Blog | Page 55 of 63 | Rum Therapy

March 28, 2012May 29, 2019

Sunset Bar and Grill, St. Maarten

Ahhh…Sunset Bar and Grill in St. Maarten. Where else can you enjoy a delicious rum punch on a beautiful beach while a 747 roars over your head?

Doesn’t sound that good to you? Well, when researching places to check out on our recent trip to St. Maarten, a good friend mentioned that we really ought to check this place out. We thought it would be a novelty and that we’d stop by just for a quick beverage, but we ended up having a blast!

The day we got there by mid-afternoon the bar was already hopping! There were plenty of people on the beach enjoying the warm sunshine and we noticed a surfboard acting as a sort of sign with a flight schedule written on it.

We ordered several Rum Punches and Mojitos along with a few appetizers.

Just as our first round was being served, we saw people clamoring towards the beach. Within seconds, a huge US Airways jet blasted right past us, over the fence and landed on the runway just feet from the bar. Wow – talk about close! I grabbed my camera and headed to the sand to see if I could capture the next landing.

In addition to great drinks and the jet entertainment, Sunset Bar and Grill frequently has live music and even crab races. And if you’re short on cash, women can drink free – if you’re willing to go topless.

After all the airplanes have landed for the day, Sunset offers a quiet waterfront dining under the stars. So really – Sunset Bar and Grill should be on your list of beach bars to check out next time you’re in St. Maarten. Just don’t stand in the middle of the beach when a 747 takes off….

To find out more about Sunset Bar and Grill in St. Maarten, check out their website here: http://sunsetsxm.com/

Find Sunset Bar & Grill on our St. Maarten/St. Martin Map
Press the Sunset Bar & Grill bar underneath the map

Other Posts on St. Maarten/St. Martin that you might enjoy:

Sint Maarten Yacht Club Bar & Restaurant

Calmos Cafe, St. Martin

Sarafina’s Bakery, Marigot St. Martin

Le Galion Beach, St. Martin

Karakter Beach Bar, St. Maarten

Guy’s Driftwood Boat Bar, St. Maarten

Orient Bay Beach, St. Martin

copyright©Rum Therapy Beaches, Bars & More, Tropical Travel Guide, 2013
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

March 24, 2012June 6, 2019

Finding the Rhum on St. Barths – Part 2

After an enjoyable time at R. St. Barths, we continued down Rue du General de Gaulle looking for a shop that I had read about in one of our travel books. This shop was supposed to have a wide variety of infused rums in handcrafted bottles. In reading about St. Barts, we learned that many restaurants serve an infused rum after a delicious meal – particularly vanilla. Wanting to know more about this tradition, we sought out a shop called M’Bolo – known for their infused rums or “rhum” as it is spelled here.

A short stroll down Rue du General de Gaulle, we saw the sign for M’Bolo. The shop was tiny and tucked in back of another shop but looked quite inviting. Upon entering, we were immediately greeted by one of the shop owners, Sandy.

We asked about M’Bolo’s infused rhums and Sandy generously allowed us to try many of them, explaining that her husband Christian infused the rhums mainly with ingredients grown in his garden on St. Barts. Each one was better than the next and by the end we wanted to take one of each home!

Sandy said vanilla is a favorite on St. Barts and it was delicious. After sampling many of them, I decided to to purchase the chocolate, but unfortunately she’d run out – must have been another popular one! We instead purchased a bottle of Srub which is a wonderful combination of ingredients including cinnamon. Excellent to sip as an after dinner drink and we hope to at some point drizzle a little over some vanilla Blue Bell ice cream.

The bottles are handmade and great to bring home as a gift or to add to your own collection. As we gathered our purchases to leave, we asked Sandy if she drank rhum every day. Her response was “No, I don’t drink rhum every day, unless I can!” Gotta love that.

M’Bolo is well worth a visit when in St. Barts. Taste their wonderful infused rhums and enjoy visiting with Sandy!

Find the location of M’Bolo on our St. Barths Map under Attractions

To see more posts on St. Barths and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy Beaches, Bars & More, Tropical Travel Guide, 2013
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

March 22, 2012June 6, 2019

Finding the Rhum on St. Barths – Part 1

Shopping in Gustavia, St. Barts is quite the adventure. Boutiques, high end shops, bars and restaurants line the streets around the beautiful harbor and the town is quaint and clean. You won’t find a lot of t-shirt and souvenir shops but you will find plenty of places to buy expensive watches, perfumes and other high end ticket items.

Although we brought our credit cards, we intended more to explore and experience Gustavia but found two shops that really caught our attention.

Several streets back from the harbor on Rue du General de Gaulle, we stumbled across R. St. Barths. It looked like a rum shop , but we had not heard of R. St. Barths before. Very intrigued, we walked in.

Walking into this shop was a visual pleasure. Rows of the R. St. Barth Blanc, R. St. Barth Ambré and R. St. Barth Hors d’Age lined one full wall.

Frederic was there to greet us and told us a little about R. St. Barth. We asked if we could first like to sample their infused rums that were on display. They were delicious – especially the vanilla…

We then moved to the chic tasting room with leather chairs and rum barrels and sampled the R. St. Barth Ambré.

The rhum is an authentic rhum agricole and the creation of French International footballer, Mikael Silvestre and his wife, Severine and they opened this store in March 2011.

From what we could find out, R. St. Barths is actually made and bottled in Guadeloupe, then shipped to St. Barths. Each beautiful bottle is finished with a hand-made wax seal.

We still don’t know a lot about this rum, but we certainly enjoyed the experience – be sure to stop in for a sample when you get to St. Barts!

Find the R. St. Barts Tasting Room on our St. Barths Map under Attractions

To see more posts on St. Barths and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy Beaches, Bars & More, Tropical Travel Guide, 2013
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

March 13, 2012June 24, 2021

St. Patrick’s Day Drinks

Not a big fan of green beer? Could you use a recipe for a green rum drink for St. Patrick’s Day this year? We’ve assembled three great tasting rum recipes sure to add a little touch O’ the green to your celebration. Click the link for recipes.

Tropical Leprechaun

St. Patrick’s Day Punch

Frosty O’Malley

Find more rum recipes here:

Rum Recipe Picture Directory

Rum Recipes by Category

Copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

March 12, 2012May 29, 2019

Karakter Beach Bar, St. Maarten

Ever been to a beach bar that’s a bus? A beach bar bus? As we were planning our recent trip to St. Maarten, a friend mentioned a beach bar on beautiful Simpson Bay Beach that we needed to visit. We asked the name of it and set out to find it one sunny afternoon.

We were staying on the other side of the Dutch Bridge from this bar so we took a hike down Front Street past the Dutch Bridge and turned back in to Simpson Bay Beach. The beach has gorgeous soft sand and turquoise blue water.

We stopped for a quick beverage at Mary’s Boon Resort and Spa and then wandered a short way over looking for a bar called Karakter.

Karakter Beach Bar Bus

Sure enough! The main part of the bar IS actually a bus and the drinks are mixed inside the bus. There are covered picnic tables, beach chairs and umbrellas in the ultra soft sand and it was a fantastic place to lime away the afternoon.

The bar is in close proximity to the airport, but the beach ambiance, beautiful sand and great drinks far outweighed the occasional roar of an airplane taking off or landing.

This table was reserved for some Rum Therapy!

Beach in front of Karakter

The Rum Punch is highly recommended – strong and fruity just like we like it.
Want to find out more? Check out their website here: Karakter Beach Bar

Cheers!

Find Karakter Beach Bar on our St. Maarten/St. Martin Map

To see more posts on St. Maarten and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy Beaches, Bars & More, Tropical Travel Guide, 2013
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

February 13, 2012June 24, 2021

Valentine’s Day Cocktails

Feeling “Rum”antic this Valentine’s Day? Here are a few rum cocktail recipes to spice up your “rum”antic celebration!

Caribbean Kiss
(makes two – of course!)

4 oz. Dark Rum
2 oz. Amaretto
2 oz. Kahlua
4 oz. Cream
Cinnamon
Raw Sugar

Dip the rim of a cocktail glass in Kahlùa, then in raw sugar. Shake the spirits and cream with ice, strain into the frosted glass and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

If dinner goes really well, perhaps this could be your after dinner drink?

Between the Sheets
(makes 2)

2 oz Brandy
2 oz Light Rum
2 oz Triple sec
2 oz Lemon juice

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine all of the ingredients. Shake well. Strain into cocktail glasses.

or:

Love Potion #9
(makes one)
Recipe from Cruzan Rum

1 1/2 parts Cruzan 9 Spiced Rum
3/4 part DeKuyper Coconut Amaretto
3 parts Pineapple Juice
1 part Cranberry Juice
Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a Hurricane glass. Garnish with a pineapple/cherry stack on the rim.

Happy Valentines Day!

For more Rum Recipes, check out our Rum Recipes by Category

Copyright©Rum Therapy Beaches, Bars & More, Tropical Travel Guide, 2013
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

February 8, 2012June 6, 2019

Island Windjammers

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by….
Sea Fever by John Masefield

For those of you that have followed us for a while, you know that not only do we love beautiful tropical beaches, island vacations and rum, we have also grown to love sailing…so, when we got an invitation to participate in a week long sail on the Tall Ship Diamant through Island Windjammers, we jumped on it! The Diamant sails from Grenada through the Grenadine Islands on a 6 day sail for most of the year, but also offers several longer cruises.

The Diamant has 6 cabins for 12 guests and a crew of 6. Meals and most beverages are included – and believe me, you are well fed! During our 6 day sail, we covered 144 miles and saw 9 different islands – some of them completely uninhabited. The sailing was incredible, the food was amazing and the sights were…well, indescribable.

Tobago Cays, The Grenadines

We boarded not knowing any of our fellow passengers or crew, but left with lots of new friends!

Our shipmates and new friends enjoying some Rum Punch on Happy Island

We took, oh, about 2,000 pictures during our sail and so we thought we’d give you the highlights of our trip through pictures. As they say, take only photographs and leave only footprints!

Our berth for the week, Cabin #2. Diamant Deck Configuration: Roll your mouse over the diagram to see pictures of cabins.

A beautiful beach on Carriacou

Carriacou Sunset

Princess Margaret Beach – Bequia

Enjoying Lobster Pizza at Mac’s in Bequia

Conch Fritters for Happy Hour

A great cheese plate (complete with jalapeño mice) for the wine and cheese party.

Had a great time gettin’ happy at Happy Island.

Kite surfers giving us a show at Happy Island

Enjoying the cultural walk, er – bar crawl on Mayreau

Shopping, island style, on Mayreau

We were treated to a rainbow over Sweezle Time – the name of the new dinghy

Enjoyed a picnic and an afternoon in the sun in Tobago Cays

Snorkeling with the turtles in Tobago Cays – awesome experience!

Captain Nervo demonstrating the proper rope swing dismount. Apparently he’d done this a few times before…

Every evening during Happy Hour, Brandon served up the infamous Diamant Rum Swizzles (or Sweezles as Capt. Nervo calls them). I asked for Brandon’s recipe and he said, oh, just a bit of this juice and that juice and some rum. Hmmm…code for TOP SECRET RECIPE?? Anyway – they’re delicious!

One last day of sun, sand and snorkeling on beautiful Sandy Island. We look pretty stressed, huh?

One last sunny sail back to the island of Grenada. Great adventure, great time.
Thank you Island Windjammers!

To find out more about Island Windjammers, check out their website:
http://www.islandwindjammers.com/default.aspx
Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/IslandWindjammers
Email them at:
[email protected]
Or call:
877.772.4549

To see more posts on The Grenadines and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

copyright©Rum Therapy Beaches, Bars & More, Tropical Travel Guide, 2013
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

February 7, 2012June 24, 2021

Dirty Banana

The first time I experienced a drink called the a Dirty Banana was in Jamaica after spending the day on a Cool Runnings Sail to Dunn’s River Falls. The sail offered endless pours of rum punch and to be honest with you, by the time someone ordered a Dirty Banana cocktail for me later that evening, I was nearly rummed out for the day. I know, what a lightweight. However, the lovely flavor of fresh banana mingled with dark rum and coffee flavored liqueur remained etched in my mind.

Jump to Recipe

Recently one of our Facebook friends asked if we could dig up a recipe for a Dirty Banana that she had enjoyed during a recent vacation to Jamaica. There were many recipes available on the web, but after a bit of testing and tweaking, we settled on the taste of the recipe below. We sprinkled the top of the drink with cinnamon, but allspice could be used as well as a floater of Tia Maria! Enjoy a taste of Jamaica, mon!

*We love bringing you amazing rum recipes! Our recipes may contain affiliate links to products that we use. If you click the link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support in helping us to continue providing rumlicious, tropical recipes!

Print Recipe

Dirty Banana

This drink has a lovely flavor of fresh banana mingled with dark rum and coffee flavored liqueur!

Course: Drinks

Servings:

Ingredients

2 oz. Tia Maria
2 oz. Dark Rum
2 oz. Rum Cream Liqueur
4 oz. Milk
1 oz. Simple Syrup
3/4 Banana
Ice

Instructions

Fill blender 3/4 way with ice and all ingredients.
Blend until thick and smooth.
Pour into glasses and sprinkle the top with cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg or add a floater of Tia Maria.

January 26, 2012January 15, 2020

Bomba Surfside Shack

Have you heard of the “Full Moon Parties” on Tortola? Then you’ve probably heard of The Bomba Shack.

The Bomba Shack is quite the sight. Erected of materials dropped off by friends, the building looks as if it shouldn’t stay upright in a heavy wind. (It actually made it through a pretty fierce hit from Hurricane Earl in 2010 with minimal damage!)

Update: unfortunately the Bomba Shack was destroyed in the hurricanes of 2017. We are not sure if there will be any attempt to re-build, but we will update this post with any additional information as we receive it.

The walls and ceiling are adorned with graffiti, tons of pictures and clothing (namely undergarments). The architectural style is to say the least ….interesting. During the day, it’s a quiet place with a nice view of Jost Van Dyke.

Bomba’s Rum Punch with Jost Van Dyke in the distance

Bomba opened his bar in 1976 on Cappoons Bay – between Long Bay and Cane Garden Bay. He began the infamous Full Moon Parties in 1989 and due to the popularity of these get-togethers (there have been 800-1,000 people in attendance), Bomba opened up “The Back Yard” across the street in the same architectural style. It includes a bandstand for the live music and another bar.

We attended Bombas Full Moon Party in January of 2010 and did a little research on it before attending. One website said “Not for the easily offended” and after attending, we completely understand what they meant. Leave the kiddos at home – this party starts around 9 p.m., doesn’t really wind up until dawn, and it’s wild!

Many people come to partake in Bombas Mushroom Tea which is only served during certain hours, with special glasses that you need to purchase. Some of the locals we talked to recommended skipping the tea and going for Bombas Rum Punch instead, or adding rum to the tea. We tried both the tea and the punch – for research purposes of course…

Pouring the Mushroom Tea

Midnight rolled around and we said goodbye to Bomba. As we looked around, the place had gotten crowded with both locals and tourists and we waded through a sea of people trying to find our ride. This party was just gettin’ started!

To see more posts on Tortola and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

January 13, 2012January 18, 2012

Rum Bar at the Breadfruit

You lucky Phoenicians. Or for that matter, anyone who spends time in Phoenix. There’s a place in downtown Phoenix that’ll transport you by taste to the islands. It’s called the Rum Bar at the Breadfruit.

We recently learned about and “liked” the Rum Bar on Facebook and commented on one particularly yummy looking Rum Drink that they posted called the Irish Rum Float.

photo by Rum Bar at the Breadfruit

The good folks at the Rum Bar got back to us with their original recipe and we were hooked.

Irish Rum Float
1 oz Zaya
1 oz El Dorado Rum Cream
1/4 oz Coconut milk
1/4 oz Gozio amaretto
1 oz Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

Shake vigorously and double strain into martini glass
Dust with ground cinnamon

We were thrilled to then be invited to and to attend an Appleton Rum Tasting Event at the Rum Bar in December. After the event, we had to try the Irish Rum Float for ourselves and also ordered the scrumptious looking Appleton Rum Sea Scallops.

Phoenix. Really. Head on down to the Rum Bar at the Breadfruit and get an authentic taste of the tropics – Modern Jamaican Seafood, Premium Aged Rum and Cigars.

To find out more about the Rum Bar and The Breadfruit, go to their website:
http://thebreadfruit.com/
and Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/TheBreadfruit