A lively discussion overheard in a coffee shop became the inspiration for a holiday event held in Franklin Powell Park on Sunday. The first guavaberry tasting contest drew vendors and spectators to gather around the brightly lit Christmas tree once again.
Organizers from the nonprofit group St. JanCo presented five bottles of the holiday beverage and invited a panel of judges to taste and see which was best. At the foot of the park’s bandstand stood a table and tent decorated with jimmy johns, a gallon bottle and a crystal decanter.
Dozens of spectators queued up to hoist a few drops of each entry to their lips, then fill out ballots as to which would win as the People’s Choice.
Quelbe Resurrection provided a musical backdrop for the judges, romping children and browsers of merchandise. A henna artist worked a textured design onto the hand of a patient patron.
Seated near the tree, Coral Bay resident Garcelia Samuel Alexander shared her thoughts about guavaberry making. “For me, it’s love,” she said.
At the judge’s tent, St. John resident Jason Cawthorn described the path that led him to the tasting table. “I work internationally in the spirits industry designing spirits for distillers all over the world; part of that is being able to judge their competitors and being able to mimic or contrast those,” Cawthorn said.
Joining him in the duty were chef Juernto Durant and retired educator Coreen Samuel. Before each of them, the organizers set a tray with five small shot cups holding guavaberry entries 1-5; nearby sat stemmed glasses for water to cleanse the palates in between tastings.
St. JanCo Cofounder Hadiya Sewer said the contest was held to honor a long-standing craft of making and serving a seasonal liqueur made from the fruit of the guavaberry tree. The berries are either stewed or used fresh, mixed with spices, syrups and rum. “We also have a fundraiser going where we’re telling about our history as an organization,” Sewer said. “We’re excited about it and the idea came up because I was in Giovanni’s coffee shop one morning and some of our elders were having a debate about who had the best guavaberry.”
St. JanCo — also known as St. John Heritage Collective — was founded in 2018 and works to preserve the island’s culture, history, and identity, and also serves as a community land trust.
