a day ago
SHAGGY: ‘Having a Guinness at the factory where it's brewed while overlooking the city was pretty dope'
My favourite drink as a child was Milo. It's chocolatey, kind of like a Jamaican version of Ovaltine, and my grandmother would give it to me at bedtime. She'd make it warm, with cow's milk, and sweeten it with condensed milk. Not the healthiest choice, but as a kid you get away with a lot more.
When I was seven, my uncle Trevor gave me a sip of a Red Stripe beer. I thought it tasted nasty, but he was one of those guys I always wanted to be around because he was funny. And he had a motorcycle, so he would give me a ride around the block. It would make my day.
I don't have a morning routine. There are days I get up and my first drink might be an espresso. I don't really like coffee – it's quite bitter – but it gets you going. Right now, I'm home in Miami, and my first drink every morning is fresh coconut water.
I love a Moscow mule. I had a really good one this weekend at a seafood restaurant in Miami called Estiatorio Milos. I arrived a little early and my table wasn't ready, so I ordered one by the bar while I was waiting for the rest of my party. I remember thinking, 'Wow, that's pretty good,' because they're easy to mess up.
There are always big blue bottles of Saratoga water in my fridge. I have a thing against drinking out of plastic bottles, and these are glass. It's kind of a pain in the ass for my staff because they have to go somewhere special and buy it in bulk.
I'm not a wine connoisseur but I have friends, like Sting, who are specialists, so if I'm with him, I'm drinking nice wine. Each Christmas, he and his wife Trudie send me a beautiful basket of their wines, cheeses, olive oils and stuff from their farm, Il Palagio, in Tuscany. It's one of those gifts that I really look forward to.
The rooftop Gravity Bar on the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin is probably the most memorable place I've ever gone for a drink. My wife [Rebecca] is Irish, so drinking is a big part of her culture, and having a Guinness at the factory where it's brewed while overlooking the city was pretty dope.
I put a lot of love into my Irish coffee recipe. My friends will come in and say, 'Make me one of those.' And it takes a minute because I have a Breville coffee maker, so I need to grind the coffee like a barista. I then add Bailey's, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract and my milk of choice, semi-skimmed. I normally don't tell anyone what's in it. I should have left out an ingredient.
If I could share a drink with anyone, I'd pick Bill Withers. We'd have a glass of Wray & Nephew white rum, on the rocks, with big ice. He's one of my favourite artists ever. He left us gems like Ain't No Sunshine and Just The Two Of Us that went on to be remembered for decades and decades.
Everyone will be drinking Monkey 47 at my funeral. It's my favourite gin – and one of the more expensive brands. It's won a ton of awards. I'd like it to be served with big ice and either tonic water, so it's a gin and tonic, or with Ting, the Jamaican grapefruit soda, so it's a gin and Ting.
