Time To Chill Out and Take It Easy In Barbados

It is the weekend once again and as most of my readers will be aware, that the weekend means only one thing and that it is time to take things real easy and spend some quality time with the family.

 Don’t get me wrong I don’t take things easy during the week; I work real hard during and put in a 12+ hours a day. I’m a firm believer that if you have things that you want to achieve in life that  you have to put the effort, time and thought into making those things happen. But I also believe that you have to spend quality time resting and relaxing and enjoying life with your family and friends.

I was going to head to the beach and enjoy my favourite aspect of life on Barbados. For me nothing beats taking things easy at an amazingly beautiful beach and enjoying the warmish waters of the Caribbean Sea or even the cooler waters of the Atlantic Ocean, I don’t mind I love them both. It is a wee bit wet today so I will put the beach on hold until another day. That reminds me, I need to get a new boogie board, because of the damage to the last one caused not by sharks, but by my Staffordshire Bull Terrier, that thinks it is protecting me from the Boogie Board.

I have a load of magazine’s to read and a few board games that the kid loves to play to keep me occupied. I also have one of my favourite cocktail recipe’s called the Road Runner  to try out later when the kid is safely tucked away in his bed, which I’m looking to sampling again because it has been a while. I know this cocktail tastes real good, because I have sampled it before back home in Scotland during one of my legendary cocktail evenings.

The Road Runner

Ingredients:
Amount Ingredient (Click ingredient for more recipes)
2 Shots Russian Vodka
1 Shot Disaronno Amaretto
1 Shot Coconut Cream
1 Shot Cream
1 Scoop Ice Cream (Vanilla)

Method:
Blend all ingredients with crushed ice until smooth.

Serve in a Martini Glass.

This cocktail is pure heaven, it seems to hit the right spot for me everytime I have it! I also have  have a few more cocktail recipes, which you may find of interest, The Best Pina Colada Recipe In The World and Cocktail Recipes For The Weekend.

The Barbados Lager Experiment Conducted By The Wandering Scotsman

Nothing beats a good ice-cold bottle of lager to end the day in Barbados; because most days here are fairly hot they seem to go down a real treat. For me it has to be virtually ice cold or it isn’t going to go down quite so good. The problem in Barbados is that because it is still quite hot hear in the evening it doesn’t take long for a bottle of lager to lose its coldness.

Back home in Scotland my beverage of choice would have been ice cold Guinness on draft, or bottles of Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Hoegarrden bottles or on draft, Peroni, or Amstel, all great drinks in my humble opinion. I would gladly drink copious amount of each of those drinks given half a chance.

In Barbados there isn’t anything like the wide choice of lagers available to choose form, in fact I would go as far as saying the choice on this island is the most limited I have every experienced in any country I have ever travelled to. But don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining but making a very real observation.

I have personally reviewed what I consider to be my favourite lagers, which are easily available to buy in Barbados. I could have also included Sol the Mexican lager in my list but I only seem to like it when I’m eating Mexican food, so for that reason I have not included it.

My Four Favourite Lagers That Are  Readily Available In Barbados:

1. Banks Beer, Is Brewed in   Barbados itself and this is the only country I have ever seen it sold, but it is seemingly available in a few major cities around the world. It is a very drinkable beverage, which goes down a treat, but it must be ice cold to fully appreciate it.

2. Heineken, an internationally known lager that is brewed in Holland and this one I had tasted many times before I moved to Barbados. A very drinkable lager, that goes down a wee bit too easy, which I suppose isn’t a bad thing, unless you drink too much of the stuff.

3. Carib Lager, another lager that that I hadn’t even been aware that it existed until I sampled it a few years ago in Barbados. This good tasting and smooth lager is brewed in Trinidad and Tobago.

4. Piton Lager, Once again another lager that is new to me out with the Caribbean. This one is brewed in St Lucia and again it is a very good tasting lager, which is surprisingly the cheapest of the bunch at about $1.90BDS a bottle in the supermarket.

I wouldn’t say any of the above lagers were any better than the others, I find them all very drinkable and refreshing lagers, which do the job they are meant to do, which is taste good and help me to chill out at the end of another tough day in Barbados!

The Best Pina Colada Recipe In The World

For me one of my favourite cocktails in Barbados is the Pina Colada. For me there is just something magical about drinking a Pina Colada in a tropical climate, it just seems to taste extra special.

I must be honest and say that I have tasted some delicious Pina Colada’s in Barbados, some not so good ones, and some, which were an absolute disgrace. It isn’t exactly rocket science to make a truly delicious Pina Colada; there are no secret ingredients.

The trick is to use the proper ingredients and you cant really fail but to make a Pina Colada that will taste as good as you will find in the swankiest cocktail bar in any bar in the world.

Pina Colada Recipe

Ingredients:

2oz of Mount Gaye Rum
1 ½ oz of Cream of Coconut
2oz of Fresh Pineapple (cut into chunks & also use the pulp)
1 cup of ice

Method:

Pour everything into the blender.
Blend for roughly 20 seconds or until smooth
Pour into a frosted glass
Drink it through a straw; it somehow makes it taste better

Follow the above instructions to the letter and you will succeed in making the best Pina Colada in the world. Don’t take try to substitute any of the ingredients for something inferior, such as pineapple juice or coconut milk, it just wont work.

What else can I add to the above, apart from find yourself a nice bar or restaurant in Barbados overlooking the Caribbean Sea, along with some candle light, and good company and you will have created a near perfect ambiance to go with the perfect Pina Colada.

Guinness Punch Recipe Via Barbados

 

Back home in Scotland one of my favourite drinks was a pint of draft ice cold Guinness, it is as good as it gets as far as alcoholic beverages go. Unfortunately draft Guinness isn’t something that you can find in Barbados. The best alternative that is available on the island is bottles of Guinness Original, which just doesn’t do it for me; it is nowhere as good a drink as tasting it on draft.

I however have recently discovered a drink that uses Guinness Original in its recipe and I would say it is a fairly decent tasting drink, which goes down a real treat.

Recipe for Guinness Punch:

12 oz Guinness stout
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/16 tsp cinnamon
1/16 tsp nutmeg
Unsweetened cocoa powder
As much ice as you want

Gently pour a well-chilled Guinness into a small mixing bowl or glass that will hold all of the liquid ingredients. Add the sweetened condensed milk, spices, and cocoa (if it’s wanted). Stir or whisk well, and pour the mixture into a pint-sized beer mug or pub glass, add the ice. Makes 1 drink.

A great wee drink, which does the trick, even though it is not quite as good as Guinness on draft, but what can I do but make the best of things.