Sofrito in a cocktail glass sounds like a dare. At 173°, it's a love letter and an act of nostalgia.
At 173°, Edwin Borrero's bar in Condado, the cocktails now come with a comic strip.
Not just any strip: it's Pepito, the mischievous boy who for years philosophized about Puerto Rico from the pages of the newspaper, now commenting on each drink in a new menu of 12 cocktails built around key ingredients from Puerto Rican cooking.
"Celebrating our fifth anniversary, we wanted to do something distinctive and create a new cocktail menu that would take the guest beyond just sitting down in front of a plate," said the mixologist, who has 19 years in the field.
What makes this menu unique?
For those unfamiliar, Pepito was a mischievous seven-year-old who from 2006 to 2017 philosophized daily in Primera Hora, a Puerto Rican adaptation of a 1950s Italian character by Luciano Bottaro, inspired by the Argentine comic strip Mafalda.
Borrero remembers reading it without fail every morning and being charmed by the strip's "mischievous" tone.
When he decided to revamp his cocktail menu, he felt that this collaboration was essential. In October 2024, he sent an email to the artists and worked out his proposal with Harold Jessurun and Aníbal Quiñones.
Together they managed to "tell stories beyond the cocktail itself," Borrero noted.
Did you know: Daily, Pepito contributed to Puerto Rican social awareness with a humorous comment on life on the Island. He still does through his social media posts.
A blend of flavors, memories and laughs
Each cocktail on the menu comes with a Pepito strip that highlights the sensations and nostalgia of the flavors on display, without losing the satirical tone and social commentary the character is known for.
As part of the three-month creative process, Jessurun and Quiñones didn't just learn the recipes, they lived them. They tasted each cocktail, analyzed each ingredient, absorbed each intention.
For Jessurun, author and illustrator of Pepito, the main challenge was balancing the preparation and crafting of the drinks with the world of comics.
"That's when we realized: we're not going to make comics that talk directly about the drink, but about the experience of the drink," said Quiñones, who has been co-writer of the strip since 2012.
Take the "Sofrito" as an example: a clarified cocktail that includes vodka infused with recao, ají dulce soda and olive bitters.
But here is what makes it interesting: it is served in a ceramic glass shaped like the classic butter container that grandmothers used to recycle to store sofrito.
The strip that accompanies it shows grandmother Tata cooking a stew to make pasteles, her homemade sofrito perfuming the kitchen. Another cocktail that takes you straight back to childhood is "Guisantes".
These legumes, which are not always appealing to children, shine when transformed into an effervescent drink based on gin infused with Japanese basil (shiso), a pea cordial and tonic water.
The result: a refreshing profile with a subtly astringent note that surprises.
"We've had people who, as soon as they recognize the aroma and flavor, remember shelling peas with their family in the countryside," Borrero said with a laugh.
🎨 Bringing together mixology, science and graphic art
Borrero describes 173° as "a flavor laboratory" where they transform ingredients into extraordinary versions of themselves, from liquids and solids to aromas, infusions, textures and foams.
This philosophy shines in the "Pepito" cocktail, a complex creation that includes a non-alcoholic sparkling wine and grapefruit sorbet, with infusions of spirits, fruit and basil that amplify the citrus and herbal profiles.
But perhaps the most intriguing innovation is the "Misterioso" cocktail: a drink that will change monthly over the next 12 months, the length of the collaboration, and will only be revealed through a QR code linking to its digital page, accompanied by a new strip each month.
The creators of 'Pepito' are enthusiastic about the project and how it merges culinary and graphic arts into a singular cultural proposition.
"We see a trend where new generations are claiming icons of our culture and, let's say, remixing them," Quiñones observed.
And he has a point. Just as Bad Bunny brought the Puerto Rican jíbaro back to mind during the performances of his residency 'No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí', the memory of reading 'Pepito' strips as a child now comes to life in every cocktail at 173°.
Beyond nights of laughter and connection, for a full year this bar will stir collective memory, one comic strip page at a time.
"You can be different, you can be bold, you can be successful by creating and innovating from your own country," Jessurun reflected.
📍173° is located in Condado, San Juan and does not require a reservation. The Pepito cocktail menu will be available for the next 12 months.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
