Americans eager to sup up Cuba\\\'s \\\'forbidden fruits\\\'

HAVANA, Feb 1 (AFP): Call it rum and cigar diplomacy: The few Americans allowed to visit Cuba are eager to finally legally bring home the communist island's once forbidden fruits.

While Washington and Havana seek to normalize ties, US President Barack Obama added rum and cigars to the diplomatic mix in January by allowing Americans to fly back with $100 worth of Cuban tobacco and alcohol.

"This was huge news. To have this opening after so many years is a giant step for both nations," said Alexis Batista, a bartender in Havana's Rum Museum.

"It's very positive for the economy to have commerce flowing between the two countries. It's something that must benefit the people," he said after squeezing sugarcane through a grinder to make "guarapo" juice for a group of European tourists.

The rum company Havana Club -- co-owned by the Cuban government and French spirits giant Pernod Ricard -- says it it is ready to sell to American visitors but also has a strategy to enter the US market -- if the decades-old embargo is lifted one day.

Cuban cigar sellers also want to see Americans put Cohibas and Montecristos in their suitcases.