Covid19 is rising again all over the world. Some of us did travel, some of us didn’t (or didn’t yet). Because we don’t know what’s going to happen coming months, it’s time to be prepared. Prepared for what? To (re)live your vacation feeling at home. Time for part 3 of the ‘ultimate holiday feeling’. This time not my own favorite cocktail recipes, but a list of 10 typical Caribbean Cocktails. Give it a try and let me know which Caribbean Cocktail is your favorite one!
Cheers!
Maybe that’s the best part of a going away for a vacation. Coming home again…
… and relive the vacation feeling!
Lucky for me I am not the only one with a weakness for the Caribbean. And because I also think that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I’ll do some copying of a nice post on Forbes.com. They wrote a nice article regarding the top 10 cocktails of the Caribbean. Including some extra background information besides the ingredients and the recipe. Are you ready to improve your bartender skills? Let’s go!
The top 10 of Caribbean Cocktails
Forbes.com wrote this article in March this year. Just at the beginning of the first wave of the Covid19 pandemic. Six months later it looks like we are facing the second wave worldwide. So time to remind you about those sweet cocktails again.
1. Saint Lucia: St. Lucian Rum Punch
The St. Lucian Rum Punch: one of the iconic cocktails created on the beautiful island of Saint Lucia. The ingredients you need are: 3 cups orange juice, 3 cups pineapple juice, 1 cup lime juice, grenadine syrup, a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, 6 shakes angostura bitters, 2 1/2 cups dark or light rum and 1 1/4 cups simple syrup. You got them? Time to mix them. And mind the most important suggestion for the ultimate holiday feeling at home (spoiler alert, I’ve put it in bold).
The recipe: mix the ingredients in a pitcher and add grenadine until the beverage turns the color of a Caribbean sunset. Refrigerate for minimum a few hours (max. overnight) and then serve over ice. Garnish: Pineapple, orange.
2. Curacao: Blue lagoon
Curacao, one of the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao. Located in front of the coast of Venezuela, they form a group of island on the most South part of the Caribbean. And that is a big advantage! You know why? It’s the only part of the Caribbean that doesn’t get hit by hurricanes. Once in while a tropical storm passes by, but seldom a powerful hurricane. But enough said. Time to prepare your next drink.1 oz Vodka
The ingredients you need: 1 oz Vodka,1 oz Blue curaçao, 4 oz Lemonade, Orange wheel, Lemon wheel (Optional), Maraschino cherry. Ready? Add them all except the fruit (vodka, Blue Curacao, and lemonade) into a shaker, add ice and shake. Afterward, strain the liquid into a hurricane glass over crushed ice for your drinking pleasure. Finally, garnish with an orange wheel or a lemon wheel and a Maraschino cherry (on top of your well-earned treat.)
3. Grenada: Calabash Cocktail
The third cocktail on the list is the “Spice Island” of Grenada, a gorgeous hideaway that’s one of the best-kept secrets in the entire Caribbean (thus Forbes.com). The local distillery River Antoine is an island supplier of rum and cocktail adds. If you find some River Antoine any where in the world, lucky you! The demand to their supplies from the locals is that big, that they can’t even export it.
The cocktail: ingredients: White rum, Grenadian nutmeg syrup, Lime juice—freshly-squeezed, Spoonful of caster sugar, Blue Curacao, Grated nutmeg. Mix the white rum with the Grenadian nutmeg syrup together with the fresh-squeezed lime juice. Add a spoonful of caster sugar and a bit of Blue Curacao for color. Top it all off with nutmeg.
4. The Bahamas: Bahama Mama
Do you say Bahamas? No, I said Bahama Mama! Many would like to spend their honeymoon at the Bahama’s. But more known than an idyllic island, the name is super known for the famous cocktail. Maybe the most well known Caribbean Cocktail. Quit talking, start blending! This is how you make it. The ingredients: 1/2 fluid ounce rum, 1/2 fluid ounce coconut-flavored rum, 1/2 fluid ounce grenadine syrup, 1 fluid ounce orange juice, 1 fluid ounce pineapple juice, 1 cup crushed ice. The recipe: mix the rum and the coconut-rum with the orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine alongside crushed ice in an electric blender.
5. Dominican Republic: Cuba Libre
Do we need to say more? We already wrote a complete blog post about the Cuba Libre. Also a well known Caribbean Cocktail! Do you want to prepare it? Say no more, read no more. Just click to one of our previous blog posts!
6. Barbados: Rum Punch
We all had a fruit punch once. Didn’t we? But now imagine a more Caribbean Punch. One made with rum. And not any kind of rum, no, good quality rum. Dark rum. This is what you need to make a real Barbadian – of Bajan – rum punch. Fresh-squeezed lime juice
What you need: Sugar syrup (two measures), Dark Caribbean rum (three measures), Water (four measures), Angostura Bitters (just a dash), Freshly-grated nutmeg, Passionfruit (optional). What you do: add the sugar syrup to the juice. Add rum and water, pour into a glass with lots of ice, and use a dash of bitters and sprinkling of nutmeg. When it comes to dark rum, the more aged, the better for the rum punch.
7. Antigua and Barbuda: Antigua Smile
Antigua and Barbuda are the Twin Islands of the Caribbean. Blue sea, white beaches, palm trees and the Antigua Smile! Drink this cocktail and start smiling! Or is it… keep on smiling. Don’t mind, find some space in the sun (in the garden, your balcony or even behind your window), put on your sunglasses and relax. Of course, after you mixed this Antigua Smile first.
The ingredients: Black Pineapple, 1 ½ ounces dark rum, 1-ounce crème de banana, 1½ ounces pineapple juice, ½ ounce sour mix, Mango Wedge. The recipe: take 1.5 ounces of dark rum, 1 ounce of crème de banana, and 1 ounce of fresh pineapple juice and half an ounce of sour mix and shake all ingredients together with crushed ice. Afterward, pour in a tumbler and garnish with mango and pineapple wedges.
8. Belize: Espanto Wave
You will find this lovely land at the West of the Caribbean Sea. Some say it’s not Caribbean anymore, but generally Belize is counted as a Caribbean land. Not an island, but a land. It’s located in Central America and it shares borders with Mexico and Guatemala. Now you know where the island is, take your kitchen applies and start blending this frozen cocktail.
What do you need: 1 oz Captain Morgan Rum, 0.5 oz Blue Curacao Liquor, 0.3 oz Amaretto, 0.5 oz of Triple Sec, 1 oz of Pineapple squash, 1 oz of Lime juice, 1 tablespoon Sugar, Ice cubes. How do you make it: gather up all of the ingredients, and blend the Rum, Blue Curacao, Amaretto, Triple Sec, Lime Juice, Pineapple Squash, and Sugar into a frozen mixture. Enjoy!
9. The Florida Keys: Key Lime Pie Mojito
The Keys are not part of the Caribbean. But when you are there, it definitely feels like it is. Palm trees, white beaches, blue sea… mmm where did we hear this before? The cocktail that can be defined as a signature cocktail is the Key Lime Pie Mojito. Let’s try it out, they state it is a hybrid between a Mojito and Key Lime Pie. We’ll see.
You need… 1 ½ oz Conch Republic Rum, ½ oz Keke Key Lime Cream Liqueur, ½ oz Fresh lime juice, ½ oz Simple syrup, 2 ½ oz Club soda, 8 Mint leaves and ½ Lime Mint sprig.
Fill your cocktail shaker with all ingredients but leave the club soda and 2/3 ice aside. Shake well, very well. Done? Than add the club soda and give it one last final shake before pouring it into a glass. Garnish with lime juice and the lime mint sprig for the full-on key lime detail.
10. The Virgin Islands: Painkiller
Are you still with me? Or did you already try all the above cocktails and totally lost your sense of time and place? Don’t mind. We are still at the Caribbean together!! Time for the last Caribbean Cocktail on the list of Forbes. The Painkiller. As soon as you set feet on the ground on the Virgin Islands, you are welcomed with this drink. To ease the pain, whatever pain it may be, and start relaxing. So why shouldn’t you try this Painkiller at home after a long workweek or during some rainy days? It’s all about (re)live the Caribbean, isn’t it?
Start killing pain with these ingredients: 2 ounces of Pusser’s Rum, 4 ounces of pineapple juice, 1 ounce of cream of coconut, 1 ounce orange juice, Nutmeg. Now you are still a few seconds away from your cure…. Pour all of the mentioned ingredients into an ice-filled shaker. Then shake and shake well. Very well. Pour the drink into a tall glass and top off with grated nutmeg.
At last
I hope you enjoyed this list of Caribbean Cocktails as I did. Normally I like to make my own lists, but this one was worth sharing. So if you are curious about the whole text (yes I made it a lot shorter). Feel free to visit the original article. And don’t forget…. cheers and ….
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere
Jimmy Buffet
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