The "Beers of the Caribbean" Story

It was an ordinary day. Drinking a Ting, eating some cashews and typing away. For those of you who don't already know, a Ting is a carbonated beverage made from real Jamacian Grapefruit. Used to be bottled in Barbados, but is now a product of Pepsi and I managed to get a few bottles at my local Giant grocery store last week. The version I am drinking is made with pink grapefruit and thus is pink! A soda is about as strong a beverage I enjoy except for a glass of wine. Never did and never probably will like beer. So, my story about the beer of the Caribbean needed some help and I got that from my wife, Carol, who does enjoy a bottle or two of beer at times. I will admit that the times she downs a few cold ones are few and far between, primarily when we are on vacation and she likes to sample the beer of the island we may be on. I got an email from Caribbean Travel and Life Magazine which I subscribe to and am also a fan on Facebook telling me about the contest they recently had to determine the best beers of the Caribbean. Clicked on the link and saw a list of the top 10 beers, as picked by the readers of their magazine. Most of them Carol and I recognized as soon as we saw the bottle. The #1 beer was Virgin Islands Beer from the US Virgin Islands. This was one of the few we didn't recognize and couldn't believe it since we have been to the USVI several times. #2 was Wadadli from Antigua. Supposed to be good with grilled red snapper, fries and fresh local veggies. Carol remembered drinking it, but it wasn't a favorite. Maybe because we never had the red snapper while we were there. #3 was Turk's Head from the Turks and Caicos Islands. We have traveled there before and would like to make another trip in October. It's been so long since we were there the last time and Carol doesn't remember the beer. We do have a great photo of her after drinking a few, but I promised not to include it in my story. #4 was called Tona from Nicaragua and another one that she never tried. Maybe because we only stopped here while on a cruise and didn't have a chance to eat a meal on the island. #5 is called Sol. Holy crap! She never tried this one either! It allegedly is the beer of Mexico and is good with Tequila fish tacos. Now we did pass through Tulum when we went on a Western Caribbean Cruise, but never even saw this beer. #6 is Sands and is the beer of the Bahamas. She is now looking at me and saying, "How can you write a story about beer if I never drank any of it or we were never on the islands?" Good point since we have never traveled to the Bahamas. I said, "Just stick with me. It has to get better, since you are always drinking beer on the islands." #7 is Red Stripe from Jamaica and the beer that they served every day at the Sandals where we were staying. It is supposed to be good with jerk chicken and roasted breadfruit and I do believe that is what we had when Carol downed a few. #8 is Presidente and the beer of the Dominican Republic. Never been there either but this beer can be found on other islands and is a mild beer that tastes good with seafood. I guess almost any beer will taste good with seafood, though. #9 is Carib and her favorite. It is the beer of Trinidad and Taboga, but we never hit either of those islands. We find it in almost every Caribbean location we travel. I even had a few of these. Very mild and good with anything. #10 is Banks Beer from Barbados. The entire island is covered with advertising and I do mean the entire island. They sponsor everything on the island and not only make beer, but sports drinks and at one time produced the Ting I am drinking today. Supposed to be good with fried flying-fish and that's exactly what Carol had it with when we visited Oistens Fish Fry on a Friday evening. For all of you who drink beer, and I know I am in the extreme minority, if you ever travel to the Caribbean, give one of the island beers a try. I'm sure they will appreciate it. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.