Authentic Bahamian products
WTDN Jan09
Only in The Bahamas
Authentic Bahamian products
Nassau is a shoppers’ paradise. Big-name designer lines such as Gucci, Fendi and Coach have staked claims to prime locations in the historic shopping district along Bay St, where visitors find duty-free deals at every turn.
For those looking for authentic Bahamian treasures, there are several galleries, boutiques, shops and small factories offering a wide selection of food items and products that depend upon Bahamian artistry and ingenuity.
From delicious rum cakes, crisp Bahamian beer and fine hand-rolled cigars to dinnerware, wood carvings and handmade straw bags, there’s a cornucopia of Bahamian-made products to spark your interest.
Cakes, beer, cigars
If the deep, rich flavour of rum cake is a personal favourite, check out this mouth-watering treat at stores throughout Nassau and Paradise Island. Purity Bakery makes the cakes in several delicious flavours including piña colada, Nassau Royale, chocolate and the original.
Another rum cake producer is Tortuga Rum Cakes which has a store on Frederick St, off Bay St. This company is headquartered in Grand Cayman, with franchise bakeries in Jamaica and Barbados as well as The Bahamas. The cakes, baked locally, are sold here—along with Bahamian sauces, spices, seasonings, jams, chutneys, rum- and fruit-flavoured teas, and speciality coffees—and at company stores at Marina Village on Paradise Island and Lynden Pindling International Airport.
Tortuga vice president Linda Myers says her cakes, which are baked fresh daily, provide most of the company’s revenue. They come in original, chocolate and coconut flavours, which you can sample before buying.
Another distinctive but very different island taste is Bahamian beer. If you’re a lover of the suds, there’s nothing better on a warm Bahamian afternoon than an ice-cold Kalik.
The Bahamian-made brew gets its name from the “kalik-kalik” sound of cowbells that are rung in Junkanoo parades—a joyous late-night street celebration that is distinctively Bahamian.
Kalik dominates the beer market here, accounting for up to 50 per cent of the market, says Kalik brand representative Michelle Lewis. “Bahamians and tourists alike love the taste,” says Lewis, adding that Kalik comes in three versions— regular, light and gold. The beer is so popular it’s exported to Florida and New York. A new beer, Sands, brewed in Grand Bahama, is picking up converts throughout The Bahamas.
Another export is cigars. If you’re an aficionado, no trip to Nassau is complete without visiting the Graycliff Cigar Company on West Hill Street.
Graycliff hotel and restaurant began manufacturing cigars in 1997 with a single roller working in the entranceway, recalls marketing manager Roberta Garzaroli, whose father, Enrico, founded the company. Since then it has expanded into a boutique cigar company with 16 master rollers.
Graycliff’s handcrafted cigars are available in six award-winning blends: original (medium strength, full-bodied and with a spicy finish), professionale (an earthy taste with a roasted coffee bean core), crystal (full, rich tobacco flavor), emerald (a buttery taste with a softer finish), chateau grand cru (a seductive cigar with deep flavours) and espresso (a potent cigar not for the faint of heart).
These cigars can be purchased at fine tobacconists around the world, but one line, the Bahiba—a light to medium smoke—is available only in The Bahamas.
Graycliff cigars can be bought Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm, with private cigar rolling lessons available by appointment, at $75 per person.
Home-grown, handmade
Bahama Sol at Paradise Village Shopping Plaza on Paradise Island and the Lynden Pindling International Airport offers products one would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.
Owner Jennifer Ageeb says Bahama Sol is the retail arm of Sundrop Creations, an idea that came to fruition five years ago. “We wanted to offer visitors, as well as locals, Bahamian-made products rather than the imported stuff you see everywhere and downtown.”
There is all-natural, richly scented candles that send out tropical aromas in addition to bath salts that incorporate sea salt from the waters of The Bahamas, island-themed liquid soaps, bubble baths, luxurious body butters and shower gels. Bahama Sol also sells locally produced Androsia clothing and home-decor products, jewellery, hand-painted Christmas ornaments, calendars, Bahamian jellies and hot sauces and fruit teas. The most popular item is the unique coconut shell candle which has been copyrighted.
A collection of handcrafted bath products and home accessories also awaits discerning buyers at My Ocean Body & Home store on Charlotte St, just off Bay St.
Paulette Mortimer, another local artisan, captures the beauty of The Bahamas in photography and artwork. Mortimer, who is co-owner of Third Eye Artwork & Collectibles, a gallery located on East St, just off Bay Street, collects a diverse array of locally crafted items.
At La Casita, owner Meka McWeeney oversees the design of a delightful collection of colourful straw handbags made of traditional Bahamian sisal plait.
The fashion-forward pieces blend tropical textures with elegant shapes and surprising colours. McWeeney uses native seashells to accent her bags and also to decorate her popular line of handcrafted mirrors.
Designer originals
Whether you’re looking for clothing, handbags, towels, place mats or dinnerware, the folks at Bahama Hand Prints offer quality products made with a personal touch. Their colourful fashions and handbags with island flora and fauna prints are perfect for that resort casual look.
At their Ernest St factory and retail store, just south of the Paradise Island exit bridge, owners Joie Lamare and Linda Brown explain that the company doesn’t skimp on materials, using mostly natural fibres such as 100 per cent cotton for upholstery work and draperies and 100 per cent linen for its clothing line.
“Nature inspires us,” says Lamare. “It’s all inspired by the flora and fauna around us … ‘inspired by the sun’ is our motto.”
Their spring 2009 collection focuses mainly on plant life, butterfly prints and tropical foliage adorning sundresses, passport holders, shirts and handbags.
The company does go outside The Bahamas to create its handbags and dinnerware, which are made in New York. However, the owners make sure that Bahamian materials are used to make those goods.
“Tourists crave something that is made in the country. They don’t want something made in China,” explains Lamare. “And it’s high quality. We go probably a notch above anything imported because: one, our process is incredibly labour-intensive and, two, we have opted to use good quality fabrics.”
Made to order
One of the most sought-after natural items used in local jewellery is the rare pink pearl that comes from the conch.
Although conch is found in abundance in Bahamian waters, conch pearls are not so common.
They’re found in only one of 10,000 conch shells, and only 10 per cent of that number are of gem quality.
The store with the most exclusive collection of pink pearl jewellery is Coin of the Realm, located on Charlotte St just off Bay St.
With high demand coming from clients in the United States, Italy and Japan, manager Karen Stewart Alliata relies on local fishermen to bring in enough pearls for the store’s yearly collections.
“What’s interesting about the conch pearl is that it is valued like a diamond by its carat weight, whereas all cultured pearls are valued by their size,” Alliata explains. “When we select conch pearls we are looking for gem quality. That would have to do with evenness of colour and tone.”
While the pearls come from The Bahamas, all of the pieces at Coin of the Realm are handmade in Switzerland, with prices in the pearl collection ranging from $300 to $15,000. On the international market, especially in Europe, prices are reportedly triple what they are here.
For those who aren’t big on pearls, other pieces available only in The Bahamas are Coin of the Realm’s line of authentic shipwrecked coins. The prices for these pieces start at around $1,550.
Whatever shoppers’ preferences may be, they won’t be disappointed in their search for authentic Bahamian products in Nassau.
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