Before the bright new neon sign appeared, Caña was even more hidden than its sister Varnish which at least had an identifiable street address. As the new sign points bar patrons down a garage breezeway, Caña remains as steeped in classic, vintage charm as ever. The deep, leather booths and the plantation-style fireplace on the smoking patio allow customers, in true speakeasy fashion, to stay hidden if so desired. Most, however, will find themselves gravitated to the bar.
Caña recently unveiled a new menu that steps beyond the usual tropical and tiki drinks one would expect from a rum bar. It demonstrates to customers that Caña can execute more than just one spirit. True, rum still dominates the bar wall, but the usage of whiskey and tequila on the cocktail menu (often times in the same drink as a rum) shows a breadth of knowledge that taps into the classics as well as showcases originality.
One of the best drinks on the new menu is the Day and Age #3, combining Gosling’s rum with reposado tequila, absinthe and passionfruit. This cocktail is incredibly (and quite deftly!) balanced, offering quite a nice aromatic quality to go along with the big flavors from the spirits. If a drink like Wray & Ting (the island version of a gin and tonic) can show that Caña can be skillful as well as fun, then Day and Age #3 shows that Caña can be skillful as well as very skillful.
Acting off of this menu, the bartenders at Caña can now freely riff and be more creative without clashing with the bar’s printed offerings. Incorporating ingredients such as sweet vermouth, amari, or herbal liqueurs becomes less of a leap. Alternatively, while drinks like a Negroni or a Corpse Reviver #2 are not standard parts of the rum bar canon, they’re perfect summer drinks and certainly have a place in a bar in downtown LA.
However, rum is still the primary focus and Caña boasts a fine collection of sugar cane spirits, everything from aged cachaça to Navy-strength Jamaican rum to rums regulated by the French government as an AOC product. If you’re looking for a good sipping rum, order a glass of Panama Plantation Rum. The flavor profile falls somewhere between the vegetal notes of a rhum agricole from Martinique and the sweet notes of a Guatemalan rum like Zacapa, finishing with a very Jamaican kick.
Classic rum cocktails such as the daiquiri are given their proper respect, which alone can be an enlightening experience. Tiki cocktails, whether familiar like the Mai Tai or less well-known like Three Dots and a Dash, are close to their platonic ideals thanks to Caña’s attention to detail regarding ingredients and recipes.
Caña’s new menu is an audacious departure from their previous menu but not at all a stretch for the bartenders' abilities. Truly, it feels as though the staff are no longer hamstrung by the concept of a rum bar and can act instead as a bar that has a lot of great rum. The distinction is an important one, as it means that Caña can push creative boundaries while continuing to offer drinks of a more nautical age and tropical locale.
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