Best of the Maldives: Coldest Drinks – Constance Halaveli

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Constance Halaveli pina colada

Warning: Brrrrain freeze may result from over enthusiastic appreciation.

One of the most important characteristics in a drink for me is the temperature. I ask for my Starbucks latte’s to be made extra hot. And I like my tropical pina coladas to be extra cold. It is always a disappointment sitting in the toasty sun and being served a lukewarm pina colada. The pina colada is my favourite drink when I am in the Maldives and I have had one at every resort I have visited. The quality and presentation varies as much as the resorts themselves.

It might be a bit of a stretch to say that it was the “best” pina colada I had ever had there, but the Constance Halaveli rendition certainly excelled in a one area – coldness. The drink sent shivers down my throat as I sipped it. It also nicely balanced the sweet pineapple juice and coconut milk with a satisfying kick (I worried that maybe the coldness might come from so much ice that the drink would taste watered down).

As it happens, my wife Lori is a fan of ice coffees. Most are lacklustre efforts of simply dowsing some brew over a pile of ice. But Lori too couldn’t help being struck that the Halaveli was not just the best she had had in the Maldives, but better than any in London that she frequently samples.

Chillingly good.

 

Constance Halaveli iced coffee

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Best of the Maldives: Mixology Legacy – Constance Halaveli

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Constance Halaveli cocktails

Ruby anniversary of the Maldives tourism industry continue through the year with the latest tribute being a fine piece by my friend and fellow Maldive chronicler Adrian in the Telegraph – “The History of Tourism in the Maldives”.

Adrian is always a good source of new ‘Best of the Maldives’ candidates and I often run suggestions by him as a double check. His article featured another resort distinction of Constance Halaveli’s cocktail trailblazing…

“Rooms became villas, food became cuisine. Soneva Fushi put in the first wine cellar (quite a feat in shallow coral sand) and soon all the top resorts had sommeliers. Now they have mixologists, too (the Constance Halaveli resort was the first).”

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Best of the Maldives: Lemonade – Mirihi

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Mirihi lemonade

“If life gives you lemons, then make lemonade.”

This is the week for blogging milestones as my other major (and longer standing) blogging pursuit – ‘Bruce Lynn Blog’ – celebrated its 7th anniversary yesterday. The site explores the themes of ‘Leadership and Management’ as well as ‘Embracing Failure’. The two subjects are united in the common thread of how people deal with risk.

To celebrate the occasion, I thought I would post something apropos. Perhaps one of the all-time classic ‘embrace failure’ sayings is about making lemonade out of lemons, so I thought I would turn to the best and most varied lemonade I have found in the Maldives.

Mirihi offers 10 different signature cocktails at Muraka bar including the following tart treats…

  • Mihiri Lemonade – “Fresh muddled strawberries, aged rum, strawberry and vanilla liguer with soda.”
  • Wild Honey & Orange Lemonade – “Vodka, Drambuie, Cointreau, honey, oranges and orange lemonade”
  • Green Tea & Chili Lemonade – “Green tea, fresh limes, Southern Comfort, Brandy and a bit of chili” (see above enjoyed with fellow TripAdvisor Forum contributor).

Admittedly, ‘embracing failure’ by drinking lemonade in a tropical resort isn’t too hard of a sell.

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Best of the Maldives: Posh Coffee – Anantara Kihavah

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Anantara Kihavah Black Ivory coffee

You think a Starbucks is overpriced? Try “Black Ivory”. It sells for $1,100 per kilogram.

Why so much? Well, it is from coffee beans that have been ingested, digested and egested by elephants. Each bean hand picked from the elephant’s ‘output’ (for all of those teenage barristas moaning about their crappy jobs…you have no idea. Talk about having to wake up and smell the coffee).

It has just been introduced to Anantara Kihavah (as well as Anantara’s other top resorts around the world). The offering suits Anantara’s Thai roots as this prized bean comes from elephants reserves in Thailand. ABC News reports…

“According to the resort, Black Ivory coffee beans are “naturally refined” by Thai elephants. Research indicates that during digestion, the enzymes of the elephant break down coffee protein, according to the resort. Protein is one of the factors responsible for bitterness in coffee: less protein, less bitterness. The coffee is ground by hand and brewed table side in a four-minute process. The fragrance is said to be floral and chocolate and the taste ‘milk chocolate, nutty, earthy with hints of spice and red berries.’ Thai Arabica beans are picked from an altitude of 1500 meters (about 5000 feet) and fed to the elephants. ‘Once deposited by the elephants, the individual beans are handpicked by mahouts (elephant trainer and care giver) and their wives and sun dried.’”

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Best of the Maldives: Coffee Roasting – LUX* Maldives

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LUX Maldives coffee roasting

Happy International Coffee Day!

The one thing I typically miss when I visit the Maldives is my morning cup of Starbucks latte. I actually buy the whole beans myself from Starbucks, grind them and brew the drink in an Italian stove top espresso maker. Mind you, I am a very fussy latte drinker and struggle to find great lattes in top London restaurant (the most common sin is that they serve them not hot enough).

When we first started coming to the Maldives 15 years ago, resorts didn’t even know what a latte was. Eventually, they brought in espresso machines, but their barista talents were still quite green. Now, I find if I am at a 5-star resort I have a solid 50:50 shot at getting a great cup of coffee (about par with London). One resort which has gone the ultimate extreme to ensure that its coffees are the best is LUX* Maldives. The LUX* actually has links to a South African coffee company so they take this beverage very seriously. So much so that they have installed their very own coffee roaster on the island with its own Chief Roaster Hassan (see above)

“If you love coffee, you’ll be delighted by our Island Blend, an organic mix created for us by Carl and Judd, founders of Cape Town’s acclaimed artisan roaster Deluxe Coffeeworks…We actually roast organise green beans here on the island and we’re schooling our staff in the ways of the barista.”

I did enjoy all the coffee I could when I stayed at LUX, but it’s also a treat just to walk past the roaster in operation to get a whiff of those fragrant aromas.

LUX Maldives coffee roasting 2

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Best of the Maldives: Iced Tea – Sun Island

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In ‘The South’ of the USA, there is one spontaneous refreshment you will find on every corner – tea. Not the ‘tea’ that everyone else in the world thinks of…a steaming cuppa. But ‘iced tea’. The ‘iced’ is considered superfluous because ‘tea’ is ‘tea’ in The South and it is primarily served one way.

My wife Lori growing up in North Carolina was raised drinking iced tea out of her baby bottle. Southerners are very particular about the brewing of their iced tea (only Lipton). Moving the UK, despite being a land of tea drinkers, you nonetheless can’t get a decent glass of iced tea (according to Lori). But, lo and behold, the refreshment drink she received after her Aaruma spa treatment was like a sip of home. Yes, Sun Island brews their iced tea and used Lipton tea bags. We have been coming to the Maldives for 15 years and home-like sunshine and heat always inspired a bit of a tea craving by Lori, but this is the first time she enjoyed a glass a good as home.

Unfortunately, the iced tea in the restaurant wasn’t as spectacular. The F&B manager needs to see how they are making it at the spa and copy that across the island.

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Best of the Maldives: Spontaneous Juice – LUX* Maldives

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LUX Maldives scret juice

If the wet refreshment you want close at hand is for ingestion rather than immersion, then LUX* Maldives makes sure a range of colourful and tasty natural juices are available as you explore the island. As a part of their ‘surprise treats everywhere you turn’ ethos, they have complimentary fresh fruit drinks laid out in hollowed out log ice buckets scattered around the island. If you pass by one and simply feel like pouring yourself a tall, cold glass of ‘Pineapple Mint’ or ‘Strawberry Cooler’, just grab yourself a glass.

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Best of the Maldives: Cocktail Compendium – Gili Lankanfushi

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Gili Lankanfushi - cocktails

A refresher for the end of the day is a cocktail which can also sparkle, uplift, sooth or relax. The ‘Doctor of Mixology’ has to be Muthu Kumar, Head Bartender at Gili Lankanfushi’s their Overwater Bar. He trained for 6 months in cocktail mixing. And looking at the dissertation length bar cocktail menu, you can see why. Gili offers…

  • 24 Champagne Cocktails – including, “Sake – Cham” (Japanese junmai daiginjo sake, syrup and Champagne) and “Royal Lime Sorbet” (Fresh lime, syrup, Champagne mixed with lime sorbet)
  • 19 Martinis – including, “Apple and Cinnamon Martini” (Organic apple juice, lime juice, syrup, cinnamon vodka, muddled with fresh apple and cinnamon), “Cardamom and Pineapple Martini” (Cardamom vodka, syrup and fresh pineapple juice)
  • 12 “Herb Cocktails”
  • 11 “Limbo” (Lime in Maldivian) cocktails
  • 12 Vodka cocktails
  • 6 Wine cocktails
  • 9 Gin cocktails
  • 10 Rum cocktails
  • 9 Tequila cocktails
  • 9 Brandy cocktails
  • 8 Whiskey cocktails
  • 10 coffee cocktails (5 hot versions and 5 cold ones)
  • 6 “Signature Cocktails”

They also have 6 ‘Shooter’ cocktails crowned by the house specialty the ‘7 Layer Shooter’ – Muthu Kumar (With the W Retreat’s signature ‘7 Layer Chocolate Cake’ I am wondering if there is some sort of culinary law od physics that says you can pile up an ingredient on top of itself a number of times, but it is absolutely limited ‘7’. Sort of like the number of times you can fold a piece of paper in half).

It’s not just the recipes that have variety, but the ingredients themselves. They stock 21 types of Vodka, 19 types of gin, 15 brands of Rum, 8 Tequillas, 29 liqueurs, 38 whiskies, 13 Apperitifs and 8 Digestifs, 18 Cognacs, 9 Grappas, 9 ports/sherries, 10 soft drinks, 11 juices, 7 smoothies, 7 lassis, 12 beers, 14 mocktails, 25 ‘spa’ cocktails (eg. Ayurveda elixirs), 20 types of teas.

In short, 151 types of cocktail made from 248 types of drinks (and of course, you could have any of the latter straight up).

Stay tuned for Muthu’s latest innovation as he is soon to introduce ‘Smoky’ cocktails to the already encyclopaedic mix.

 

Gili Lankanfushi - Muthu cocktails

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5 Star Nibbles

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Madlives drinks and nibbles

 

 

On our latest Tour, a further give-away to the true ‘rating’ of an island occurred to me as we went through our nightly sundowner ritual of pina coladas (for me) and the most bizarre cocktail concoctions that captured my wife’s fancy. The drink nibbles. There is quite a diversity of offerings and here is how they roughly break down (similar parallel in escalating quality to the ‘Welcome Treat’ distinction I already enumerated)…

  • Basic (3 star) = None
  • Smart (4 star) = peanuts, crisps, Bombay mix maybe
  • Elegant (5 star) = olives, spiced nuts
  • Luxury (5+ star) = prepared mini hors-d’oeuvres

I’m still on the hunt for the Best Drinks Nibbles in the Maldives.

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Best of the Maldives: Champagne Bar – Irufushi

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Iru Fushi Bubble Lounge

If you would rather see tiny bubbles than fish in your glass, then Iru Fushi’s “Bubble Lounge” is your sanctuary…

“A true heaven for Champagne and Sparkling Wine lovers. The perfect environment to relax and savour Champagne and Sparkling wine by the glass or by the bottle coupled with fine hors d’oeuvres. Our bubble lounge is a truly romantic, sensual experience.”

Vintage accompaniments include Salmon tartar with grapefruit ponzu and pop corn dust, fresh oyster with dashi caviar, marinated scallion & mint granite, iced d-tom kah gai, kaffir lime infusion and candied chili, peppered white chocolate and Thai basil Peppered white chocolate coated strawberries.

They also serve other sparkling wines from Spain and Italy and have bottles up to Jeroboam size. The most extravagant bottle of bubble is Louis Roederer Crystal Magnum for $1,950.

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