Rum Hunting - Day Two - Barbados Party

Ahhhh.....the Caribbean. A tropical paradise of multi-cultural islands that all rally around one common principle: relax! We were at a bar tonight and I, with my loud-ass voice, was ranting about something to the people we were with when a local man came up to me and said, "Hey! You're in Bardados, man! Relax!" Good advice. 

The Barbados Tourist Industry has put us up at a nice little beachfront spot called The Colony Club. We got in late afternoon, threw down our bags, had a nice swim in the blue ocean water, and then freshened up for our cocktail hour meet-and-greet. 

While the outdoor buffet was nice, we weren't really feeling the vibe of the hotel. It was mostly old British tourists shushing us while they tried to read their latest page-turner in a fold-out chair. We all said, "Let's go drink some rum in town." To the rum shack we went. 

Two things about Barbados you need to know: 1) They have an amazing beer called Banks. 2) They don't sell you shots, but rather bottles. We met a gang of locals down at the local rum shack and they told us all about how wonderful Banks beer is, about how the water in Barbados is precious and it feeds the soul of the Banks recipe, and about how we need to drink more Banks. We drank a lot of Banks. We poured a lot of rum. We made a lot of friends.

Marketing in Barbados is entirely different as well. I would kill to see an Irish pub put this poster up in their establishment. I've never thought of Guinness as a warm-climate party beer, but maybe it's working here. Put a beer on that booty!

Tomorrow is an educational smörgåsbord of rum information. We should have a lot to tell you about Mount Gay in about 24 hours. For now, I will rest.

-David Driscoll