Above: the Board Room beach bar at the Curacao Marriott
By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor
CURACAO — “I make my drinks the way I like to drink them – strong,” says Cerita, the gregarious Jamaican bartender at Curacao Marriott Beach Resort’s Board Room beach bar. Which might be the reason why this Friday afternoon there are so many drinkers clustered around the rustic surfboard-themed watering hole, patiently waiting for her attention.
As the sun descends and time ticks toward the six o’clock end of happy hour, Cerita is a ball of happy energy, her head bobbing and hips swaying to a reggaeton tune as she singlehandedly serves up frozen mojitos, frosty Presidentes, and plastic cups of frothy piña coladas.
But the real crowd pleaser is the Lord of the Board, a rum-and-vodka cocktail that’s as easy on the palate as it is on the wallet (a mere $5 during happy hour). Its fruity sweetness, however, belies its potency. “It’s a ‘one-and-done’ kinda drink,” one barefoot, sun-kissed patron tells me (although Cerita says she often serves 10 in a single shift). “Have two, and suddenly you’re that girl at the party.”
I glance at Cerita for confirmation but she only shakes her head and laughs. “Don’t worry, man,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “I make them with love.”
Curacao Marriott & Beach Resort’s Lord of the Board
Ingredients
1.5 ounces Bacardi White
1.5 ounces vodka
½ ounce triple sec
½ ounce amaretto
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce cranberry juice
Method
Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice cubes and shake vigorously. Pour into a tumbler and garnish with pineapple and a cherry.
