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Banana Mango Tango

Memorial Day is traditionally the kick-off for summer so with that we thought we should spend some time this weekend concocting some new summertime rum drinks.  We assessed the array of bottles in the liquor cabinet, went to the store and purchased a few more, then set out to create a new summertime favorite.

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After a few less than stellar entries, we came up with what we felt was a winner that we’ll enjoy and  serve to some of our guests this summertime! We felt the banana and mango “tangoed” nicely together in this light and refreshing drink. So now, we introduce to you the Rum Therapy Banana Mango Tango!

*We love bringing you amazing rum recipes! Our recipes may contain affiliate links to products that we use. If you click the link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support in helping us to continue providing rumlicious, tropical recipes!

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Banana Mango Tango

The banana and mango “tango” nicely together in this light and refreshing drink. A new summertime favorite!
Course: Drinks
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 3 oz. Cruzan Mango Rum
  • 1/2 c. Pineapple Juice
  • 1/4 Peeled Mango
  • 1/2 Large Banana
  • 1/2 oz. Cruzan Black Strap Rum

Instructions

  • Blend the mango, banana, pineapple juice and Cruzan Mango Rum in a blender.
  • Add approximately 1 cup of ice and blend until smooth.
  • Pour into glasses.
  • Float 1/4 oz. Cruzan Black Strap Rum on top of each drink and garnish with banana slices.

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More Cruzan Strawberry Rum

Strawberry Daiquiri

6 cups ice
1/2 cup white sugar
4 ounces frozen strawberries
1/8 cup lime juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup Cruzan Strawberry Rum
1/4 cup lemon lime flavored carbonated beverage

Blend in blender.

The recipe made approximately 4 tall glasses of daiquiris and although pretty darn sweet and filling – they were yummy. John later thought that we should have added a floater of Cruzan Black Strap for a little extra punch.

Last, but not least, we put aside a Strawberry Rum Lemonade recipe that included simple syrup to try another “skinny” recipe. Hey – you gotta save calories somewhere!! This is what we came up with.

Skinny Strawberry Rum Lemonade

2 oz. Cruzan Strawberry Rum
4 oz. Crystal Light Lemonade
Sliced strawberries
4 to 6 blueberries

Mix Cruzan Strawberry Rum with the Crystal Light Lemonade. Stir in sliced strawberries and blueberries. Pour over ice.
The result was refreshing and light with a nice blend of strawberry and lemon. And who knows, with all that fruit, it might even be good for you!

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Cruzan Strawberry Rum

Cruzan Rum recently announced the launch of their newest spirit, Cruzan Strawberry. It’s the 11th spirit in their family of flavored rums, and the recipe is crafted with a touch of ginger to give a unique spin to the strawberry taste. Here are some other details:

Tasting Notes and Aroma:
•       Taste – Ripe, wild strawberry coupled with subtle ginger root
•       Aroma – Fresh and juicy strawberry
•       Finish – Smooth with a light spiced ginger finish

After reading this press release from the folks at Cruzan Rum, we’d been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Strawberry Rum. We’re recent fans of Cruzan Rums since our Cruzan Rum Factory Tour in St. Croix in February, and have enjoyed using the Cruzan flavored rums in many boat and beach drinks such as the Cruzan Confusion! Last week, we were lucky enough to find a bottle of the newly released Cruzan Strawberry Rum after visiting nearly every liquor store in our area. 

After scoring the desired bottle, we asked our Facebook friends for recipe suggestions. In addition to some excellent suggestions from our readers, Cruzan Rum Representative, Justine, also kindly volunteered a few recipe ideas. We asked a couple of friends if they would assist us in some Strawberry Rum recipe testing this weekend, and with minimal (no) arm twisting, they obliged!

We picked two recipes to start with and began to assemble the necessary ingredients.

First on the agenda was a Strawberry Mojito using the recipe from Cruzan Rum. The recipe called for Cruzan Strawberry Rum, sugar, mint leaves, juice of half a lime, and club soda. We muddled the sugar, mint, lime juice and a splash of club soda.

 We then added the rum (note the exceptional choice of shot glass!),


Then poured it over ice in a tall glass and garnished with lime and strawberry.

After a little sampling and tweaking, this is the version of the recipe that we liked best.

Strawberry Mojito
(makes two)

3 to 3.5 oz. Cruzan Strawberry Rum
2 tsp. sugar
4 mint leaves
Juice of half a lime
6 oz. plus a splash of club soda

Muddle the mint leaves, sugar, lime juice and a splash of club soda. Add the remaining club soda and stir. Pour into a tall glass over ice. Garnish with a slice of lime and a strawberry.

It seems easy to overpower the taste of the strawberry with too much mint, so we initially tried 8 leaves then reduced the amount to 4 leaves per serving. The overwhelming consensus of all 4 taste testers was that the Cruzan Strawberry Mojito was crisp, light and very refreshing – an excellent summer beverage!

To make a Skinny Strawberry Mojito: Substitute 1/2 – 1 packet (.5 – 1 gram) Stevia for the sugar and/or Sprite Zero for the club soda. Tweak the amounts until the taste is just as you like it!

Stay tuned – more Cruzan Strawberry Rum Recipes (Part 2) in tommorow’s post!

photos: Pamela Ott

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Frozen Rum Runners

Yum. As summer approaches my mind drifts to frozen concoctions and enjoying the warm sunshine with a frosty glass in hand. One of my favorite frozen concoctions happens to be a Rum Runner. Kind of like an icee with a really good kick!

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Everyone seems to have a little different recipe for Rum Runners and I’ve only sampled one that I didn’t care for (I think it may have been a really cheap rum). We’ve sampled them frozen and on the rocks. Some have a reddish hue and some (like the picture below) are more orange in color. Regardless, sipping one of these may make your mind take a short vacation to a place with a hammock swaying in a tropical breeze on the coast of somewhere beautiful….

*We love bringing you amazing rum recipes! Our recipes may contain affiliate links to products that we use. If you click the link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support in helping us to continue providing rumlicious, tropical recipes!

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Frozen Rum Runner

Kind of like an icee with a really good kick!
Course: Drinks
Servings: 1

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. Gold Rum
  • 1/4 oz. Blackberry Liqueur
  • 1/4 oz. Creme De Banana Liqueur
  • 2 oz. Orange Juice
  • 1/2 oz. Grenadine
  • 8 oz. Crushed Ice
  • 1/2 oz. Dark or 151-Proof Rum (the floater)

Instructions

  • Add gold rum, blackberry liqueur, creme de banana liqueur, orange juice, grenadine and crushed ice in a blender.
  •  Blend until slushy and pour into glass.
  • Float with 1/2 oz. dark or 151 proof rum.

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Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

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Sandy Point, St. Croix

We are always on the hunt for the best beaches on each island. Therefore, it came as no surprise that we ended up on Sandy Point Beach, part of the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge in St. Croix.

Sandy Point Beach is a three mile long beautiful powdery soft sand beach at the southwest end of St. Croix, just south of Fredriksted. It’s the largest beach in the USVI, but probably one of the least crowded. Sandy Point was the beach featured in the movie “Shawshank Redemption” when Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins reunited on the beach, supposedly in “Zihuatanejo”. Well, that’s one of our favorite flicks, so that little tidbit made us even more interested in checking it out. And, of course, we rented the movie again when we got home to see how Sandy Point looked in the film. Beautiful, of course.

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From the main road, it is a bit of a drive into the beach, but it appeared they were improving the road when we visited and it wasn’t as bumpy as we had read. There are a few small parking areas and then a short hike to the beach. Immediately you are stunned by the beauty of this area.

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Endangered green sea and leatherback turtles that lay their eggs on the Sandy Point Beach are protected by the National Wildlife Refuge. The park is only open on weekends from 10:00am – 4:00pm and is closed completely to the general public during laying and hatching season from April to August. I read that a visit might be arranged during hatching season by contacting the Wildlife Refuge ahead of time.

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The beach doesn’t offer any shade or concessions and is not the best in St. Croix for snorkeling because the bottom is too sandy (what a problem!), but is a must see if you appreciate turquoise blue Caribbean water, soft powdery sand, fantastic photo opportunities and very few people. There were quite a few brown pelicans dive bombing for fish and we spent several hours watching them, walking the beach and floating in the crystal blue water.


The water is shallow at the shore, but seemed to drop off fairly quickly, at least in the area we swam, but the surf was not rough and we enjoyed spending time in the water. The sand was very soft in the areas close to the water and just a little more coarse the farther you got from shore.

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If you’re lucky enough to be in St. Croix when Sandy Beach is open, I’d highly recommend a visit. Bring a cooler, a beach towel, plenty of sunscreen and an extra memory card for your camera. You’ll need it.

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Have you been to Sandy Point? Tell us about it!

To see more posts on St. Croix and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory


copyright©Rum Therapy 
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC.
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.

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The Rum Conundrum

rum conundrum [ruhm kəˈnəndrəm] – noun

1. A confusing and difficult problem or question regarding rum such as “It’s only Saturday – why is the rum gone?” 

photo: Pamela Ott

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Seaplane Adventure

Years ago, sitting in the sun at Paradise Point at the top of the St. Thomas tram drinking my very first Bushwhacker (certainly not my last!) I saw a seaplane curve around Charlotte Amalie and gently splash down in the water. Quite cool, I thought – must put that one on the list.

Fast forward 10-15 years (wow, where does the time go?) and we find ourselves in St. Croix needing to get to St. Thomas. The two choices: 1. Ferry, cost $50.00, time 90 minutes 2. Seaplane, cost $80.00 (plus $1.00 per pound of luggage over 30 pds), time 20 minutes. A little more costly, but much shorter travel time and hey – it was on THE LIST.

We called and booked our flight on Seaborne Airlines for early the next morning and packed our suitcases. Unfortunately, both suitcases were over the 30 pd. limit (just the snorkeling equipment, I’m sure…), so there was an additional charge of about $10.00 each.

The next morning we headed down to the Seaplane Terminal in Christiansted. There were just a few clouds in the sky, but it looked like a beautiful morning. We were quite early, so we checked in and then headed over to Angry Nates for a warm cup o’ joe. The clouds began building and we had a quick 5 minute resulting in a beautiful rainbow over the harbor!

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Sipping our coffee, we watched as our plane landed in the harbor and taxied over to the terminal. We headed over to the waiting area to board. It appeared that there were only 4 other people on our flight.

The pilots opened the doors and let the previous passengers out, then welcomed us on. All luggage was packed under the plane and we were allowed only to bring on our cameras (and a small handbag).

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One of the pilots gave our safety briefing and then slid up in the cockpit and we were off!

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Besides being a bit loud, I was amazed at how smoothly the plane zipped along the water during takeoff.

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Once in the air, it was a beautiful sight looking back on St. Croix and the different hues in the  water around it.

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copyright Rum Therapy
After about 10 minutes, we saw Water Island and St. Thomas in the distance.

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As we approached St. Thomas it seemed we were going to fly right into the hillside around Charlotte Amalie – a little concerning, but then suddenly we took a sharp turn and a pretty steep dive right down into the harbor. We could see the cruise ships and mega yachts in port and the tram in the distance.

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copyright Rum Therapy
copyright Rum Therapy

It was an odd feeling to set down in the water, but smooth once again. Nice ride, nice experience!

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As I looked over towards the tram, I couldn’t help but wonder if someone was sitting up on Paradise Point drinking their first Bushwhacker and adding a seaplane ride to their list!

To see more posts on St. Croix and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory


Copyright©Rum Therapy 
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.

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Ziplining in Paradise

I’m not a fan of heights, Actually, heights probably don’t bother me as much as the fear of falling – off of something high. So, I really didn’t know what to think when asked if I wanted to go on a zipline during a trip to Kauai. I was assured that falling really wasn’t an issue and that we would be strapped in quite well. After all, they said – how many chances would I have to zip through the lush tropics of Kauai?

There were two options for ziplining in Kauai and we chose Kauai Backcountry Adventure simply because it was recommended by a friend who had recently ziplined with them. We set up a tour time for the following day.

To say I was nervous as we drove to the Kauai Backcountry office that day would be an extreme understatement. It was a beautiful day and I should have been looking at the lush foliage and beautiful scenery as we drove with the top off of our rental jeep, but all I could think of was whether I could actually allow myself to hurtle down the mountain on a thin cable.

We checked in and I immediately felt a little better. The staff was wonderful and our guide, who must have sensed my fear, was funny and very reassuring. We signed the obligatory forms, got strapped into our gear and took a very bumpy four wheel drive up to the ziplines.

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copyright Rum Therapy

The Kauai Backcountry Adventure Zipline Tour begins at a point with an astounding view of Mt. Waialeale – one of the rainiest spots on earth with an average 426 inches of rain a year. All of that rain makes it one of the greenest and most vegetated places I’ve seen.

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copyright Rum Therapy

We took in the beauty of the area for a few moments and then saw this:

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My irrational fear kicked into high gear and I thought “I’m not walking off of that platform!!!” Fortunately, the platform we started on was not near as high or steep. I watched as several brave souls went before me and then it was my turn. As I looked down, I second guessed my choice of clothing that morning. Wouldn’t bright neon colors be easier to find it I somehow plunged into the foliage?

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My heart pounding in my throat, I stepped off the platform and zipped down the cable towards the next platform, screaming loudly the whole way! I had the presence of mind to keep my feet up and landed squarely on the platform. Realizing I had lived through it, I took a deep breath. That wasn’t bad at all!

During subsequent zips ( I believe there were seven cables in all) I even relaxed enough to look around and see the incredible beauty around me. Rivers, lush plants and trees and that beautiful mountain. Wow- what a ride…

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Ziplining has become quite popular and is now available in other tropical locations such as Antigua, Dominica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Roatan and St. Martin. Hmmm…I actually liked it so much that I might even be convinced to try it again on an upcoming trip to St. Martin. Think I’ll wear some neon colors though – just in case…

To find out more about Backcountry Adventures, visit their website here: Kauai Backcountry Adventures

Other posts on Kauai that you might be interested in:

Hiking the NaPali Coast in Kauai

Helicopter Ride in Kauai

Rum Therapy On Kauai

Lava Flow Recipe

copyright©Rum Therapy 
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.

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Painkiller

We took our very first trip to St. John in the mid 90′s and knew nothing about the island before we went. Little did we know that it would become one of our very favorite destinations in the Caribbean!
(Jump to Recipe)

We were traveling to the Virgin Islands for the first time via a cruise ship and wanted to see everything we could. Our first stop was in St. Thomas and we had heard that we should try to get to St. John. We were sure to ask around to find out what to see and do while on the island and most suggested spending time on one of St. John’s beautiful beaches. One person, however, recommended making a stop at Pusser’s before catching the ferry in Cruz Bay, to try a Painkiller. The Pusser’s Bar is no longer on St. John, but we’ll always have fond memories of our first Painkiller experience.

Our waiter that day eagerly obliged when we ordered our first Painkiller and asked if we wanted that with 2, 3 or 4 shots of rum. What – 4 shots of rum??? In each drink??? We wussed out and ordered our Painkillers with a measly 2 shots each (hee, hee) knowing that we had to be able to find our way back to the ship or else risk being stranded on this beautiful piece of paradise – Hmmm. No – we really had to get back to the ship….

One taste and voilà! We were hooked! These things truly could kill the pain! Slightly sunburned and in no pain at all, we caught the ferry back to St. Thomas just in time to catch our ship. We knew we’d be back to St. John someday and knew that the “Painkiller” had become one of our new favorite rum drinks!

Since that day we’ve enjoyed a few Painkillers (and it’s cousin the “Nilla Killa”) in Paradise – most notably on Jost Van Dyke at the Soggy Dollar Bar – not that you really need to kill much pain in a paradise like White Bay…

*We love bringing you amazing rum recipes! Our recipes may contain affiliate links to products that we use. If you click the link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support in helping us to continue providing rumlicious, tropical recipes! 

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Painkiller

By far one of the most popular rum drinks in the Virgin Islands, this delicious concoction will put you in the "island" state of mind.
Course: Drinks
Servings: 1
Author: Rum Therapy

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Shake or stir all ingredients (except for the nutmeg) and pour over ice in a tall glass.
  • Sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg.
  • Put your feet up and enjoy the taste of paradise!

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Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

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Homemade Irish Cream

Irish Cream’s are delectable cream liqueurs commonly made from whiskey. I love the smooth creamy taste and enjoy it on the rocks as well as in drinks such as Bushwhacker’s. I recently ran across a recipe for a Homemade Irish Cream Liqueur using rum instead of whiskey and figured we’d just have to mix up a batch and compare rum to whiskey! If you’ve already tried this, let us know what you think! Sláinte!! (To your health in Irish)

*We love bringing you amazing rum recipes! Our recipes may contain affiliate links to products that we use. If you click the link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support in helping us to continue providing rumlicious, tropical recipes!

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Homemade Irish Cream Liqueur

Homemade Irish Cream Liqueur using rum instead of whiskey
Course: Drinks

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Store tightly covered in refrigerator for up to 1 month. Stir before serving.

Notes

Here’s a recipe for a shooter that might work quite well with the Homemade Rum Irish Cream Liqueur:
Irish Frost: 
To one shot Irish Cream liqueur, add a splash of cream of coconut and a splash of half and half. Shake and serve in a chilled shot glass.

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Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC