Cocktail – After Dark Crush
Barbadian rum, Koko Kanu, vanilla, coconut cream, soda
Date Visited – Apr 2016
Advance prep told me After Dark was no longer there, but Google offered conflicting opinions as to what had taken its place. On arrival in “The Gap” I spoke to a local taxi driver who informed me that After Dark had split into two bars, The Old Jamm Inn taking the indoor venue, and Hal’s Carpark Bar taking the outdoor space. The book refers to the “longest single piece of polished mahogany in the world”, which was still located within the indoor venue, but since cut down. There was no cocktail menu, the bartender offered to create me something, but basically just threw a load of the sweetest liqueurs into a glass, hence I didn’t stick around! Google research of After Dark occasionally refers to it as “Hal’s Place” so the car park was seeming a much better bet, and indeed it was.
Sat at the bar I got chatting to several of the locals, including a gentleman who late into the conversation I discovered was Hal, so out came the camera! Hal introduced me to Jigga and the conversation turned to rum and distilleries, Mount Gay confirmed as a tourist trap, Foursquare confirmed as the only working distillery, of which Jigga could give me a personal tour the following week. The cocktail couldn’t be made on request, no coconut cream available (not my thing anyway), instead I mixed some Old Brigand with Malibu. The company was good, as was the rum. The mood was a little sombre as it was the day that Prince died, which at least meant the music was good, not quite so on Karaoke night! After Dark was a well known bar across the Caribbean, I’m not sure its successors have yet achieved quite the same fame, but Hal’s was certainly a friendly neighbourhood bar.
The World Is My Cocktail 