Barbadian’s welcome visitors to their island with a natural warmth and inviting hospitality. A visit to Barbados is an island vacation you’ll long remember. From rum shops to resorts, Barbadian’s share their culture and lifestyle. They’ll encourage you to let down your hair and spend some time limin. This island of 274,000 offers just the right balance of laid back island life mixed with adventure, natural beauty and stunning beaches. It’s likely you’ll taste a rum punch your first day on Barbados. Be warned this delightful rum concoction carries a big kick. Islanders will share their rum rhyme to help you remember just how to make a “real rum punch”.
An ocean view on the island of Barbados.
“One part sour, two parts sweet, three parts strong and four parts weak.” It’s often stated that they let the weak be forgotten in a rum punch.
On the island you’ll hear debate about the correct ingredients in a “real rum punch.” I tried four different rum punch recipes while visiting Barbados. I have two favorites. The first was made at Cutter’s where I had a Rum Punch lesson. Cutter’s Rum Punch is made with fresh squeezed lime juice, Cockspur Old Gold Rum, homemade sugar syrup, angosta bitters, ice and freshly ground nutmeg.
The sugar on Barbados is high quality, unrefined natural sugar. This is far and above the best sugar I’ve ever tasted. Its natural sweetness has islanders saying it tastes like candy. The owner of Cutter’s, Roger Goddard shared with me that a real Rum Punch is not a cheap drink. The ingredients are fresh and of good quality. A good rum punch begins with Barbadian island rum.
My Rum Punch at Seaside Rum Shop.
My other favorite Rum Punch on Barbados was made at Seaside Rum Shop. Ronnie Carrington shared that the secret to Seasides Rum Punch is the addition of orange juice as the weak ingredient. This unassuming rum shop is found in Bathsheba, overlooking the Atlantic. If you’re visiting the island it’s about 3 miles past Barclay Park Beach. This one room rum shop is one of 1,500 rum shops on the island. You can spend several vacations on Barbados just visiting the island rum shops. Each rum shop offers a small bar, mostly a single room and the camaraderie of local friendships.
You’ll quickly notice three things on Barbados; the genuine friendliness of the locals, the great variety of rum shops and the number of churches dotted around the island. The history of Barbados is linked to the British, so there are Anglican churches named for saints in each of Barbados eleven parishes. These parishes are the eleven communities spread throughout Barbados. Along with the Anglican churches there are many small local churches. Ronnie Carrington a professional photographer and guide on Barbados estimates there could be more than 700 churches on this small island.
It’s clear that rum and churches are the back bone of this island nation which received its independence from Britain in November of 1966. A drive around the island of Barbados during your visit is a must. I suggest a tour with Ronnie Carrington, which is more than a tour. The tours are a history lesson with photo stops, photography tips and beautiful scenery. If you’re lucky it will include a stop for Rum Punch at Seaside Rum Shop.
Barbados offers something for everyone. You can spend your days limin on the beaches or you can enjoy adventure in the form of water sports and catamaran sailing tours. Island calypso music and reggae jammin go on every Friday night at Oistins. Here on the South Coast of Barbados families and friends lime the night away. You can eat some outstanding locally caught fish. The smoky grilled Tuna won my heart over, as did the grilled potato halves. This is really the place to experience the culture, food and music of the island of Barbados.
To read other great articles on Barbados check out these three writers who traveled with me to the island of Barbados; Danielle Lee at Outdoor Afro, Lauren Monitz at Iexplore and Ramona Flume at In The Know Traveler.
My trip to Barbados was provided courtesy of the Barbados Tourism Authority.