Oooh, enjoy the delicious taste of cool Key Lime mingled with a light coconut taste in these easy to make Key Lime Coconut Shots. Yum! Mix, chill and serve in little 2 oz. glasses (like these!) for a refreshing after dinner treat. Top them off with a few festive colored sprinkles for a holiday party!
*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!
Gosh, who couldn’t use a tropical escape right now? Although we’d rather be drinking this delicious tropical combination of coconut and guava on our favorite Caribbean beach, the taste, at least, will remind us of swinging in a hammock with the sound of gentle waves lapping the shore. Ahhh…
The Tropical Escape is super easy to make and we like to add the optional floater to ours. The taste of the guava and coconut blended together is delicate, so although we frequently use a dark rum as a floater, we opted for a good gold rum (we used Cruzan aged). It added a little more rum taste and a slightly stronger alcohol content without overpowering the cocktail.
*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!
Hopefully we have a few more weeks of nice, warm weather coming our way. If so, you might really enjoy these adorable little mason jar shooters full of a burst of cold and limey goodness. Definitely not a typical shooter (unless you enjoy a severe brain freeze!) but great as an after BBQ treat and palate cleanser. They could easily be converted to a full size beverage by putting the lime slush in a 12 oz. glass and adding more of the lemon lime soda.
Make the drink lower cal and low sugar by using a sugar free lime jello and stevia (to taste) instead of sugar!
*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!
Scoop into the mason glass shooters, garnish with a mint leaf and a paper straw – or a dessert spoon. Because of the size of the mason glass shooter, we cut the paper straws in half to fit.
If you'd rather make these a full size beverage, pour 2/3 c. of mix into a 12 oz. glass then top it off with more lemon lime or grapefruit soda. Enjoy!
The internet is full of pictures of enticing Caribbean beaches and sunsets, but there are pretty pictures, and then there are photographs that make you feel like you are actually there. Photographer Steve Simonsen, based on the beautiful island of St. John, USVI, is adept at creating these visual masterpieces – photographs that transport you to the islands. Let’s take a look at the islands through the lens of Steve Simonsen.
Steve didn’t start his career as a photographer, in fact, Steve got started as a Scuba diving instructor. The owners of the dive shop he worked at in Boulder, Colorado (Rocky Mountain Diving Center) encouraged him to get into underwater photography so he could be more well-rounded as a sales person.
Steve is self taught and studied the leading underwater photographers for years, practicing daily as a diving instructor. His photographic style was influenced heavily by the advertising style of posters for Club Med in the early 80’s. Taking photographs now since 1980, his favorite things to photograph are tropical scenes with coconut palm trees, nature, marine life and people.
He and his wife Janet are proud of their work photographing many villas and homes here in the Virgin Islands as well. Janet says her official title in the company is “enabler”. She handles all non-photography tasks for Steve Simonsen Photography.
Steve and Janet have lived on St. John since August of 1991. Janet was brought to St. Thomas (by way of New York) in 1984 to run Aqua Action, the dive shop on St. Thomas at Secret Harbor and Steve arrived in 1987 (by way of Michigan) to be the underwater photographer at Chris Sawyer Dive Center. They were married in 1989 after Hurricane Hugo.
Hurricane Hugo wasn’t the only hurricane they’ve experienced. On September 6, 2017, Irma, a Cat 5 monster hurricane, hit St. John and the surrounding islands with unprecedented force. Steve was in their home when the roof and walls blew off. He struggled outside in the powerful storm for 3 hours before finding his way to the house next door where Janet and their assistant John were hunkered down. He barely made it alive and suffers from PTSD to this day. The silver lining was that with the help of FEMA and the SBA they were able to rebuild and their new home is not only beautiful, but strong. Steve was able, after a few days, to film the disaster and make a short documentary about the storm, “Hurricane Irma, Not a Nice Day”. It can be viewedhere.
Steve has now had a long and distinguished career in photography. In addition to his stunning still photography, he is a videographer and a licensed drone photographer in the VI and loves shooting aerials.
When asked what work they are most proud of, they answered, “Our self published book “Living Art, St. John” which is in it’s third and final print run and has been in print for almost 20 years. We’re also happy to have contributed images to the Audubon Field Guide to Marine Fishes, he was a regular contributing photographer with Caribbean Travel and Life Magazine for 15 years, and we’ve licensed cover images for every North American diving publication. We authored and photographed the Lonely Planet Diving and Snorkel Guide to Puerto Rico and contributed the images for the Virgin Islands edition. And, Carnival Cruise lines flagship, Carnival Breeze, has decorated all their stairwells with Steve’s images.”
A popular project that they release annually is a beautiful St. John Calendar. They will be taking pre-orders for the 2021 edition soon and calendars and photo books can be purchased on their website. Here’s a sneak peek at the 2021 calendar cover.
When asked about exciting projects coming up, Steve and Janet said that they are preparing to enter into the editing phase on two projects: the Leatherback Turtles of Sandy Point, St. Croix and the Tektite project of 1969 here on St. John. Follow their Facebook page for updates on these and other upcoming projects.
As we all know, Covid has had an effect on travel all over the world and has severely impacted areas that depend on tourism. The pandemic makes it very difficult for tourists to determine whether or when to return to the island as most don’t want to return and bring the virus to the island. To help those that can’t return right now combat the St. John blues, the Simonsen’s started a live Facebook feed coined the “Simonsen Sunset Stream” at the onset of the pandemic to bring St. John into the homes of all St. John lovers until they can return. The feedback has been phenomenal. You can follow the daily sunset stream on their Facebook page.
Steve also offers fun family portrait shoots, photography and video classes (land and underwater) and photo safaris. Check out some of his workshops here and contact them to arrange a photo shoot or to find out more about their services. phone: (340) 513-9687 • cell: (340) 690-8986 [email protected]
And lastly, I asked Steve if he had any tips he could share with anyone wanting to improve their photography skills and he said, “Commit yourself to your craft… practice every day and always challenge yourself. Very critically evaluate your own work so you continually improve.”
We recently ran across an Instagram page called blue.salt.abaco. We’ve been big fans of the islands of Abacos, Bahamas since we first visited in 2013 so this name intrigued us enough to read the profile information which said, “Mia & Lisa. Selling bracelets to help rebuild Guana & the Abacos. All proceeds will go to Great Guana Cay Foundation.” The page showed several photos of charming handmade beaded bracelets and we reached out to them to find out more. Lisa got back to me immediately with more information about their bracelets, the cause they are donating the proceeds to, and the story of their personal connection to the Abacos.
Mia and Lisa
This is their story. Our family lived in the Abacos for 3 years on the tiny islet of Great Guana Cay. We loved the simple life even though it meant sending my young kids in a mostly open ferry boat across the sea of Abaco to school everyday. We eventually adapted and became comfortable with all the amazing and challenging ways of island living.
Mia and her brothers headed to school
Excited for the new school year, on August 30, 2019, we attended the kids’ school orientation in Marsh Harbour and then flew out 2 days before Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Abacos. We booked round trip tickets to NYC as we had grown somewhat used to the hurricane threats of the late summer season. We only took backpacks and 2 carry-on suitcases with us because at that point it was predicted to be a category 1 hurricane. Our group of expat friends jokingly called these evacuation trips “hurrications” when the company would make us leave “just in case”. We never imagined a direct hit by a a category 5 hurricane.
As we watched the storm take a different path than predicted, we felt a physical heaviness bear down on us as it grew closer and closer to home. The anticipation of waiting to hear from our friends and neighbors seemed to last months – not a couple of days. They were riding out the worst storm in the history of the Bahamas that claimed the lives of hundreds, even though the official reported numbers are much lower than that.
After the storm, our house was one of the few houses still standing that wasn’t a complete loss, even though it suffered serious water damage from the roof breaching. The very first year we arrived in Guana, we bought a tiny little bungalow that we were fixing up and in the process of trying to add on to. (*we were asked to record an episode of Caribbean Life back in 2018. The day it ended filming we all decided that none of us were born to be in front of a camera. Haha.)
Mia’s dad went back with his work on a float plane, about a week later. He had never imagined seeing destruction on such an apocalyptic scale in real life.
I returned to Guana six weeks after the storm to salvage what I could from our house, help out a little in the community and say a proper goodbye to what had become our home. The kids had their world torn away and lost most of their material possessions. Unlike their friends who endured extreme trauma and fought for their lives, they were living safely with grandparents but were also feeling emotionally displaced and homeless.
Over the last 11 months our life has been one rollercoaster after the next, but it did not compare to what the Bahamians of the Abacos were going through. To this day they still do not have power, some homes are being repaired but some are completely gone – either washed out to sea or a tile floor sitting on top of a cistern next to a pile of rubble. Incredibly generous volunteers, NGO groups and aid came pouring in, but when COVID hit the groups were having to leave and the focus has shifted to the pandemic and other world issues.
Our family had moved on to a new job and state just a month before quarantine. We might be bored like the rest of the country, but Guana and the people are always on our minds. We always reminisce about the turquoise water, empty beaches, perfect boat days and the paradisaical beauty.
While we picture Guana the way it used to be, we hear from friends there every so often. They are trying to get by when the world is shut down. They are a tourism dependent community like most islands. Some are camping out in their roofless homes or sitting under a generator powered fan to at least keep the hot summer air moving around.
The kids talk about when the world will go back to normal now that they learned school will be virtual this fall. Everytime we feel sorry for ourselves we think of the people of Abaco and Grand Bahamas and how they might feel like we have forgotten them. My daughter and I decided to make the most out of our ridiculous amount of free time and started making bracelets. We wanted to see if we could raise a little money for our island, sending 100% of the proceeds to the Great Guana Cay Foundation. We know the people on the committee and many of the leading members are longtime, if not generational locals. We figured that even if we made a few hundred dollars it still would help someone, whether it was food or supplies. In less than 1 day we had orders for 50 bracelets and now it is 1 week and we have sold over $1200 in bracelets!
My daughter and I run the Instagram account and take turns responding to requests. Mia is making almost all of the bracelets and is the heart of the project. We absolutely love hearing everyone’s connection to the Abacos and especially Guana Cay, whether they have a house there and have been vacationing there since they were kids or a more recent visitor who fell in love with this little piece of paradise. We love everything that reminds us of the Bahamas, and we felt like everyone with a connection might love a little bracelet that reminds them of their time there too.
They can all be personalized to say another place or name if they don’t have a tie to the Abacos but we have been surprised by the ones who order Abacos or Guana Cay. People have been so generous and thrilled that their money is going to help the people recover. The world seems so chaotic right now we just needed something positive to focus our attention on and a goal to work towards.
That is our puppy “Goombay” who is always by her side whether he’s trying to eat beads or keep her company and nap while she works!
Goombay helping to model bracelets!
If you’d like to place an order to help the people of Guana Cay and the Abacos, you can contact Lisa and Mia through their Instagram, Facebook or their brand new Etsy Store. Lisa is also selling prints of some of the photos she has taken on Guana Cay with proceeds also going to the Great Guana Cay Foundation. These would make super holiday gifts for your island loving friends!
Thank you Lisa and Mia for sharing your story with us! We really appreciate your giving spirit!
All photos courtesy of Blue Salt Abacos
Many locally owned businesses in the islands are being hit hard right now due to restricted tourist traffic during the pandemic. Hoping to help in any way we can, we are highlighting some great local businesses that we hope you will enjoy learning about and may want to visit once we are able to travel to the beautiful islands once again. We also want to highlight individuals or businesses that are doing something to assist islanders impacted by hurricanes or the pandemic. Some of these businesses also offer merchandise that you can order, gift certificates and pre-booking options. Be sure to contact them for additional info and watch for more articles soon!
July 31, 1970 marked the end to a centuries old Navy tradition, the last day the British Royal Navy received its last daily rum ration – a tradition that had been in place for 200 years. That day became known as Black Tot Day.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Black Tot Day, Black Tot Rum, a rum inspired by hundreds of years of Navy tradition, will be hosting a special event celebrating the World of Rum.
About the Event On Friday 31st July, you are invited to join them on Black Tot Rum Facebook Live for the 50th Anniversary of Black Tot Day where they will be hosting the world’s first ever live 24-hour Rum Festival!
The Navy Rum itself was a blend of many different countries and rum traditions from all around the world, and so for the 50th Anniversary it seemed fitting to celebrate many of the key rum regions that were influential in this historic blend.
Joining them for the 24 hours will be some of the greatest rum makers and blenders from around the world today, as well as many of the key figures who are helping to develop and progress the rum category in their local bars and community. There’ll be a huge amount of rum education, and discussion of great rums to taste along with at home, as we look at the past, present, and future of the rum world.
Staying up for the whole 24 hours will be their hosts, Mitch Wilson (Global Ambassador, Black Tot Rum) & Dawn Davies (Head Buyer – and rum lover – at The Whisky Exchange).
They’ll be kicking off the 24 hour celebrations at 10am on Friday 31st July, then raising a tot around the world at ‘six bells in the forenoon’ (11am UK time) to commemorate the very moment that the last navy rum ration, the ‘Black Tot’, was served 50 years ago that day. So set your alarms, pour yourself a tot of rum, and tune into Black Tot Rum Facebook Live, as they bring you a once in a lifetime celebration of rum!
Spirits lovers can join the exploration of blended Caribbean rums through a host of sessions and discussion, including:
7 a.m. EST: “The Pillars of Navy Rum” – offers a look at rums from the different Caribbean Islands that would have made up the final Navy Rum Blend
8:30 a.m. EST: “Tropical vs Continental Ageing” – examines the different results achieved when aging rum in different locations
11:30 a.m. EST: “The Evolution of Dock Rums” – dives into the independent bottlers who bring exotic Caribbean rum to the rest of the globe
1:00 p.m. EST: “Ageing at Sea” – Featuring guest hosts Alexandre Gabriel (Plantation Rum) and Don Benn (West Indies Rum Distillery) the discussion focuses on the ‘Dynamic Ageing’ that took place when the barrels were transported by sea, causing an increased interaction between the rum and the barrel
4 a.m. EST: Event Finale – The event culminates with a virtual trip to famous rum clubs around the world, such as the Sydney Rum Club, Florida Rum Club and Rum Symposium Europe.
The full schedule can be found here. All session times are UK Time.
The event ends at 10:00am on August 1 with the Tall Ships Toast:
There are tall ships, And there are small ships, And there are ships that sail the sea, But the best ships, are friendships, So here’s to you and me!
Coffee Rum Banana Bread made with Koloa Coffee Rum
We follow Kōloa Rum Company in Kauai on Facebook and recently noticed a recipe for Banana Bread using Kōloa’s delicious Kauaʻi Coffee Rum. Unfortunately, we’d recently finished our bottle of Coffee Rum, so quickly ordered another bottle from Quality Liquor Store (they usually carry it at our Total Wine Stores, but lately they’ve been out).
Upon arrival, we set out to test the recipe. Bananas, Coffee Rum and chocolate – gotta be good, right? Well, it was. But not a fast recipe to put together. Give yourself about 30 minutes to prepare and another 55-60 minutes to bake. The result? Very good and moist, but maybe more cake-like than banana bread-like. Still worth the time, especially if you are sipping coffee rum while baking!
A warm slice out of the oven
*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!
Preheat oven to 350 F and spray standard 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking oil.
Make banana mix-in by peeling and slicing bananas into 1 inch disks in a bowl with brown sugar and cinnamon. Toss to coat.
Place butter in a large skillet and turn heat to medium high. Once the butter has melted, add the banana with sugar and cinnamon. Stir with a wooden spoon, breaking up the bananas as they cook (2-5 minutes depending on how ripe they are).
Add Koloa Coffee Rum and vanilla, and continue to cook until the bananas have mostly fallen apart.
Make bread batter by placing the flours, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl. Stir vigorously with a balloon whisk until uniform in color.
Add half the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated. Add the warm banana mix-in from the skillet and beat until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and then end with the Greek yogurt.
Scoop out 1/3 of the batter into a bowl. Measure out the Koloa Coffee Rum and add the cocoa powder to it. Stir together to form a thickened past. Scrape into the smaller batter and stir together.
Spoon the batter into the bread loaf pan, alternating some of the regular banana bread batter with some of the Koloa Coffee Rum batter on top of each other. Once you've finished, take a butter knife and make one of two swirls in the pan to help marble the butter. Do not over-stir.
Bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out the warm loaf onto a wire rack to cool completely.
We first learned of Arlington Creque from Virgin Gorda when we were researching locally owned tourism companies in the British Virgin Islands. Gumption’s Learning Adventures and Sea It Clear Tours appeared as highly rated excursions in the BVI, so we reached out to see if we could learn more about what they do. Little did we know, we’d become very inspired by the young entrepreneur behind the company who never gave up on pursuing his dream.
(This article is part of our “Local Businesses of the Caribbean” series. Find out more at the end of this article.)
You see, Arlington Creque was born with autism and grew up on the island of Virgin Gorda. His nickname is Gumption, and we quickly realized why. School was difficult for Gumption and he left before graduating. He began to dream of starting his own business and contacted several banks but was turned down again and again. Even his mom told him that maybe he should give up. But, he didn’t and his perseverance certainly paid off. (What does the word Gumption mean? Initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness; courage; spunk; guts.)
Sir Richard Branson with Gumption on his boat
On October 19, 2012, Gumption received a loan from Sir Richard Branson on behalf of the Branson’s Centre of Entrepreneur Caribbean. He was the first person to get a loan from this program. Gumption purchased a boat, started Sea it Clear Tours and got to work. Within 6 months, he was able to pay back the loan.
Despite occasional setbacks, which Gumption acknowledges are just part of being a business owner, he just gets back up, solves the problem and moves forward – which, I have no doubt is what he will do once tourists are allowed to travel back to the BVI.
The Reef Tour
Gumption, through his company Sea It Clear Tours provides a reef tour on his glass bottomed boat that will give you a glimpse of the underwater life at Eustacia Reef just beyond North Sound on the way to Oil Nut Bay. As Gumption says, it’s like snorkeling without getting wet! Find out about his Reef Tours here.
The Reef Tour
The Nature Tour
His Nature Tour consists of a visit to Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island to visit the lemurs, large tortoises, rock iguanas, flamingos and more. Learn about the animals and important conservation efforts taking place in the area. Gumption is currently the only tour guide allowed to bring people to Necker Island! This tour sells out quickly however, so book ahead! Find out more about the Nature Tour here.
Due to COVID-19 he doesn’t have a BVI reopening date as yet, and says it’s best to follow their social media pages or send them an email at [email protected]. Be sure to ask about a special COVID-19 discount they are running right now which gives 19% off of tours pre-booked for late 2020 and early 2021!
We absolutely can’t wait to book a tour with Gumption as soon as we can get back to the BVI! Thanks Gumption for letting us share your motivating story!
Many locally owned businesses in the islands are being hit hard right now due to restricted tourist traffic during the pandemic. Hoping to help in any way we can, we are highlighting some great local businesses that we hope you will enjoy learning about and may want to visit once we are able to travel to the beautiful islands once again… Some of these businesses also offer merchandise that you can order, gift certificates and pre-booking options. Be sure to contact them for additional info and watch for more articles soon!
Daniel Johnson’s Monkey and Sloth Hangout is located on the beautiful island of Roatán in the Honduras. The Monkey and Sloth Hangout is an animal sanctuary owned and run by a local man by the name of Daniel Johnson. The sanctuary started out as a hobby due to his love of the local animals but over the years it has become a safe and loving environment for the animals he has taken in. Now the animals call the Hangout, “home”.
A sloth hanging around at the “Hangout”
(This article is part of our “Local Businesses of the Caribbean” series. Find out more at the end of this article.)
Daniel was born and raised on the island of Roatan. He always had a love for animals, and ended up getting a spider monkey named Tony in high school. From there it turned from hobby to rescue, as many people get animals on the island and have no knowledge or means to take care of them. At the animal sanctuary, they now have eight white faced capuchin monkeys, three spider monkeys (Tony included ), four scarlet macaws, one great green macaw, yellow naped parrots, and seven three toed brown sloths.
Their business is totally family run by Daniel and his immediate family and fiance’. All of the drivers and guides are family or very close friends. Daniel is also a die hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan, which inevitably draws comments from other Steelers fans as well as those that are, well, not fans! When guests leave, they feel like a part of the family.
The Monkey and Sloth Hangout has chosen to stay off the excursion lists for the cruise ships, which allows them to keep their pricing low and reasonable. If cruising, you can still book an excursion through them directly. Tours and excursions include transportation from your port of arrival. They offer a number of tours and excursions from just The Hangout to Island Tours, snorkeling, zip line, iguana park and more. Find the tours and excursions here.
Daniel with guests on a snorkeling excursion
Excellent area for snorkeling
People that come to visit the Monkey and Sloth Hangout say they really love it because of the local guides, and learning about and interacting with the animals. (Highly rated on Trip Advisor!) Visitors can touch, hold and take pictures with some of the animals and many say that is the highlight of the trip! Their sloths are never caged, they roam freely in the trees. The monkeys also get free time daily and run around and play in the trees.
The Monkey and Sloth Sanctuary does have shirts and hats currently available for purchase, however they will be done taking orders at the end of the month. They will place another order after that if there is interest. The info is on their Facebook Page, Daniel Johnson’s Monkey and Sloth Hangout.
Daniel and the crew would love to welcome you to the Monkey and Sloth Sanctuary when you’re visiting Roatán, and to arrange a tour to fit your interests. To find out more about the sanctuary and tours, check out their Website: www.monkeyandslothhangout.com and Instagram. Or email them at [email protected]
The crew
Many locally owned businesses in the islands are being hit hard right now due to restricted tourist traffic during the pandemic. Hoping to help in any way we can, we are highlighting some great local businesses that we hope you will enjoy learning about and may want to visit once we are able to travel to the beautiful islands once again… Some of these businesses also offer merchandise that you can order, gift certificates and pre-booking options. Be sure to contact them for additional info and watch for more articles soon!
July 19 is National Daiquiri Day! The Daiquiri is said to have been invented at the turn of the 20th century by American engineer, Jennings Stockton Cox, in the small town of Daiquiri, in Cuba. The original Daiquiri was a simple mix of rum, limes and sugar, ingredients that Mr. Cox had readily available. The Classic Daiquiri is most like the original created by Cox, but there have been many Daiquiri variations concocted since. Here are few of our favorites! Find the recipe link under each photo.
