Curaçao creationsEven those who have never heard of the

Caribbean island, recognize the name Curaçao

as the famous liqueur used to color cocktails a

striking electric blue. The original product is

actually clear, and you can still buy it that way,

but it later became colored in green, red, and

bright orange to appeal to North American cock-

tail makers. It also comes in coffee, chocolate,

and rum-raisin flavors. It has often been imi-

tated, but the distillery in Curaçao is the only

place in the world that makes the authentic prod-

uct. In fact, only a bottle marked “The Genuine

Curaçao Liqueur” is the real deal because it’s

made with laraha oranges – small green fruit E

Unique Island Spiritsby Susan Campbell

One of the joys of traveling is exploring the local flavors through food and drink. And when it comes to spirited local libations, the Dutch Caribbean islands

don’t disappoint. So let’s discover the lovely native liqueurs and liquors of the ABCs and St. Maarten.

Aruban elixirsThe island’s most famous cocktail the “Aruba

Ariba” uses a unique local liqueur called coe coei

to sweeten it. It’s a thick red syrup, almost like

grenadine but with a strong anise taste made

from the sap of the agave plant kukwisa added

to rum and cane sugar. The recipe stems from a

centuries-old concoction believed to have orig-

inated in Venezuela and brought to Aruba by the

island’s original inhabitants – the Caiquetio In-

dians. Another island liqueur is “Ponche Crema”,

a thick, rich, rum-based eggnog mixture that is

especially popular during Christmas holidays.

Palmera Rum is another local liquor, the

Palmera company makes it in white, amber, dark,

coconut flavored, and also a lemon blend called

“Lamoenchi”. They also make a special blend

to pay tribute to San Nicolas landmark Charlie’s

Bar called “Rhum Charlie’s” and have put their

own spin on the rich, red coecoei, and call it

“Koekoei”. Palmera also offers their own ver-

sions of other popular liqueurs and pre-mixed

cocktails.

Interesting artisanal local creations can often

be found at cultural events like the Thursday

night Carubbian Festival in San Nicolas where

you can sample and purchase a liqueur made

from cashews. Or go to the farmer’s market at

Santa Rosa for homemade spirits like wilde roos,

a liqueur made from the edible pulp of the flow-

ers that grow on the local Madras thorn trees.

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Photos courtesy of Papiamento Restaurant

unique to the island. They ended up growing

there via the Spanish who thought they might

grow their sweet Valencia oranges on their newly

acquired Caribbean outpost. But the arid cli-

mate and poor soil had the trees yield fruit so

bitter that even the goats wouldn’t eat it! How-

ever, it was later discovered that when the peels

dried in the sun they produced very pleasing

aromatic natural oils. Soon folks began trying

to leverage these aromatic essences into some-

thing delicious to drink. Eventually the perfect

blend of alcohol, sugar, spices, and peels resulted

in the liqueur that the Senior family has now been

producing since 1896. The distillery is presently

housed in a century-old restored plantation house

called Landhuis Chobolobo.

Another colorful local liquor can be found

at Netto’s Bar, in Curaçao. Ròm Bèrdè is a

bright green rum created by the late Ernesto

(Netto) Koster who had been making it for his

bar since 1954. But don’t expect the barkeep to

reveal what makes it green. It’s a secret they

intend to keep!

St. Maarten’s spiritsThe most famous St. Maarten liqueur is

made from guavaberry that grows wild on the

island. The berry is red, small, and bittersweet,

not at all like guava, and for some reason known

only to Mother Nature, there are more guava-

berry bushes on St. Maarten than anywhere else

in the world! Visit the Sint Maarten Guavaberry

Company in Philipsburg for samples and to

learn about its interesting history. Also try some

island cocktails made with it like the sparkling

“Guavaberry Fizz” at Divi Little Bay Resort.

The island also has a love affair with flavored

rums. Ma Doudou is a cottage factory in Cul-

de-Sac producing superb blended rums with

flavors like banana, coconut, ginger, lime, and

vanilla. Look for the cheery madras-capped

bottles with hand-painted island scenes on them;

they are available island-wide. Also making their

own creative flavored rums are the owners of

Topper’s Restaurant & Bar in Simpson Bay. They

come in cool flavor combinations like white-

chocolate-raspberry, banana-vanilla-cinnamon,

and mocha mama, and they are also available

island-wide.

Ma Doudou Rum from St. Martin

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Photos courtesy of The Cadushy Distillery. Portrait of Eric Gietman by Stephanie Brauer

also branched out to create liqueurs for all of the

Dutch Caribbean islands – each with an ingre-

dient indigenous to its respective culture. And

Gietman also developed an orange liqueur ded-

icated to the House of Oranje, the royal family

of Holland. They are available island-wide on

Bonaire, and now they are also available on Aruba.

The Dutch Caribbean produces some de-

lightful spirits that you won’t find anywhere

else. Do indulge while on holiday; ask your bar-

tender to sample some specialties made with

unique island spirits or buy a bottle to take

home! Cheers! K

On a smaller scale, local social worker/

counselor Amy Arrindell has been moonlighting

as a master distiller in her home. She has now

perfected her own line of award-winning “Amy’s

Island Liquors” using rum and locals fruits like

kenip, gooseberry, and passionfruit. Look for

them at cultural events or sample them at The

Summit Resort Hotel’s restaurant, Tropical Heaven.

And like Amy, the owner of Jimbo’s Rock & Blues

Café has been experimenting at home with some

special spirits for his customers and regularly

offers up what he calls “Dirty Tequila” distilled

with tangerines or passionfruit depending on

the season.

Bonaire’s bestIt took Dutch marketing man Eric Gietman

who fell in love with Bonaire and moved there

with his family, to figure out that the arid is-

land’s most abundant produce kadushi cactus

might be turned into an interesting spirit. He

enlisted the local refreshing libation awa di

lamoenchi (lime water) and added it to distilled

cacti peel and the result was Cadushy of Bonaire

Liqueur, the world’s only cactus liqueur. His

distillery has also developed a local cactus vodka,

a spiced rum, and a whisky dedicated to Cap-

tain Don, Bonaire’s father of dive tourism. They

Eric Gietman from The Cadushy Distillery in Bonaire

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