Friday Happy Hour: Naughty-Naughty Dirty Barbados
To the uninitiated, Barbados would seem the least naughty of all the Caribbean islands. Longstanding ties to jolly old, and famously restrained, England die hard here. So much so, in fact, that it’s said that the time-honored stately British tradition of Afternoon Tea is followed more religiously in Barbados these days than it is in the UK itself.
Initiated folks like us know better, of course.
Barbados can be plenty bawdy when she’s ready; as sexy and sinfully fun as any corner of the West Indies. This is the place that spawned the world’s reigning sex goddess, after all.
All the dirty fun isn’t reserved just for the island’s annual mid-summer Crop-Over carnival festival either. Check in at Hal’s Car Park Bar, or any of the other clubs in The Gap on most any Thursday night and you’re bound to find people gettin’ on bad.
Some sexy happening is also generally pretty easy to find at the bars that line Carlisle Bay, or wherever these surfer girls are hanging out.
In celebration of its home nation’s wilder side, one of my all-time favorite Bajan rums, Real McCoy 5, offers The Dirty Barbados.
- 2oz Real McCoy 5
- 1oz Ginger-Infused Simple Syrup
- 1oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
- Dash of Orange Bitters
- Pinch of Sea Salt
Alright, I really have no idea what spurred the creation of this super-fine cocktail. (For the real reason, you’ll have to ask the drink’s creator, Chef James Wayman of the Oyster Club in Mystic, CT.)
The Dirty Barbados is pretty sexy, though. Salty and refreshing, it’s VERY mucho like a margarita, only better, of course, since it’s made with one of the very best rums you can buy for the money anywhere.
Here’s how you make it…
Grab your shaker and add all of the listed ingredients with a healthy helping of ice and shake away. Next, pour over ice, garnish with a lime wedge (optional).
Absolutely not optional: the salt.
Definitely, definitely, definitely top off with a good bit of salt. Chef Wayman’s recipe calls for Sea Salt, though I prefer this marvelous Himalayan Pink Salt.
The ingredient most difficult to find (at least for me) was the Ginger-Infused Simple Syrup. (Yes, I know I could’ve made my own.) My stand-in, this biting and not-too-sweet Honey Ginger Cocktail Syrup from Barsmith. Order it online via Amazon.com.
(Incidentally, this is my choice of orange bitters… No surprise, right?)
Mix one up and you’ll see instantly why the Dirty Barbados is my summer cocktail of choice for 2017…
Cheers!