You gotta love a hotel that has a beer drinking contest as one of its activities. Nestled among feeding the iguana, water aerobics and parents’ night off, it was the one item on the activity board that really caught my eye.
It wasn’t a simple chugging contest. The local beer of Aruba, Balashi, was poured into 8 oz. cups and we were given straws (stirrers, really) and instructed to set our cups on the table, to put our hands behind our backs and to slurp from our straws as quickly as possible. Sadly, I’m out of practice when it comes to drinking games and I tied for second, losing to the guy who everybody would’ve put their money on had this contest drawn any bettors.
The prize was a 6-pack of Balashi and the winner graciously shared his bounty with his fellow contestants. There are a few interesting tidbits worth mentioning about Balashi. It’s only available in Aruba, Holland, Curaçao and Bonaire and it’s made from desalinated water in a factory that can bottle 15,000 bottles per hour. This same factory also manufactures and bottles Malta, Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Tropical cherry, pineapple, grape and orange sodas.
While pretty much everything tastes good when you get away for a couple days, this is the beer that I’m still thinking about:
Also with limited availability, Amstel Bright is crisp, clean, refreshing and citrus-y – a zippier, tastier Corona. Salu!
A Thirsty Spirit 