Sky Juice and Switcha

Sky juice is gin mixed with coconut water and sweet milk, dusted heavily with fresh nutmeg and served over ice from a cooler, usually by someone with a stall at a fish fry or on a beach; it is cloudy, deceptively easy to drink and considerably stronger than it tastes. Switcha is the non-alcoholic one and much older: limes squeezed into water with sugar, sometimes with a little salt, drunk cold all day and made in every household. Both are markers of the country in a way that imported cocktails are not, and both are sold by the cup from coolers rather than in bars.

What you actually see

• Sky juice - gin, coconut water and sweet milk with grated nutmeg.
• Switcha - fresh limeade, the everyday household drink.
• The coolers - both sold by the cup from ice chests rather than bars.
• Fresh nutmeg - grated over the sky juice as it is poured.

When to go

Year-round. Sky juice is a fish fry and beach drink and appears wherever a crowd gathers; Junkanoo nights and summer festivals are the peak. Switcha is made at home and sold at roadside stalls all day.

Honest expectations

Sky juice is much stronger than it tastes and the measures are not measured; people underestimate it badly, particularly in the sun. Vendors mix by eye and consistency varies wildly. Switcha at roadside stalls is often made with tap water and heavily sweetened, so ask if that matters to you.

Nearby

Arawak Cay in Nassau and every fish fry on the family islands.