St. Johns and the Southside of the Channel Today

     Today we head for the south side of St. John and the string of islands on the Southside of the Sir Francis Drake Channel.      As we leave Red Hook Harbour, the seas are angry and jousting us around leaving us wondering if we are going to have another day of heavy seas to contend with.     Fortunately, the sea calmed down as we approached the Southside of St. John.    

     St. John’s South coast is absolutely beautiful, with the cliffs and the phenomenal houses perched on them.    The sea has the most beautiful shades of blue that can hardly be described.     It’s like Jimmy Buffett says in his song, “don’t try to describe the water if you haven’t seen it,”  it is really hard to describe even if you have seen it.     As we cruise toward the east South of St. John, we saw Flying Fish skimming the water for hundreds of yards at a time over the water.

     This day is a shorter day of traveling than yesterday, and will be spent in more ports for a longer  time than yesterday.     Our first stop of the day is at Ginger Island  and the Ginger Island Hotel.    This beautiful resort boast a newly renovated property that has a great bar and restaurant.     There are cute little Boutiques  and  a beautiful beach making this one of the neatest little resorts that we have come across.    We spent some time sitting at the bar and enjoying their fine and unique cocktails.    Between the cocktails, the beautiful waters, and beach made this a great place to hang out.

     Next is one of the BVI’s favorite and most popular hangouts.     The Willie T, also known as the William Thornton, this ship is a restaurant, bar and party palace from opening until closing.    We had a great lunch onboard along with fine cocktails and hijinks.       After lunch and a few cocktail, it was up to the second story deck for a dive into the clear blue sea and a short swim.     The word is if you dive naked off the aft second story deck you get a free tee shirt.    We sat and enjoyed the waters and the fun at the bar, but it was time for us to head back to St. John and Skinny Legs.

     The waters were still flat and easy to cruise on as we traveled from Norman Island to Coral Bay to visit Skinny Legs and have an afternoon snack and cocktail.     We pushed our nose in among the dinghy’s and threw an anchor aft  to hold the boat in place and we were ashore headed into the jungle and searching for Skinny Legs.     It is a real adventure just to find this quaint little place, but it is well worth the search.   The vibe at the place is local warm and friendly, and the food is great and the beer is ice cold.     All of us  really enjoyed our short stay at Skinny Legs, but the sands were running out of the hour glass a t a rate to quick, and it was time for us to head back to Red Hook and the end of another fun day on the waters of the Virgin Islands.       It was up to the Caribbean Saloon for a couple of cocktail for the Captain, me and the rest of the crew before returning to the condo for the night.

     Tomorrow it is a day at Jost Van Dyke with stops at White Bay, Great Bay, and the Northeast corner of the island with stops at some the BVI’s most famous watering holes.     If the Seas allow we will also be making a stop in Cane Garden Bay to visit the Callwood Distillery.     ;o)

St. Thomas Day 3 Time to Hit the Water for the BVI

     Day 3 finds us heading out of Red Hook Marina in a 29 foot Fountain boat heading for the BVI.     After checking into the BVI at Soper’s Hole, we headed back into the Sir Francis Drake Channel and headed for Road Harbour and a cocktail at Pusser’s Outpost.     After a brief stop in Road Harbour it was back out into the Sir Francis Drake  Channel again for a trip up past Beef Island, the Bluffs, The Dogs, and Seal Rock before heading into  the Gorda Sound and the Bitter End Yacht Club and Saba Rock for lunch and a couple of fine rum cocktails.

     Saba Rock is a unique little resort, museum, bar, and grill   perched literally on a rock that send you out into the Atlantic Ocean at the eastern most end of the BVI.      We all wandered the rock and visited the Toucans, museum, and sat ourselves down for a fabulous lunch and some more cocktails before continuing our voyage.     Gorda Sound was loaded with sailing vessels and other interesting vessels that we weaved around as we entered the moorings outside of Saba Rock.      As we enjoyed our meal and cocktails we noticed a couple of large tarpon swim by near the boat and a number of people riding their tenders in from moored boats for lunch as well. 

Foxy  and Bahama Bob at Foxy's

     With lunch behind us it was off to the North Side of Tortola and hopefully into Cane Garden Bay for a visit to the Callwood Distillery and Stanley’s.     As we worked our way around Seal Rock and the Dogs headed toward Beef Island, we noticed that we were experiencing 15 to 18 foot long frequency swells.     We kept a stiff upper lip and progressed to the West, but as we did we noticed that the beaches on the North side of Tortola were being hammered by some huge and beautiful surf.      We were not having any problem navigating the swells as we kept moving to the West , but a check of the conditions in Cane Garden Bay, we  chose to take a stop at Jost Van Dyke and see Foxy for a while.     We had a couple of cocktails with Foxy and his Daughter, talked about everything under the sun for a couple of hours before heading back out to sea for the final leg of the day taking us back to Red Hook Marina.

    A stop at the Island Time Bar and Duffy’s Love Shack  for a few cocktails before heading back to the condo to plan for tomorrow’s day out on the water.      It looks as though we are going to spend the day on the southern side of the Sir Francis Drake Channel exploring St. John and Normand Island.     Be sure to keep up with us as we continue our adventure in the Virgin Islands.    ;o)

Denizen Premium Rum Draws Them in at the Rum Bar Last Thursday

     The Rum Bar was packed Thursday afternoon with rum aficionado's to taste the Denizen Premium Rum.     The five Rum Lab cocktails available for the tasting brought rave reviews for the Denizen Rum by the patrons.     These tastings are great for the rum lovers to try the rums being featured and to have a good time in the atmosphere of the event as well.

     Denizen pulled the crowd in for the second time at the Rum Bar and this time as a part of the "20th Annual Meeting of the Minds", the Jimmy Buffett Fan Clubs convention in  Key West.     Those who stopped by found the Denizen to be a great cocktail rum that blended very well in the cocktails and brought out a special flavor that they really enjoyed.

     The next time that you go to the store for a premium cocktail rum, remember to try Denizen, you won't be disappointed.   ;o)

Day 2 starts off watching the sunrise over St. John.     The stress is gone, and it is time to sit down and start recalling the adventures of yesterday.     We hung around the condo and enjoyed a good breakfast on the patio looking out over Water Bay toward St. John and watching the pelicans diving into the water after fish.   This was a real fascinating site to see.   I’m not used to seeing pelicans that are hunters rather than scavengers like they are in the fishing marinas at home.   

     It’s lunch time and we are off to Iggy’s Beach Bar and Grill in Bolongo Bay.   Our friends Lauren and Jack who are bartenders in Key West and formerly worked at Iggy’s said that we had to stop by for some really great food and drink.     We were not disappointed, the scenery, service, food and the drinks were wonderful.    I even had a bushwhacker in a souvenir mug that I can’t wait to display on the boat when I get back home.     You don’t want to miss a visit to Iggy’s if you come to St. Thomas.    

     A visit to a close friend at his boat at the Industrial Boatyard.   Caringa’s the hole in the wall restaurant and bar in the boatyard was a perfect place to have a cocktail and catch up on the happenings on the island over the past two years.     A couple of drinks later we had covered the news of the island and the family on the mainland.      It was great to see him again.

Three Rummys chillin'

     Next it’s off to Megan’s Bay on the Northeast side of the island for some beach time and some swimming.    The life guard whistled that the day had come to an end so we watched the sun set and headed back to the condo for some eats and cocktails.

Tonight's get together is about planning tomorrow’s boat trip to Virgin Gorda to visit Saba Rock and the Bitter End Yacht Club.      Then it is back around Beef Island to Trellis Bay.     Next we journey around the North side of Tortola to Cane Garden Bay and the Callwood Distillery, the oldest continuously operating  rum distillery in the world,  and Stanley’s Welcome Bar that claims to serve the cheeseburger that gave Jimmy Buffett the idea for his song “Cheeseburger in Paradise”.       After checking back into the USVI on St. John it is back to ST. Thomas for the night and see what is on the night.     ;o).

Ron Centenario Rum Tasting Draws Well, While Buffett sings on the other end of Duval

    Dispite the competition of Jimmy Buffett on the other end of Duval Street from the  Rum Bar, Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum drew a great crowd as the Phlocked to taste the premium rum and cocktails that were developed in the Rum Lab especially for this event.     The came and enjoyed this fine rum that mixes so well and yet can still be sipped neat or on the rocks.   Anytime that you start with a rum that gives you this capability you are going to have a great cocktail that you can be proud of.     It was a great rum to develop the cocktails for and you can look forward to creating your own premium cocktails with Ron Centenario 7 Year Old rum or any other of the line of fine premium rums.    ;o)   

The First Day in St. Thomas

     After the drive to Miami and the Airplane flight to St. Thomas, we have arrived at the Point Pleasant Resort.     Now it is time to travel back down to Red Hook for some food and libations.    It is absolutely beautiful here with the blue seas and the fun watering holes to drop in on.

     Today we started at Molly Malone's, an Irish pub for cocktails and some much needed food.   This was a great place right on the dock, and the food was wonderful and the drinks even better.   Watching as the stress goes away with each new rum cocktail.     From Molly Malone's it is upstairs at the Marina to The Island Time Pub, a great little open air bar that looks out on the marina and serves a great selection of Happy Hour concoctions from three til 6 pm.    We sat and "chatted" with the bartenders and several locals for an hour or so, then it was off to the next spot.

     Duffy's Love Shack, a Tiki style pub that is heavy with style and good cocktails that will really move you.    The offer up to 52 oz. cocktails in great ceramic mugs that can be refilled at a reduced rate if you use the same mug.     The selection of mugs as well as the selection of cocktails was excellent and a great time was had by all of us .   This is the first day and we have already hit our third watering hole here in St. Thomas.

     Sadly, we must hit the grocery store, stock up on rum, mixers, ice, and oh ya food.    Now it is back to the room overlooking Water Bay and time for some nice evening rum cocktails and just sit back enjoying the serenity.    Tomorrow is another day and it will be fun to see what it has to offer as we glide through this fun adventure of ours.     I'll be keeping you abreast of the new and exciting places that we are finding.     ;o)

 

Rum Bar Key West Showcases Ron Centenario Today

    


     Today Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum takes center stage at the Rum Bar.     We will be featuring premium cocktails made with Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum that can be purchased for $5 from 1pm until 5pm.     These cocktails were developed especially for this event in the Rum Lab during the past two weeks.     You will be unhappy if you miss the event, because the Ron Centenario line of rums are exquisite and lend themselves very well to both sipping or mixing.     I'm looking forward today to fixing you one of these fine cocktails.     See you at the Rum Bar Key West.






Bulletin:
Off to the Islands with Bahama Bob for the Next Two Weeks!!!!!

     The stories of rum research and bar exploration in the USVI and the BVI  the first week will be followed by a second week on a Rum Cruise to Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maartens, and Puerto Rico exploring unique Rum Shops, and distilleries of the area.     I will be keeping you abreast of what is going on daily (internet service allowing) as to what new things that we have experienced.

     We will be traveling with Mike Streeter of Rum Connectionrumconnection.com/ and Carlton Grooms of Coastlines and Tanlines www.coastlines-tanlines.com/ , so expect reports from special places like Iggy's, Foxy's, Soggy Dollar, Willy T's, Saba Rock, Cane Garden Bay, Gertrude's, and other Caribbean locales for the next two weeks.    Talk to you from the Islands.   ;o)

Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum Tasting at the Rum Bar Key West

     Tomorrow 4 November, 2011 from 1 pm until 5 pm The Rum Bar Key West is featuring Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum in a special tasting event.      This is going to be a very special event featuring the Ron Centenario line of fine rums, plus a menu of $5.00 cocktails that feature Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum. These are all new Bahama Bob's Rum Lab Cocktails that were created especially for this Ron Centenario event . The best and the worst part of this is that it took some real work to come up with only 5 cocktails of this caliber because the rum fit so well into so many of the new creations.       A final Rum Lab this past Tuesday was charged with the duty to male sure of which ones we really wanted for this presentation.    One new recipe was added to the menu, but other wise the menu stayed the same as originally planned.

Lone Palm Tiki was added to the menu, because we felt that a Tiki theme cocktail would be ideal to showcase this particular premium rum in the Tiki inviornment.    




Lone Palm Tiki
·         1 oz. Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum
·         1 oz. Blue Curacao
·         1/2 oz. Cream of Coconut
·         1 1/2 oz. Pineapple Juice
·         Splash of. Grapefruit Juice
·         1/2 oz. Bahama Bob’s #4 Syrup
·         Splash of Barrett’s Ginger Beer

All of the ingredients except the Ginger Beer are placed in a shaker with Ice and shaken until chilled.   Strain into a pint glass filled with ice, top off with Barrett's Ginger Beer, and garnish with an orange and a sprig of mint.

     Tomorrow is the big day for Ron Centenario at the Rum Bar Key West, so don't forget to stop by and try one of our new Premium Cocktails for only $5 from 1pm until 5 pm.    

Denizen Rum Tasting Thursday and Rum Lab Goes Tiki

     Thursday is the Denizen Rum Tasting event at the Rum Bar at 1117 Duval Street from 1 pm until 5 pm.    The event will feature Denizen Rum with a special $5 Denizen Rum premium cocktail menu for your enjoyment.     These are very special cocktails that were developed especially for this event in the Rum Lab of Bahama Bob Leonard.     This is a chance to stop by and become acquainted with this fine Rum and some unique and flavorful cocktails.    Don't miss this event, you will be disappointed if you do.

     Yesterday, the Rum Lab went Tiki and came up with some really fine cocktails that take us back to the era of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic.    These are some new creations and some revisions of both the Mai Tai of Trader Vic and Bahama Bob's version of the famous Don the Beachcomber's Zombie.    Part of the research was the creation of a new Bahama Bob #4 syrup that helped bring several of the cocktails to life.     This was a very rewarding part of the day in the lab as well as ending up with 6 new cocktails for the up and coming book.     Special thanks to my "lab mice: who always provide me with a great deal of input in the finishing of these new cocktails.
The hit of the lad day was a new cocktail called Long Palm Tiki, it was the unanimous choice of the group as the best one of the day.

Long Palm Tiki

• 1 1/2 oz. Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum
• 1 oz. Blue Curacao
• 1 oz. Creme of Coconut
• 1 1/2 oz. Pineapple Juice
• 1/2 oz.  Bahama Bob's #4 Syrup
• Splash of Grapefruit Juice
• Splash of Barrett's Ginger Beer.

Put all the ingredients into a shaker with ice, except the Ginger Beer, Shake until chilled and strain into a pint glass with crushed ice.   Garnish with an Orange, a Sprig of Mint, and a Cherry.

     This week is going to be a busy busy week of fun and frolic here in Key West with two rum promotions and Saturday's departure for the Virgin Islands and a week of rum and cocktail research in some of the most interesting bars anywhere.     Stay with me as we navigate through the next 3 weeks of fun, frolic and unusual bars.    ;o)

Big Week Ahead

     Fantasyfest is behind us now, but this is a huge week here also.    First there is a Rum Lab today, then Tomorrow the Annual Phlocking of the Parrotheads to Key West begins, Thursday we have a Denizen Rum Promotion at the Rum Bar, Friday a Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum Promotion at the Rum Bar, and Finally on Saturday morning it is off the The Virgin Islands.

     The Meeting of the Minds as it is called begins Wednesday and there will be literally thousands of Parrotheads in Key West hoping for a glimpse of Jimmy Buffett as they party up and down Duval Street.     This annual phlocking as they call it is just a great excuse to leave the cold weather of the north and come south for a break and party to escape winter.  

     Denizen is the Thursday rum tasting event at the Rum Bar this week.    There will be some very fine cocktails that showcase this fine rum for $5 each.     This is a high quality rum that will make your palate happy as you enjoy one of the 5 great cocktails.     The event runs from 1pm until 5pm and you are all requested to make an appearance at the Rum Bar and enjoy some of the fun and fine rum cocktails.

     Ron Centenario takes center stage at the Rum Bar on Friday with another fun rum tasting party to celebrate the new Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum.    This too will feature $5 cocktails that are made with this fantastic Costa Rican rum.    The event runs from 1pm until 5 pm.      Please take some time out of your day as you move up and down Duval Street on Thursday and Friday to stop by and I'll be proud to  mix your Denizen and Ron Centenario cocktails personally.

My friend Martin Cates Tiki Style

     Today is going to be another of the Rum Labs, but a bit different this time.    We are going to try to mix purely Tiki Style cocktails and try to travel back to the Tiki Era of the 40's through the 80's.     This was the era of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic, both of which were responsible for many of the wonderful cocktails that we still enjoy to this day.   

Finally Saturday it is off to the Virgin Islands for more rum research and adventure  for a week.   Then to Puerto Rico, Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique, Antigua, St. Croix, and back to Puerto Rico.    This will be a great trip to visit 7 distilleries and find new rums for the Rum Bar and the Rum Lab to bring to you.    ;o)