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Saba Spice

For more than a century, Sabans have blended local herbs, spices and rum into Saba Spice. A traditional wedding drink, generations of sea-faring Sabans treasured "spice" as a reminder of their beloved island home.

Family recipes are a closely guarded secret, but it is safe to say that fennel seeds, cloves and cinnamon are common ingredients - along with "cask brown sugar" and 151 proof rum.

The art of the spice is in the "extras" and how long the spice is left to age before and after it is set afire to meld the flavors and reduce the alcohol content. (but just by a little bit....)

 Lucy Hassell at 'The Swinging Door' and Margarette Hassell at 'Peggy's Boutique' are some of the more famous spice purveyors.

A drink mixed with Saba Spice is sure to bring back memories of our enchanted isle. The following drinks were featured at 'The Saba Bank Bar' at Captain's Quarters Resort.


Cabin Boy

1 oz. Vodka
2 oz. Crème de Cocoa (white or brown)
3 oz. Crème de Caribé or Ponché Cuba

This is a frozen drink quickly became a favorite at Captain's Quarters bar.  It was inspired by a 'mud-slide' and named by a visiting Clinton White House Intern from California...   

Take a blender and fill to the top with ice.  Add vodka, Crème de Cocoa and Ponché Cuba - making sure to coat the ice as you pour. Make sure there is more ice than liquor.

Blend on high speed.  Stop the blender several times and 'smack down the contents' before blending again.  When you get to a nice frozen slushy consistency - serve in a tall glass and dust with Cocoa Powder. 

 

Saban Cabin Boy

Same as above, but topped with a splash of Saba Spice...... and topped with freshly ground nutmeg and a cinnamon stick.

 

Warning: This drink has absolutely no redeeming nutritional value and has been know to produce extreme 'brain-freeze' when slurped too fast....


Divers Down, Bottoms Up

1 oz. vodka
1 oz. Saba Spice
Fill up with orange juice


Saba Fizz

1 oz. vodka
1 oz. Saba Spice
Fill up with Perrier or club soda. Garnish with wedge of lemon.


Saba Mama

1 oz. Cointreau
1 oz. Bacardi or Mount Gay rum
Add 2/3 cranberry juice
add 1/3 pineapple.
Top off with a splash of Saba Spice.
Add lemon to taste.


Flying Eagle

1 oz. Bacardi or Mount Gay rum
1 oz. Saba Spice
Fill up with pineapple juice.


CQ Special

This is the house special fruit punch on steroids.....  It was traditionally made by combining the liquors as they were lined up above the bar. 

Starting with Contreau, Triple Sec, Grand Marnier, Curacao, Napoleon Brandy, Light Rum, Dark Rum, Black Rum, Saba Spice and whatever fruity liquors, rum or brandies have a bit left at the bottom of the bottle.....  

...you then add orange juice, pineapple juice, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, grenadine syrup and anything else you think appropriate.  Mix and it will last for weeks in the refrigerator.

Serve over lots of ice....

Note: Since this can be a rather lethal mixture where you don't really taste the alcohol, we started mixing the liquor separately and then served it as a side addition next to the punch bowl at receptions.  This solved the problem of making two sets of punch (alcoholic and non) - and allowed people to add as much 'Special' to their fruit punch as they wanted.


Saba spice is also recommended in piña coladas, as a topping for ice cream, added to coffee, seasoning for apple pie, ham, and chicken.
 

Saba Spice Sundae

Our 'signature desert' at Captain's Quarters was a Saba Spice Sundae. Many have tried to reproduce it and failed - because the were missing the secret of the desert. 

In order to keep the ice cream from melting - you have to freeze the Saba Spice for a few hours before serving.  

We just used a plastic squeeze-bottle full of Spice and kept it in the freezer.

Note: the liquor doesn't actually freeze - it just gets very thick and syrupy.   If you don't freeze the liquor, you'll have a mushy meltdown within seconds of adding the Saba Spice!

Just before serving, squirt a little Saba Spice in the bottom of a Sundae dish.  Add vanilla, chocolate or coffee ice cream, squirt a bit more Spice, add whipped cream, nuts, cherry, etc. and squirt a bit more frozen Spice on top.... 

Serve IMMEDIATELY!


How can I get some Saba Spice?

The only way to obtain Saba Spice is to actually visit Saba. 

Although some people have tried these recipes using commercially available Spiced Rum or the St. Maarten Spiced Liquor available at the Guavaberry Shop - it just isn't the same.

Several brave souls have reportedly even tried to duplicate Spice by inventing their own recipe with disastrous results... reportedly setting the kitchen on fire only to produce a ghoulish brew that didn't even come close to the real thing.... 

...so a trip to Saba is a must!


Something for the kids

Although this doesn't have any alcohol, it turned out to be such a favorite with the staff's children I had to list it.....  Invented by the pool at Captain's Quarters one day when Jackie and Nercy were teaching Lilla's kids how to swim.  All the kids on Saba were soon screaming for 'more monkey guts please...'

Monkey Guts

Take a blender and fill with ice.  Add whatever leftover fruit juices you have and mix a little of each into the blender. Add some Sprite, Fanta or any other soda - making sure that there is more liquid than ice....  then pulverize in the blender.

Creamy Monkey Guts

Add a little creme of coconut before you blend for that extra 'Uggggh' effect....

Super Nasty Monkey Guts

Only for the most depraved kids on the block....   Add some grenadine syrup before blending along with a few cherries... The kids will squeal with glee as the resulting brain-freeze calms them down for a few minutes before the sugar-jolt reactivates the madness.....

Call 787-455-4216 or email rholm @ caribbeanconsulting.com
and discuss how Caribbean Consulting can help you .


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This page was last updated on 10/10/2004

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