Condiments, sodas, booze and vaporizers at Hedo:

**LovingLeocouple** · 01-04-2015, 01:37 AM

A few questions about condiments, sodas, booze and vaporizers at Hedo:

What the coffee creamer situation - milk? 1/2 and 1/2? powdered creamer? I actually prefer nonfat powdered creamer and want to know if I need to bring my own.

What about sweeteners? Sugar? Pink stuff(Sweet N Low - saccharin)? Blue stuff (Equal - aspartame)? Yellow stuff (Splenda - sucralose)? Stevia?

How about the ketchup or catsup? Is it Heinz brand? If not, my wife might bring her own. She rarely eats meat (she's actually been eating a bit more lately just to train her stomach for digesting jerk chicken..lol) and is particular about Heinz ketchup on her French fries, any other type of fried potato, and eggs (so much so that she is threatening to bring a bottle of it from home. Dear God, don't we have enough crap? LOL).

Sugar free soda? Is it just Diet Pepsi? Any others? Diet Mountain Dew? Diet Sierra Mist? Trying to keep the extra sugar out of our drinks as the booze already turns into a lot just by itself - not to mention the fruit and fruit juices in the drinks. I'm bringing lots of sugar free drink mixes that I think I can probably use as mixers for booze. Plus they'll help us stick to our goal of drinking something non-alcoholic between alcoholic drinks to stay hydrated.

Do they have flavored vodkas? Would go great with some of the sugar-free drink mixes.

At the bar- do they have Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and celery salt? Give me a lime and these three and I can make my own freaking awesome Bloody Marys or better yet, Micheladas, regardless of whether I have to use tomato juice or even a crappy low end Bloody Mary mix. I've never made a Michelada with Red Stripe but I bet it would be pretty darn good. Breakfast of Champions!

What about personal vaporizers? I quit smoking cigarettes this past year but depend on my personal vaporizer pretty heavily when I drink to keep me from lighting up. Has anyone had any problems with these either going through TSA security or once in Jamaica?

Thanks for all you help!

David (& Sharyn)
13 days, nine hours, and 10 minutes to go!

**Outlaw11b** · 01-04-2015, 09:09 AM

When we were there last March no on the flavored vodka. I can't answer any of the other questions. I did start my day off with a bloody each morning and they did a good job of making them both at the pool bar and at breakfast, if you like spice you will love them. If they don't have diet soda do half regular and half club or seltZer water it may cut some of the calories and still give the soda taste.

**funfortwo** · 01-04-2015, 10:03 AM

coffee creamers... small packets in the rooms. Not sure if they are non-fat, but probably not.

sweeteners... they have them but I don't know which, never use them.

ketchup... Grace brand. It's the local brand and sweeter than Heinz.

diet soda... the only diet drink is Pepsi.

flavoured vodkas... none, unless they've started since November. But all the flavoured vodkas that we can buy at home here seem to be quite high in sugar content

worchestershire... yes; tobasco... no, but they have a hot sauce that works fine for drinks

vapourizers... haven't seem them used there, BUT... to avoid problems it might be wise to treat them as real cigarettes and smoke them only in the smoking areas. It'll keep you from getting the dirty looks from non-smokers who can't tell the difference. (And it is just polite.) Where we live they are now being included in the smoking laws as cigarettes because of all the new evidence of harm from them and can only be used in the designated areas anyhow.

**kmlovepleasure** · 01-04-2015, 10:35 AM

hey, this is Jamaica lol
ketchup, really?

**HedoJoe** · 01-04-2015, 10:37 AM

Harry commented in the Hedo II Facebook group that they do carry certain flavors of vodka. He also added that since Jamaica is a Pepsi island but some people do prefer diet Coke, the bars would be stocking bottles of diet Coke.

The dining room has real milk for coffee.

I have seen people travel with a bottle of Heinz ketchup as they don't care for the Grace brand. Personally, I put jerk sauce on burgers and french fries while there.

**georgenlaura** · 01-04-2015, 10:45 AM

Personally, I put jerk sauce on burgers and french fries while there.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you Joe "Jerk Sauce- I put that shit on everything LOL"

**JayNSteph** · 01-04-2015, 11:05 AM

The do not have splenda, I believe they have the pink and/or blue packets, but I use to bring my own splenda for my coffee. I now drink coffee with no fake sweetners.

My husband is a picky Ketchup person....he eats the ketchup at Hedo with no complaints, but he also has no intention to ever bring his own ketchup so he just eats it, it is for only a week.

The hot sauce is pretty good and I make my own bloody marys with them every morning. I like mine nice and spicy and the hot sauce does the trick!

**ShawneeKat** · 01-04-2015, 11:14 AM

I agree with the comments about the jerk sauce at Hedo, it is awesome. I like their ketchup, but I always use jerk sauce instead. Great, now my mouth is watering for jerk chicken!

**Newfie Screech** · 01-04-2015, 11:19 AM

While not a really picky eater, I can easily tell the difference between various brands of foods (and drink), and Heinz is my favourite ketchup too. That being said, the stuff at Hedo was very good. As someone said, a bit sweeter tasting than Heinz , but similar flavour. Be adventurous and try something new... It is Hedo afterall! :-)

**CapnMorgan** · 01-04-2015, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by georgenlaura

Personally, I put jerk sauce on burgers and french fries while there.

I agree with you Joe "Jerk Sauce- I put that shit on everything LOL"[/QUOTE]

When I get fries I use the jerk sauce also, the spices help burn calories...that's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL
LovingLeocouple...I predict once you get there you will be having so much fun these things will not be as important.

**PNK** · 01-04-2015, 12:00 PM

Sorry folks, but you are setting yourself to have a miserable vacation. You are not visiting the USA. You are going to a 'foreign' country -- with their own food, their own drinks, and their own way of doing things. They will let you do (and possibly smoke) things that might get you time in Jail, back home. You are not booked into a luxury Hilton-type hotel in downtown whatever. so you will be 'deprived' of some/many of the luxuries/necessities of North American life.

On the other hand: you will be able to enjoy a week or so of a lifestyle totally different from your day-to-day life back home.

Abandon all you, "I can only eat/drink, nibble on ...." ideas. Instead clear your mind, adopt anew view and go eat, drink, nibble, indulge, body shot .... Forget the creamer and get creamed. Forget the flavored vodka and get body flavor. Forget the Heinz ketchup and get sauced.

See, it's a 'different' experience -- to be savored, tasted, licked, enjoyed.

Go enjoy and don't take along a shopping list, or a basket of groceries.

PNK

**kmlovepleasure** · 01-04-2015, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by PNK

Sorry folks, but you are setting yourself to have a miserable vacation. You are not visiting the USA. You are going to a 'foreign' country -- with their own food, their own drinks, and their own way of doing things. They will let you do (and possibly smoke) things that might get you time in Jail, back home. You are not booked into a luxury Hilton-type hotel in downtown whatever. so you will be 'deprived' of some/many of the luxuries/necessities of North American life.

On the other hand: you will be able to enjoy a week or so of a lifestyle totally different from your day-to-day life back home.

Abandon all you, "I can only eat/drink, nibble on ...." ideas. Instead clear your mind, adopt anew view and go eat, drink, nibble, indulge, body shot .... Forget the creamer and get creamed. Forget the flavored vodka and get body flavor. Forget the Heinz ketchup and get sauced.

See, it's a 'different' experience -- to be savored, tasted, licked, enjoyed.

Go enjoy and don't take along a shopping list, or a basket of groceries.

PNK

yep!!

**Naughtycamcpl** · 01-04-2015, 12:27 PM

Bravo!

**mac_r_a** · 01-04-2015, 12:32 PM

Yes they do have several brands of flavoured vodka. At least apple and razberry

**takemetonegril** · 01-04-2015, 12:42 PM

PNK is of course right, but there are some positive things. Ting, jerk chicken, blue mountain coffee, local smoke, stuff like that to substitute and try new instead. If you've never been there will be lots and lots of new sights and sounds to enjoy as well

When I run out of Heinz ketchup at my house it is known as a "ketchup crisis", can't live without it, but at Hedo the ketchup is passable, I don't eat that much of it and the jerk sauce (as mentioned above) is good on everything and good mixed with ketchup on everything.

Now I would bring the Tabasco, it's small and there really isn't a substitute when making a bloody. They might have different diet soda at the gift shop for sale. The prices are reasonable for the drinks at the gift shop. If you want a more exotic beer than Red Stripe, the gift shop has them for sale as well.

A friend of mine brings little packages of drink flavorings, you can dump it into a glass of ice water and instant whatever, lemonade, ice tea, sierra mist. It gives me heartburn though so I stick to nice cold ice water. The tap water is excellent in Jamaica.

Limit the amount of fruit juice based drinks while there because a weeks worth of rum punches will just about eat a whole through your stomach in the end.

That's my .02 worth.

Cheers