The Goombay Smash Bahamas original recipe has never been published, never been written down, and has never left the Cooper family on Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos. Every bar in the Bahamas serves a version. Most of them are good. None of them are the real thing. This is the story of how it was invented, why it matters, and what to do if you want to taste the original. If you want to know what to drink alongside it, the Best Cocktail Bars Near Nassau Cruise Port guide is the right place to start.
The Origin: A Drink Born on a Rainy Afternoon
The Goombay Smash was created in the 1960s by Emily Cooper, known across the Abacos as Miss Emily, at her bar on Green Turtle Cay. A customer asked her to invent a signature drink. She mixed the combination, the customer said it was good, and the recipe was never written down or shared outside the family. Read the full firsthand account of that story at Caribbean Journal.
The detail that gives the story its particular quality: Miss Emily had a lifelong allergy to pineapple and never once tasted her own creation. She invented the most widely ordered cocktail in the Bahamas without ever being able to drink it. She passed away in 1997. Her daughter Violet Smith ran the bar until her own passing. The bar is now managed by Phylicia Smith, Miss Emily's granddaughter, the third generation of the Cooper family at the same address on Victoria Street in New Plymouth. Phylicia confirmed to Caribbean Journal that Ricardo coconut rum and pineapple juice are in the recipe. The exact proportions stay secret.
What Is Actually in a Goombay Smash
The confirmed ingredients are coconut rum, dark rum, pineapple juice, and apricot brandy. The color is yellow. The flavor is fruity, sweet, and significantly stronger than it tastes. Most visitors manage one before switching to something shorter.
The name comes from Goombay, the traditional Bahamian drum-based music culture that forms the backbone of Junkanoo. Naming the drink after that tradition was not accidental. If you want to understand the cultural roots of the name before your trip, the Junkanoo Explained guide covers the full history.
Versions made with Ricardo coconut rum, a locally produced Bahamian brand, are generally closest to the original. Pineapple juice should be the dominant flavor. A version that tastes primarily of sweet syrup or artificial coconut is not the drink that made Miss Emily famous. Before you travel to the Abacos, read the Bahamian Rum Tasting Guide to understand the local brands including Ricardo and where to taste them from the cruise port.
How to Get to Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar
Green Turtle Cay is approximately 3 miles long in the northern Abacos, accessible from Treasure Cay Airport on Great Abaco Island. Bahamasair flies from Nassau to Treasure Cay in approximately 35 minutes. A taxi takes you to the ferry dock, and a ferry crosses to New Plymouth in about 10 minutes. Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar is on Victoria Street. Confirm hours before the trip, as a small family-run operation on a small island does not keep predictable hours year-round.
The interior has walls covered by business cards, currency notes, and messages from visitors who came from every country specifically to drink a Goombay Smash at the source. Hurricane Dorian hit the Abacos in 2019 and the bar was rebuilt without changing its character. For the official account of Miss Emily's history directly from the family, visit bahamas.com before planning your trip to Green Turtle Cay.
FAQ
Who invented the Goombay Smash? Emily Cooper, known as Miss Emily, at the Blue Bee Bar on Green Turtle Cay in the 1960s.
What is in a Goombay Smash? Coconut rum, dark rum, pineapple juice, and apricot brandy. Exact proportions are a family secret. Did Miss
Emily ever taste her own drink? No. She had a lifelong allergy to pineapple and never tasted the Goombay Smash.
Where can I drink the original? At Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar on Victoria Street in New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay, Abacos.
