In a Havana battered by power outages lasting more than 24 hours, offering a chilled drink has become a commercial oasis.
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, July 17, 2026 – By mid-morning, the stretch of Ayestarán where the Choco Alexo pastry shop is located looks like an island in the middle of the desert. While most businesses in the neighborhood have kept their refrigerators turned off after more than 24 hours without electricity, a handwritten sign hangs above the entrance with a message that would have seemed unnecessary just a few years ago: “Assorted beverages, ice cold.”
It does not advertise a sale or a discount. It promises something far scarcer.
In Cuba, where endless blackouts have become the norm, a cold drink has become an everyday luxury. What was once an insignificant detail—a beer just taken out of the refrigerator, a soft drink with condensation covering the bottle, or a glass of water with ice—is now reason enough to stop in front of a store and ask whether anything cold is still available.
Buying a package of chicken quarters means feeling the plastic wrapping in several places to check whether the meat is still firm or has already begun to thaw, releasing the sticky liquid that eventually soaks the bag and your hands. The same happens with hot dogs, hamburgers, and ground meat, not to mention ice cream.
Owners calculate every minute their refrigerators can run so they do not drain their batteries or run out of fuel for their generators
In many privately owned cafés, coffee is still served hot because it only takes a gas stove to prepare it, but ordering a soft drink that is not at room temperature has become almost an act of optimism. Owners carefully calculate every minute their refrigerators can operate so they do not exhaust their batteries or generator fuel. Others have simply given up offering products that need to be kept cold.
The shortages have even changed the language of advertising. Store signs used to promote “special offers,” “combos,” or “new arrivals.” Now, simply writing “ice cold” is enough to draw customers. What is extraordinary is no longer the product itself, but the temperature at which it has managed to stay.
The energy crisis has literally made everyday life hotter.
In another neighborhood, far from Ayestarán Street, a group of boys had just finished a game of street soccer under the blazing sun. Sweaty, with their shirts clinging to their bodies and their knees covered in dust, one of the children shouted loudly enough for the whole block to hear: “I want a little cup of water with ice!” He was not asking for an imported soft drink, a malt beverage, or an energy drink. Just water. Water with ice. He said it with such heartbreaking longing that several people looked up from their front porches.
No one answered. Everyone knew that such a modest wish could be just as difficult to fulfill as any other luxury.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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