladar: El Macuá, el trago de Nicaragua (9 October 2006)
- Uncommon Caribbean: El Macua Cocktail – The National Drink of Most of Nicaragua (Steve Bennett)
Checked by Emblem editorial on 9 October 2026.