Caribbean Rum and Beer Festival

Nice lady who poured my multiple servings of Kaiso Chocorange

$10 US for an afternoon of food, music, and rum sampling? Count us in! The festival, held at the Grenada Cultural Centre near Grand Anse, wasn’t huge, but it was a lot of fun. As part of a van-load of cruisers, we arrived as it opened (2 pm). It was pretty quiet, some of the booths still setting up, but the pace picked up nicely. Outside was a stage where several bands played throughout the afternoon and evening. There was also a cooking demonstration by local culinary students, with free samples of several dishes, including Flaming Beef Teriyaki Kabob, Flaming Chicken La Grenade, Beer-Batter Coconut Shrimp, Rum Cake, and Rum Balls. All of the dishes were, of course, made with rum or beer, and were absolutely delicious! There was also a vendor selling BBQ chicken legs and pork, which helped to set us up before our rum tasting. So, inside…  Booths were set up, each with a different distiller. Countries represented were Barbados, Guyana, and Surinam, not the usual representatives when you think of rum. But boy, do they make good rum! Of course, there was also the Grenadian distiller Clarkes Court, which is just down the road from our anchorage in Clarkes Court Bay. And one U.S. representative with a few small-distillery products. Some highlights? Blue Chair Bay is out of New York, rums devised mixed in Barbados for Kenny Chesney. Now, I’m not much for country music, but I’ve got to say that the Spicy Coconut Rum was fantastic! Clarkes Court Coconut Rum was also great – not too sweet, with an intense coconut flavor. The 12-year-old El Dorado rum was so smooth it just evaporated on my tongue when I took a sip. Katso Chocorange was a chocolate-orange rum liquor that tasted like melted ice cream with a kick. Now, I know this will sound weird, but I went crazy over the Nutz’ n Rum, a peanut – yes, you read that right, peanut – rum liquor. They made a great two-layer shot called the Beer Nut, with Nutz’ n Rum on the bottom, and 10 Saints Beer (from Barbados) on top. Chris did the El Dorado age progression – 5-year, 8-year, and  12-year rums – to experience the difference that aging makes. His also really liked the Lord Boar from from Barbados. To top it off, we bought a chocolate Tortuga rum cake, made in Grand Cayman. Fun time!

Chefs of the future serving their delicious food

Contestants with their signature drinks