Cocktails in The Cayman Islands

Tuesday 09th May 2023 |

The original Mudslide cocktail is said to have been invented during the 1970s at the Wreck Bar on Grand Cayman’s Rum Point.

As the story goes, a bartender had to think quickly when a White Russian was requested but the bar was out of cream. Irish Cream liqueur was used as a substitution and blended with coffee liqueur and vodka, thus – boom: the Mudslide was born.

This World Cocktail Day (Saturday 13th May 2023) we celebrate the Mudslide and delve deeper into the Cayman Islands’ rise in becoming the Caribbean’s cocktail capital.

The Cayman Islands is home to over 150 different nationalities, with more than 200 restaurants, resulting in an incredibly diverse cuisine. Known as the Culinary Capital of the Caribbean with its authentic dishes served from seafood shacks to five-star restaurants, today, Grand Cayman is drawing world-class bartenders to its sunny shores.

As has been proven throughout modern culinary and cocktail history, where there is a culinary scene, craft cocktails follow. Over the last decade and since the start of the pandemic in particular, the cocktail scene has flourished in the Cayman Islands. Many entities used the long lockdown period to revise, review and reimagine their existing gastronomy offerings, whilst this period also opened opportunities for entrepreneurs who wanted to try something new. As a result, a number of exceptional bars have popped up over the last three years, including;

  • Door No. 4 – with ex-Hawksmoor London bartender Alan Cartolano;

  • Next Door – already award-nominated and on the 50 Best Discovery list;

  • Silver Palm and Saint June – both redesigned at The Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman (part of the hotel’s £40 million 2021 renovation);

  • the collection of bars at boutique hotel Palm Heights, including Bar Bambi’s – the exclusive late-night cocktail lounge with rotating guest DJs; and,

  • Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa’s literature-inspired bar, Library by the Sea – conceptualised by ex-London bartenders, Jim Wrigley and Andrew Copsey, who, in turn, recruited bartenders from some of the world’s best bars, including Connaught Bar (best bar in the world in 2020 and 2021), Paradiso (currently best in the world), Swift and Dandelyan.

These new openings join the existing bar scene which had set the foundation for cocktails in Grand Cayman, such as Backroom, Ave at the Kimpton Seafire, and Agua.

 

Most recently, the newly founded Grand Cayman distillery has launched the specially crafted Blue Iguana gin, which uses botanicals from the local Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park. Part proceeds from the sale of the gin are donated to support the Blue Iguana Conservation (BIC) programme, which protects this endemic, endangered species.

It’s safe to say that you’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to cocktails in the Cayman Islands. Indeed, the destination has its own Cayman Cocktail Week each October to celebrate as such.

In the meantime, want to bring a taste of Cayman’s libations to your home? Here’s how to make a Mudslide…

Classic Mudslide:

  • 25ml Vodka

  • 25ml Coffee Liqueur

  • 25ml Irish Cream Liqueur

  • Ice

  • Chocolate syrup to serve

Drizzle chocolate syrup inside your cocktail glasses

Add the vodka, coffee liqueur and Irish cream to a shaker

Add the ice and shake

Pour the cocktail mixture into the chocolate-drizzled glass with a finishing touch of pouring extra coffee liqueur down the straw.

To discover more about the Cayman Islands head to visitcaymanislands.com