Cerveza Imperial, Brewed by Bebidas Florida, Costa Rica, Central America

While in New York City last fall I came a cross a familiar sight when I poked into the Museo del Barrio, a very cool and hip museum dedicated to celebrating Latinos in the U.S. They happen to have a neat cafeteria that serves beer! That is a trend I have noticed elsewhere, the Smithsonian museums and in particular the National Museum of the American Indian also serve beer. Their cafeteria is also pretty awesome and serves a lot of stuff (i.e., Latin American beer and Latin inspired food), but as expected is expensive.

That could and should be a different blog post. What I saw in NYC was...Imperial! The main Costa Rican beer I drank for two years and three months while I was living down there. Like a lot of Latin American beers it is pretty light and insubstantial and like a lot of those beers tourists love it (Corona, ugh).

I guess folks love the logo and it is pretty good though it has a little of the National Socialist aesthetic when you look at it closely. But the beer itself is just okay and after more than two years of little choice for a beer enthusiast like myself it started to taste less than okay and I would avoid it when possible.

But it is light, crisp, and refreshing on a hot day. To be very authentic you must drink it by pouring it into an ice filled glass, as is the custom in the C.R. They do that for all their beers (though they don't really produce that many, especially when compared to their neighbors on the isthmus). I always considered the practice a tacit admission that their beers don't really taste that great so there is no need to try and preserve the taste.

In Costa Rica it is available in bottles, cans, and tall boys. You can also find it on tap in certain bars in San Jose, the capital city. Also, in the Costa Rican Pizza Huts. But it almost always came out skunky, smelling of rotten eggs.

I have also seen this beer at a liquor store in Boston, near the Jamaica Plain area. Because I grew tired of this beer I will give it an admittedly prejudiced C. But...now that I am back in the States I will order this beer for nostalgic reasons.