On-Site St. Martin: Rum Infusions on the Beach for Friday Happy Hour

Six months ago, I remember sitting on brightly painted benches at Kali’s Beach Bar, pleasantly sipping a rum in the waning hours of another gorgeous day in St. Martin and hearing my wife say “this would be a great beach for kids.” At the time, it was just the two of us, but we knew our time alone was limited due to my wife’s ever-growing belly and the persistent kicking of a new Bennett boy inside.
Last weekend, we went back to Friar’s Bay and Kali’s—this time with a new correspondent in tow: our 3-month-old baby boy on his first trip to the West Indies.
As my wife and the boy settled into the bench opposite me and once again, the sun began setting on another idyllic day in St. Martin, it didn’t take long for me to sink back into the comfortable seating, kick off my flip-flops, dig my toes into the sand and start wanting for some rum in my belly. When Kali, himself, came by to take my order I was so relaxed, “rum” just slipped from my lips with barely a thought.
“Ah, you want some of my homemade rum?”
Abruptly, my mind sounded the alarm: DANGER! DANGER! BUSH RUM ALERT! BUSH RUM ALERT!
Seeing my wary face, Kali explained how he liked to regularly infuse rum with fresh fruits for his patrons. He pointed to the glass jars of fruity concoctions baking in the sun. His explanation went something like this:
Assured, my warning systems eased back down to code green. Since I was on St. Martin, an island renowned for guavaberry, I decided on that island appropriate flavor. He also brought out a coconut flavor to try.
Both were delicious and a new memory was made—one where I idly sipped on a guavaberry rum infusion while watching my little boy be lulled to sleep on my wife’s chest by the soft sounds of the Caribbean Sea colored by the last, rose colored light of another beautiful day in paradise.
À votre santé!