Rum is Banyan's Favourite Drink. Dark Rum and Water actually. Add a few ice cubes and a slice of lime. For us, it's a perfect sundowner to be had when sharing the evening with Each Other, or with Friends/Family, or Simply Watching the Setting Sun.

So weren't we excited to learn that Grenada was hosting the 4th annual Caribbean Rum & Beer Festival and although our water maker issues delayed our original plan of attending this Festival on Friday, we were still able to make Saturday's event.

But first there was a craving for wings that needed satisfying and the place to go (from the last time we were there) was the Grenada Yacht Club. After placing our order, we found ourselves having over an hour's wait which sort of set an unfavourable, perhaps won't return (??) mood. When the wings finally arrived some of the meal was cold. Never a fun time when anticipation gets disappointed.

Nevertheless we were full, and together with friends Doug and Wendy (Nahanni River), Dirk (Evening Ebb), Glenn and visiting friend Lorne (Amoray), it was time to head out and sample us some rums. We grabbed the Number One bus which arrived promptly on time, and remember with no bus schedules to speak of, promptly on time 'round here is a little vague.

This time it meant that we got to the road, carefully crossed it, turned around just as the bus came zooming round the corner. Before it even stopped the conductor had the door open, and we quickly got in and exchanged good afternoons all around. We got dropped off just at the roundabout by the mall where we had a short walk down the street, in the hot afternoon heat. Nothing like a bit of sweat-on to ensure we'd be ready for some sampling by the time we got there n'est ce pas?



It was 25$ EC to gain entrance and get the green all you want to sample admittance band, however Dirk was a little disappointed that there were no t-shirts available to be bought. As were we all, dommage.

The Caribbean Rum & Beer Festival began in Barbados in 2010 where it was held for two years. Grenada has been hosting it since then. As we walked by the outside booths, the white hatted and white aproned young chefs in-training were whipping up treats infused with rums, but given the long lineup we opted to go inside and come back later.



Inside we were met with tables upon tables of rum exhibitors. Not to be outdone, the Rum Cakes exhibitor was also around with lots of samples to try to satisfy any sweet tooth around.

There were (one-too-many) rums to sample,



as well as many cocktail concoctions. This one entitled The Green Flash,



a few in between, entitled with every colourful word you can imagine, but all made with pineapple juice, orange juice, rum and a splash of this or that....

to the "Red Stuff" featuring the White Black Cat Rum from Suriname



Although not a white rum drinker, this concoction made with cranberry juice, grenadine syrup and white rum was perfectly and very deliciously refreshing, and proved to be our favourite. Her next jug included a splash or two of lemon juice, just as we had suggested, and she was quite forgiving of our one-too-many trips to her booth for samples. The bottle was available for sale but at $30 US a bottle we found it a tad too pricey.

There was also 10 Saintes beer to be tasted,



just as the label shows, beer aged in Mount Gay (I believe) rum casks. I didn't quite care for it, but always nice to try something different.

I think that on a personal note, had I not had all those sticky sweet rum punches, I would have enjoyed the samplings much more, especially the Clarke's Court Spicy Rum, which carried with it a hefty punch on the palate. When we went outside to get some taste-samplings from the white hatted chefs, we found the whole table to be packed up and gone. Lesson learned, never pass up free samples of food, even if it means waiting in line...

It was quite dark by the time some of us swaggered away, and we ended up exploring the other side of the mall area, heading directly for the Sushi Restaurant where we stopped for a bite. This time we were served within minutes of having placed our order (but then, this is Sushi right?) The food was great, and we vowed we would return there!

After our Sushi-Snack, we were back on the road walking towards the bus-stop (this was town after all), when the bus zoomed by and careened to a stop beside us, the conductor opening the door, and inviting us in. One by one we went in, the door closed, the bus moved perhaps two feet, and then it stopped. We all looked at each other, in a oh-oh type of way. The conductor had a quick conversation with the uniformed officer in the unmarked truck that had stopped us and came back, looked at us, and said:

"You get out, now!".

Once we were out, he told us that he wasn't allowed to pick us up at a non-bus-stop area.

"Ya, but didn't he stop for us?" we wondered?

"You walk up there, to the stop, 'man" he said, and sure enough we could see it from where we were.

Two minutes later, (ok, perhaps three minutes if you're swaggering home from a rum festival like we were) we got there, and got back into the same bus, that had driven there, and waited for us.

The best part of the events of the past few days was to have attended the Festival just after having visited one of the oldest rum distilleries, River Antoine, during our Island Tour with Cutty the other day.

Very basically Rum is usually distilled from the juice of Sugar Cane (in its many derivates). The River Antoine Distillery dates from 1785 and still uses the same recipe (and by the looks of it, the same equipment),



using the water from River Antoine to propel the wheel,



that crushes the sugar cane,



all fed through the press,



and the men, each one with a specific job to do,



like this guy, carting the crushed sugar cane (referred to as Bagasse) in the rickety cart with right wheel about to fall off, down the rail-ways and dumped into large piles and left to dry in the hot Grenadian sun.

The Bagasse is used to fuel the Boiler House and also as mulch to grow... the sugar cane.

Quite an informative tour this was. This handmade rum, with no yeast to ferment it, uses nothing but the force of the water, and the natural yeasts in the air to ferment the boiled sugar cane juice/syrup in an 8 day process,



and ends up in contraptions such as this (actually known as dual pot stills)



that somehow gets bottled and at 138 proof, ugh, tasted very much like... I don't know, gasoline? Lighter Fluid? Yeesh...



And so now you know why we were so thrilled to get ourselves some "real rum" samplings,



at the Festival !!

Cheers... Here's to Rums, Festivals and Friends.