We have, at the Cadushy Distillery in Rincón, Bonaire. We may not have mentioned it before, but – apart from its coral reefs, seaside bars, and salt – pretty much the whole island is desert. There are donkeys, goats, and cactus. A whole lot of cactus.
So the entrepreneurial Eric Gietman – who had already opened a rum distillery on the island – decided to make lemonade. Err, liquor. From the cactus he made cactus vodka, cactus gin, and cactus liqueurs, one for each of the six Netherlands Antilles. Cadushy is the Papiamentu name for those ubiquitous cacti.
You know us: we’re always willing to give it a go! So we went to the distillery, took a tour, and tasted pretty much every one of the spirits on offer. In addition to those mentioned above, there’s also Captain Don’s, the first Caribbean whisky (excellent! – a wee bit smoky with a very easy finish). And the Netherlands Antilles liqueurs are:
- Kukuï from Aruba, with agave and shimaruku fruit, which tastes of cherry and is fantastic with a cola
- Cadushy from Bonaire, cactus flavoured with lime (great with soda)
- Calbas from Curaçao, using the soursop fruit – which we love!
- Gold from Statia, mostly guava-flavoured. Not our very favourite, but you can’t win ’em all
- Spices from Saba, with lots of different things going on, overwhelmingly cinnamon
- Orange (for St Martin, but based on the Dutch fondness for the colour), with sweet orange and yerba mate
The tour itself was conducted by a very enthusiastic young man, who went through the steps needed to turn cactus into something potable. As you’d expect, there’s a de-spining process, then a drying process, followed by a fermentation process.
The main distillery resides in what was once the town’s cinema, and you can still see the projection screen behind the equipment, as well as the projection room. Attached to the cinema is the original house of Eric Gietman, now used as an office by the distillery.
The grounds of the distillery are fairly small, but there is a lovely sitting-area in the back. A number of very beautiful birds stopped by while we were there, helped along by some food put out for them. You can sample any number of the spirits they make there, and they have several special mixed drinks also for sale. And for maximal convenience, the bottles themselves come in a variety of sizes, including those small enough for carry-on luggage on the plane (not that we would…).
Our favourites of the distillery were the gin, the whiskey, and the reserve rum. Not that the others were to be disdained! Naturally, since we had to drive back, we did not imbibe too much there, but back home we have been trying a number of different drinks with the various spirits. So far, so good!
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