The BVIs & USVI’s Official Cocktails
Looking for the signature rum drinks of the Virgin Islands? From the original Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar Bar to creamy Bushwackers and strong island rum punches, here’s PubClub’s firsthand guide to the British Virgin Islands’ most famous cocktails.
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Cocktails Blogger
As one would have beer in Germany, tequila in Mexico and wine in France and Italy, so is it with rum and rum drinks in the Caribbean.
No matter where you go in the Caribbean, you will encounter rum. You will be around it almost as much the water that surrounds the islands. And frankly, that’s not a bad thing at all. If nothing else, drink enough of it, and it keeps the mosquitos away!
Here is your PubClub.com guide to run and rum drinks you’ll encounter in the Caribbean, and the Virgin Islands in particular.
THE RUMS OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
In the Virgin Islands, Cruzan is produced locally and a bottle of 2-year-old (light or dark) is less than $8. The company also has spirits of different ages, flavored rums which are ideal for shots and the explosive 151.
Paradise is a very inexpensive local rum; PubClub.com paid $2.79 for a bottle at KMart and it’s better than the bland Bacardi white found on the mainland U.S.
It’s a fact of life here that rum is cheaper than other beverages and as such, it is poured it liberally in the bars. Expect more rum than mix.
THE RUM DRINKS OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
The Virgin Islands specializes in concoctions called the Painkiller and Bushwhacker, and every bar on every island has their own version of a rum punch.
Those seeking even more potent drinks need only to ask for it as a “number 4.” The numbers indicate to the bartender the amout of rum to use in the drinks (note that all drinks are free-poured in the Virgin Islands and liberally so, too). A “number 1” is for lightweight tourists, a “number 2” for infrequent drinkers, and so forth.
Rum Punch
The Rum Punches of the Virgin Island are like gumbo in New Orleans, each is a bit different but they are all all good. This is actually PubClub.com’s favorite drink of the BVIs, bercause it’s rum with a orange juice and a small amount of another juice to cut the acidity of the OJ, so as mango or passion fruit. The really good ones include a floater of thick, dark rum.
Recipe:
• Dark Caribbean Rum (well any rum will do, but dark rum is best. And it must be Caribbean rum)
• Orange Juice
• Secondary juice (passion fruit, mango, etc.)
• Floater of a Myers-type of dark rum
The Painkiller
Speciality of the Soggy Dollar Bar and now copied everwhere in the Caribbean. It’s even made it’s way to the Florida Keys at Dockside Tropical Bar in Marathon. At the Soggy Dollar Bar, there’s a road sign above the bar that says “Zero To Naked In 3.2 Painkillers.”
What exactly IS a Painkiller? It’s a rum-based (go figure!) drink with pineapple juice and a splash of OJ topped with fresh grated nutmeg. But it has one more ingredient that gives it a thicker texture than the rum punches, cream coconut.
Recipe (amount of each ingredient is up to the person making the drink. Tip: the more rum, the better!):
• Pusser’s Rum
• Pineapple Juice
• Cream Coconut
• Fresh nutmeg grated over the top (a must!)
Bushwacker
Speciality of the little bar with the tin roof just down the beach from the Soggy Dollar Bar. Best made by Gertrude, the big black Caribbean lady who does not hold back on the alcohol.
They make a particularly good one at Myott’s in Cane Garden Bay also makes a very good one. It’s such a popular drink you don’t even have to be in the Caribbean to have one. Many Florida beach bas have Bushwackers.
What exactly IS a Bushwacker? It’s a blended drink that looks a lot like a White Russian. Drink it too fast and you’ll get a head rush. Drink it too slow and it melts. Well, the latter is only a guess; PubClub.com has never drank them slow enough for them to melt!
Recipe (blended):
• Dark rum
• Kahula
• Cream de Cacao
• Cream of Coconut
• Half And Half
• Vanilla Ice Cream
You can read all about these drinks and even make them or find a bar that has them. But nothing beats drinking them in the place of their origin, so get to the British Virgin Islands and enjoy the way in which they were intended.
The Next Stops On The Cocktails Party Bus Are…
• Inside The Original Pina Colada Bar
• The Story Of The Carib Hilton San Juan, The OTHER Original Pina Colada Bar
• Where – And Who – Created the Margarita?
And…
Kevin Wilkerson is the founder of PubClub.com, an award-winning journalist and nightlife expert who has covered destinations and bars or more than two decades. He has been to the Virgin Island several times, including hanging out with a local muscian who played all the bars on the islands. While working as a newspaper reporter, he received an Associated Press award for investigative journalism.
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