Published In The Great North Arrow, July 1, 2024: Memories Of Mayra

 Memories Of Mayra

- jim Young

“It’s a little bit of bad, for those who want something good.” - right off the can.

The last time we were in Cuba there were a lot of shortages at the resort we visited, including alcoholic beverages. That’s not a complaint, just a sad statement of the affairs of a country upon whom the United States of America has unjustly enforced an unreasonable embargo.

But that didn’t dampen our vacation. When the bar ran out of one drink, we quickly substituted another. 

The two drinks we missed the most however, were mint flavoured Mojitos and Coconut flavoured Pina Coladas.

Lucky for us, Mojitos were featured on one day of our holiday. On other days we were able to find an accommodating bartender, Mayra, to make us real Pina Coladas using a fresh coconut that we had conscripted one of the life guards to acquire for us.

When we returned home from our vacation we gave special thanks to the abundance we are fortunate to have here in Canada.

So when I spied the cans of “Coco Rum Original” on display at our local LCBO, I couldn’t help but pick a couple up to give it a try.

I’m glad I did.

Coco Rum, a carbonated drink of real coconut water with rum, is a delightful summer drink for a hot day on the deck even when it does come in early April. It’s not a Pina Colada but the coconut flavour is one of the most authentic coconut drinks I have enjoyed outside of Cuba.

Now, the Scot in me suggests that $3.30 per can is too expensive, but after giving the Coco Rum a try, the hedonist in me was telling me to “find a way to justify it.”.

A bottle of the beer I usually drink costs $1.81. Millilitre to millilitre, the equivalent Coco Rum would cost me $2.38. Yikes! That’s over 30% more. The Scot blood in me was beginning to boil.

So I poured the contents into two large drinking glasses over crushed ice for my wife and I to share.

This instantly became a much more Scot-affordable cocktail at just $1.65 each - glossing over the fact that each drink is 104.5 ml less than our bottle of beer.

But then I remembered Julia at the LCBO suggesting I might try Coco Rum with a bit of pineapple juice. So when I broke open our second can of Coco Rum, I poured 2 shots of Pineapple Juice and 2 shots of Coco Rum over crushed ice to form a new drink I like to call “Memories of Mayra”.

Now, factoring in the cost of the pineapple juice, our new drink weighs in at a mere 77¢ per drink.

And millilitre to millilitre, when compared to my beer, it only costs $1.54 - 27¢ less than a bottle of beer - A savings of almost 18%.

SOLD. I have appeased both my Scot blood and my hedonistic desires.

This summer the nice low cost refreshing drink, "Memories of Mayra" we become my new goto.

Everytime I have one in place of a beer, I will save 27¢. And this savings will allow me to occasionally enjoy a Coco Rum Original , straight from the can without breaking the bank.

Either way, give it a try. Your taste buds AND your pocketbook will thank you.

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