We attended the presentation in Madrid of Puerto Rico as an ideal holiday destination.
During the presentation we were provided with practical information for visiting the Caribbean island plus a cocktail workshop using Don Q, the original rum from Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico is in our “bucket list”
Puerto Rico as a destination is on our “bucket list” and now thanks to the talk we have added more concrete places and activities. We are not very “beachy” but although we have them and very nice by the way, Puerto Rico has much more:
- ?Walking through the streets of the old town of San Juan: the “Morro” which is the fort that is on one of the points of the city, next to the sea, and the colourful colonial quarter, called Old San Juan.
- Kayaking at night in one of its bioluminescent lagoons or bays: Puerto Rico has 3 of the 7 places in the world where this phenomenon can be observed. It is best observed on dark nights where any movement in the water causes micro-organisms to emit light and illuminate everything they touch.
- Feel like you are flying by zip-lining on the longest cable in the world at the Toro Verde adventure park.
- Having a cocktail at “La Factoria” in Old San Juan, one of the 50 best bars in the world in 2015 according to “The World’s 50 Best Bars Awards“.
- Visit the Don Q Rum distillery: more than 70% of the rum sold in the United States comes from Puerto Rico.
Presentation of “Ron Don Q” and preparation of the cocktail “Quijote Dream”.
The Don Q brand comes from Don Quixote de la Mancha, the famous character from the Spanish literature book. And what is our beloved Quixote doing in Puerto Rico? That’s because Don Q was founded by the Spanish Serrallés family who moved to the island in the 19th century and the book written by Cervantes was their favourite.
Alex Zambrano, the Rum Ambassador for Spain, introduced us to Don Q Rum and prepared an unnamed cocktail with the following ingredients:

We were asked to baptise the cocktail…
…and just as Don Quixote represents the search for a perfect world, the ideal of the founding family was to make a perfect rum and this has been achieved by being the number one rum on the island. To travel is to perfect oneself, to learn, to search for ideals and to fulfil dreams, that’s why we have named the cocktail:
Quijote Dream

The “Quijote Dream” cocktail even comes with its own logo and slogan ?
These are the tastings we did during the event:
Empezó la charla de #PuertoRicoenPangea ! Lo primero es lo primero: el Ron Don Q !! pic.twitter.com/dRoaiYBT9R
— Flor y Juan (@rutadelmate) 24 de junio de 2016
Uyyy q ricoooo #PuertoRicoenPangea pic.twitter.com/GFBa9ZYgUR
— Flor y Juan (@rutadelmate) 24 de junio de 2016
Event organised by the Puerto Rico Tourism Office in Spain and PANGEA the travel Store, with the participation of Ron Don Q.
With this article we were participating in a trip for two to Puerto Rico. Update: In the end we have not been selected, but Kris por el Mundo, our congratulations! ?☺
The bucket list items will be for another time.