Help me minimize my bar tab...

[Nic in KC]

My favorite was pineapple orange juice, mixed with the tropical punch and light rum. It went down so quickly and it was soooo good. About 1/2-3/4 bottle of rum and the rest of the OJ container of the juices. REALLY good if you take some cut up limes to squeeze into the drinks. The cups from our first day at the Soggy Dollar Bar became our beach drink cups. One day we did the tropical punch with vodka and I couldn't handle it. I think it's because I'd been drinking rum all week.

We basically just went to Starfish and picked whatever juice sounded good. Hint...the cans are much cheaper!

The SOTB girls can definitely make containers of their signature drink! That would be really good!

[Ksea]

Nic, that sounds perfect for us. And you froze the jug overnight?

[Connie]

Steve, I have a suggestion....I think you should take on another job )

No, honestly.....tell the near 21 year olds to save up and pay for their own drinks!!!

We had 5 with us ages 19-28. They saved and had a great time and we never had to worry about it.

I'm sure they would agree.

[mrsb]

Get them sickeningly drunk the first night and they won't want to drink so much the rest of the week

[tjwgrr]

No, honestly.....tell the near 21 year olds to save up and pay for their own drinks!!!

Ditto here.

I assume you're probably footing the tab for the villa and airfare- your adult children can certainly pay for their own beverages.

[Nic in KC]

Yes, KSEA we just stuck the jugs in the freezer overnight and they were nice and slushy for our midmorning drink at the beach. If we had any left by mid afternoon we took baggies of ice and put a couple of cubes in each drink when it was served. There was hardly ever any left. We even mixed rum with V8 Splash one day. Not my favorite, but it worked!

[AnyTing]

Aside from making drinks at the villa, my favorite "cheap drinks" on St. John are:

1) Couponstjohn.com for the "buy 2, get 2 free" coupon for Morgan's Mango
2) free drink at Pastory at sunset
3) $3 painkillers at Beach Bar on Sunday afternoon

[StJohnRuth]

Pastory is no longer doing the free drink at sunset, but they do have a Happy Hour from 3-6. Drinks are $1.00 off.
-Ruth

[jmq]

Experiment before your trip with lotsa different juices/mixers you are likely to find on island (I think they have most of the usual suspects i.e. various Tropicana juices, etc.) , then when you go the supermarket on STJ to see what they have, you’ll know what works for you/what you like.

For us this time we brought down some of the powdered sugar free pink lemonades and the like, mixed with water and rum of choice = saved $ and calories.

[Ksea]

Ditto on the powdered sugar free drink mixes. We didn't mix it with booze, but it was great to have for our son. They even make single serving sizes to add to bottled water. Great for my kid who does not like anything carbonated.

[cptnkirk]

I thought I was the only one who was this cheap. We bring crystal light in a variety of flavors and use it for mixers but we use mostly vodka. Low cal and taste great. We did make some pina coladas and frozem in a gallon jug worked great. Doesn't take long for them to thaw in the heat.

[jmq]

Cheap shmeap. I prefer to think of it as “reallocation of resources” i.e. more money for the important stuff. Plus, Crystal Light is good stuff and who needs all that extra sugar?
We also brought along the powered Gatorade to mix up with bottled water which worked well and helped prevent dehydration and hangovers.

[RickG]

Crystal Light? Yes! The kids love the single servings and I make a pitcher for the refrigerator. I don't drink the stuff, but folks in general like it. One benefit, no sticky ant attracting messes.

I had a rude awakening when my nephew was with us in November. He is 6 or more coke/pepsi/whatever per day drinker and we spent more one mixer than we did on booze, based on his consumption alone. It was a surprise that we were going through a 12 pack of soda per day.

Cheers, RickG

[cptnkirk]

Yea that Crystal Light is good stuff its mostly what we drink at home. My boy will also drink a 12 pack of Mountain Dew in a couple days if we put some in the fridge and left to his own devices. Sorry JMQ if I offended ya shouldn't assummed you were cheap. Let's just say I'm frugal and on a budget.

[jmq]

Nah cptn - tongue firmly in cheek.