by Emily Duff
Jamrock Punch
First up, Jamrock Punch which unfortunately was a slightly underwhelming start to the taster. Very simple, this cocktail was good - but nothing special. However, it worked well as a pallet cleanser before trying out the rest of the tastiness in store.
With a natural and earthy sweetness, the main downfall of this cocktail was it’s watery consistency. Maybe with less ice and more spirit this one could pack more of a ‘punch’ but instead it got boring quite quickly.
Ingredients: Gin, passionfruit, strawberry, apple, grapefruit & fresh lime
Taste: 3/5
Appearance: 2/5
Tingwray
Now the Tingwray had a lot more flavour to offer. With both a white overproof rum and classic white rum packed into one, this cocktail certainly tasted strong - but in the best way possible.
Not too overpowering, the inclusion of a controversially strong spirit, Wray and Nephew, was actually allowed to shine and show its flavour. This was a well-balanced cocktail, with a little hint of sweetness from the lime juice counteracting any bitterness from the booze.
This one didn’t have much excitement to bring with its aesthetics, served in the same glass as the Jamrock Punch it was quite boring, thankfully the lime wedge garnish did add a bit more colour to spruce up your Instagram stories - and obviously something to squeeze in if you’re a major lime-lover like me.
Ingredients: Wray & Nephew, white rum, grapefruit & fresh lime
Taste: 3/5
Appearance: 2/5
Tobago Tea
The Tobago Tea contains 4 spirits - but doesn’t blow your head off. With an almost thick consistency, the texture wasn’t my favourite but could have been easily fixed with a couple more ice cubes to cool and liquidate the drink.
I would definitely order the Tobago Tea next time I make a trip to Turtle Bay.
Ingredients: Duppy White, vodka, tequila, gin, grapefruit, mango & fresh lime
Taste: 4/5
Appearance: 3/5
Caribbean Candy Sour
My favourite by a mile, the Caribbean Candy Sour was incredible.
As per it’s name, it was super sour - a cocktail flavour I love to try but is always hard to successfully achieve.
Using the inclusion of melon in a cocktail really puts me off, but in this drink it was very mild and only used to boost the rest of the flavour profiles. In fact, in this drink the use of apple takes over. This created the taste of a tangfastic which is bloody delicious.
Amaretto is one of my all time favourite spirits, and its inclusion made this drink sweet, tasty and not too boozy. Amaretto is always a sure-fire way to win my heart.
Ingredients: Kingston 62 Gold, amaretto & falernum, green melon liquor, apple, grapefruit & fresh lime
Taste: 4.5/5
Appearance: 2/5
Dessert Island
The Dessert Island took me by surprise. With the inclusion of Cold Brew, I was expecting the bitterness of an espresso martini to end the night. However, it was actually the perfect dessert drink, as implied by its punny name.
Although salted caramel has been done to death, the creamy texture of this drink was almost reminiscent of Baileys, making it a hit for the upcoming wintery holiday season.
Ingredients: Dark rum, Tia Maria, cold brew coffee, salted caramel sauce & vanilla
Taste: 4.5/5
Appearance: 3/5
Can you guess my favourite?
You can try these cocktails at many Turtle Bay’s across the country. Offering delicious food, bottomless brunches and even a fantastic 2-for-1 cocktail happy hour at the below times:
Sunday - Thursday: 11am – 7pm & 9.30pm – close
Friday: 11am – 7pm & 10pm – close
Saturday: 10am – 7pm & 10pm – close