Caribbean Coffee Hotspots

frank12

Gold
Sep 6, 2011
11,847
29
48
Get buzzed: Caribbean coffee hotspots

Whether it's a straight-up shot, a fancy macchiato or spiked with rum, coffee is the elixir of choice for many of us. Check out our cool Caribbean coffee concoctions and espresso yourself in style.

Beach baristas: Punta Cana
As Dominican as a lively game of baseball and a swig of the local Brugal rum, coffee drinking is also a national pastime sipped and savored day and night. Family-owned for 75 years, Caf? Santo Domingo is the most popular brand and the beans of choice at the Coffee Rum & Cigar Lounge at Barcel? B?varo Palace Deluxe Resort where bartender baristas get crafty with fan favorites like the Mamey Special capped with black and white chocolate, cream and cinnamon and Frozen Black & White that marries coffee with vodka, Irish cream liqueur, amaretto and chocolate.

Daily grind: Barbados

Whether it's a latte or a cappuccino, the best baristas on the south coast brew with dark roasted beans from Costa Rica. The perfect pit stop for a caf?-fueled meet and greet, The Coffee Bean at Peronne Village, one of four locations, is breezy with tables big enough for a Monachello Bianco layered with espresso and white chocolate and a laptop for staying in touch. When the Bajan sun heats up the terrace, frosty Frescante Espresso crowned with whipped cream hits the spot and for those who crave a nibble, there's plenty of sweet treats on the menu.

Cr?me da cr?me: Grand Cayman
Not for the faint of appetite, Sunday Champagne Brunch at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman is a treasured tradition for anyone who can get a reservation. From noon to 3 p.m., Chef Jordan Barnett welcomes hungry brunch-philes and coffee connoisseurs to Seven, the ritzy restaurant named for Seven Mile Beach right outside the door. With indoor and terrace seating that salutes the Caribbean Sea, the extravagant brunch doesn't end with the last bite but rather with a fabulous and frothy cappuccino brewed from fine Italian beans. Sip slowly; lingering is delightful.

Ciao bella: St. Maarten
Anyone who knows coffee knows Illy beans have rock star status. With espresso machines imported from Italy, a general manager from Naples and Illy Caff? beans from Trieste, a coffee break at any one of the five restaurants and five bars at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino is caffeine perfection. For aficionados who prefer their fix with a sea view on a sunny afternoon, Maho Caf? fits the bill and to remind you why you booked a vacation in the first place, kick-start the morning with a cuppa at the Palms Grill.

Spill the beans: Nassau
Tucked away from the glitter of Nassau, Graycliff was once the Bahamian haunt of Winston Churchill who favored the Pool Cottage. Today the small hotel is still favored by an A-list crowd and packs a big punch with coffee devotees for its private brand of organic espresso beans grown in the mountains of Guatemala. Consider the aptly named Bahamian Coffee brewed with vanilla-tinged Nassau Royale liqueur, brown sugar, whipped cream and yes, coffee. To sweeten the pot, add a guava-filled chocolate bonbon (or two) from the Graycliff Chocolatier and a smooth Chateau Grand Cru cigar (easy to spot wrapped in a purple label) from the Graycliff Cigar Company.

Crop to cup: Haiti
Its history dates to 1724 when Haiti was one of the largest suppliers of coffee beans in the world. Fast forward to today and those beans called "black pearls" still put a spring in any coffee drinker's step. Known by the brand names Selecto and Rebo, the beans are the star attractions in caffeine-fueled drinks at the elegant Le Michel and the fashionable Lobby Bar in the Best Western Premier in Petion-Ville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. A guaranteed crowd pleaser after a fine Creole dinner, Cafe du Soir is Haitian happiness in a glass swirled with Rhum Barbancourt, the local rum that is distilled with sugar cane instead of molasses, a dash of brown sugar and coffee from the beans grown in the hills.

Blue Mountain bliss: Jamaica
For those who enjoy their cuppa Joe in more than a mug, try a Coffee Bean Body Scrub at the Spa at Round Hill Hotel. Rubbing and scrubbing with beans from the Blue Mountains, the full-bodied massage promises to rejuvenate and revitalize but not keep you up at night. Whether in the spa housed in an 18th-century plantation house, under a garden gazebo or blissfully on the beach, the nimble fingers of a skilled masseuse are all about getting mellow in Montego Bay.
 

jfk-tampa

Active member
Jul 28, 2007
302
37
28
frank where,s our update on cabarete diaries? just got in and will stop in jose,s during the week as its toooo crazy in town with all the bus people .
happy samana santa to all
 
Aug 6, 2006
8,775
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You left out Polo, where much of the DR's best coffee is grown, in the mountains behind Barahona. There is a coffee festival there the first weekend in June. Check out the youtubes on this.
 
Aug 6, 2006
8,775
12
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So far as I can tell, there is ONE Dunkin Donuts:

G M Ricart Esq. Av. Tiradentes
Santo Domingo
Distrito Nacional

There are NO Starbucks listed by Starbucks store locator. They are in 50 countries, but apparently not the DR.
 

MiamiDRGuy

Bronze
May 19, 2013
1,373
449
83
So far as I can tell, there is ONE Dunkin Donuts:

G M Ricart Esq. Av. Tiradentes
Santo Domingo
Distrito Nacional

There are NO Starbucks listed by Starbucks store locator. They are in 50 countries, but apparently not the DR.

Starbucks will open in DR in December 2014 with the new hotel, its in the DR1 archive news, check it there.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
The coffee crop of the Dominican Republic is an 80+% failure. We won't have good Dominican coffee for at least three years.

Even Polo.

:(
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
11,747
1,343
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The coffee crop of the Dominican Republic is an 80+% failure. We won't have good Dominican coffee for at least three years.

Even Polo.

:(

I know I will be having Cafe CB very soon!
'can not wait to froth some milk and enjoy a nice mini cannoli.
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
Irish coffee, mmm!! Good strong coffee, shot of Irish Mist Liquor, shot of Kula and a shot of Irish cream liquor and top off with wipp cream or just a great espresso.

LTSteve