Skip to main content

Need a Craft Cocktail Getaway? Head to Salt Plage on St. Kitts

For most of us, it’s cold right now. For some of us, it’s really, really cold (tongue stuck to a flagpole cold).

It’s a time when sun-warmed sand and fresh, tropical cocktails are not just appealing, but you might consider selling a limb for them. It’d be one thing to just head south and go to any island in the Caribbean, but what about when you want a well-made, well thought-out cocktail? Well, we have the answer and we think you’re going to like it.

Recommended Videos

Located on the island of St. Kitts (which has an average temperature in December of 82 degrees Fahrenheit), Salt Plage at Christophe Harbour, is your one-stop shop for all things, fun, sun, and alcohol.

salt plageHeaded by Christian Zamora, Salt Plage is one of the best beach-side bars in the world by Condé Nast, and for good reason. You see, Zamora and his team at Salt Plage has done what has been previously unknown on the island of St. Kitts—they’ve created a craft cocktail program.

“Craft cocktails is a new thing here and I feel very privileged to bring this to the island for perhaps the first time. I think Christophe Harbour and I share a great responsibility bringing craft cocktails to the island,” Zamora said of the task before them.

Part of what makes the craft cocktail menu at Salt Plage work, according to Zamora, is that they utilize local ingredients to bring fresh colors and flavors to their drinks. Ingredients like soursop, sorrel, and a bark that goes by the name mauby (which, according to Zamora tastes like a peaty root beer), have all found their way into drinks on the menu.

“Using things like mauby is very unusual. Kittitians are really into unique non-alcoholic drinks but the idea of using those elixirs in a cocktail isn’t really a thing, it seems,” Zamora said.

By using those ingredients that were previously not thought of as cocktail-ready, he’s seen the locals that visit the bar engaged in their drinks, wanting to learn more about the process, the ingredients, everything.  “Sometimes, people that come in bring me ingredients—like a wax apple, for example—and it allows me to learn about something new and see how I can use it,” he added.

Where the team at Salt Plage stands out, though, is working to make sure too many ingredients don’t muddle the overall product. With so many colors and flavors, it’d be easy to want to add them all. You can’t do that, though, according to Zamora.

“If you throw a bunch of colors in a pot, it’ll turn brown. It’s the same with cocktails. Our goal is to take care with the drinks so that doesn’t happen.”

Another way the cocktail program has seen success, Zamora said, is by embracing what already works on the island. For example, two-part drinks like a vodka soda or a gin & tonic are big, because there’s a reputation for drinks to take a long time to come out.

“If you order a Manhattan and there’s nobody else in the bar, it still may take ten minutes,” Zamora said. “There’s a saying here for stuff like that, ‘Rush slowly.’”

With that in mind, Zamora worked to create drinks that embrace that idea while pushing the flavors to new heights. The Mauby Mule—a take on the Dark & Stormy that utilizes the local mauby bark—is just one example.

A third area that Zamora said has been an interesting challenge is the realm of frozen drinks.

“The connotation of frozen cocktails is interesting out here. There’s a stigma against them to many,” he said.

Instead of ignoring them, as it would be easy to do, again Zamora embraced them, channeling the classic Caribbean cocktail the Painkiller to create the Jumbie, a frozen drink that has quickly become one of the staples on the menu.

Zamora’s thoughts on the matter are simple: “Rather than fight the idea, how can I make this better. How can I make it the the freshest, the best that this person has ever had?”

To add to the level of care and craft for their cocktails, the team at Salt Plage is now hand-squeezing all of their juices for cocktails. They are also the only bar in the country to offer Mezcal, Fernet Branca, Green Chartreuse, bitters other than Angostura, Rye Whiskey, Aperol, Averna, and Cynar. Basically, whatever your wish for a craft cocktail is, Salt Plage will have you covered. Not only that, but you’ll be able to do it while getting a tan and listening to the waves. What more could you ask for?

Topics
Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
Our favorite tequila drinks, ranked
Tequila cocktails you must learn to make at home
Tequila drink

For those new to the spirit, tequila is a Mexican spirit made with fermented, roasted, and distilled Blue Weber agave. Its heart is the town of Tequila in the state of Jalisco, but it can be produced in a handful of other states as well. Tequila is a versatile spirit. It’s a great spirit for sipping neat, on the rocks, and mixed into many classic and contemporary cocktails. The latter is what we’re concerned with today.

Chef Claudette Zepeda, known for her appearance on Top Chef and a James Beard Award semifinalist, likes to work with tequila in cocktails by combing it with both fruit and vegetal flavors. The most important consideration, she advised to Food 52, is to use the best-quality tequila that you can find. "It opens up the nuances in the cocktail ingredients, similar to what salt does to food," she said.

Read more
Wild Turkey 101 8-Year-Old Bourbon joins the popular 101 range of whiskeys
The popular 8-year-old version of Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon is finally available in the US
Wild Turkey

Fans of well-made,  versatile whiskies love the award-winning Wild Turkey 101, especially its Bourbon. Recently, the beloved brand announced Wild Turkey 101 8-Year-Old Bourbon will now be available throughout the US as a permanent expression in its lineup.
Wild Turkey 101 8-Year-Old Bourbon

Previously only available in select export markets, Wild Turkey 101 8-Year-Old Bourbon is finally making its permanent US launch. While the classic Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon is made using a blend of 6- to 8-year-old bourbons, Wild Turkey 101 8-Year-Old is a 101-proof whiskey made with a blend of 8-9-year-old bourbons.

Read more
Sightglass Coffee releases the perfect Mother’s Day set for coffee-loving moms
A thoughtful mother's day gift for coffee lovers
Sightglass Coffee Mother's Day Set

With Mother's Day fast approaching, Sightglass Coffee is already thinking ahead about the perfect coffee gift with its newest release. The new Sightglass Coffee Mother's Day bundle contains everything your mom needs to enjoy the delicious cup of coffee she deserves. The gift set features the brand's newest-release blend, Spring Equinox, named for the celestial shift from winter to spring, which is marked by nearly equal amounts of daylight and darkness across all latitudes.

The new coffee blend (packaged in whole bean form) is crafted from a 50/50 composition of high-altitude coffees from Guatemala and Kenya. Even better, this roast's bright and balanced notes work perfectly to sip on throughout the spring and on Mother's Day morning. This medium-dark roast coffee blend features notes of orange Blossom, tamarind, and strawberry -- making it the perfect springtime blend.

Read more