So Rachid (otto´s brother) was in the GT for some time.  I unfortunately happened to be in Costa Rica during the majority of his stay, but did however happen to catch him for the tail end of his visit.  Right before he took off I was graced with the opportunity to spend a few nights with him.

Rachid informed us that he wanted to do a bit of bar crawling to find Antigua´s best redbull.  Though never having dabbled in the Antigua redbull scene myself, I ventured an educated guess with Nokiate… feeling a bit adventurous, we decided to give it a shot… but arrived only to find that it was closed.  Somewhat disenchanted, we then decided to make our way down the street and settle for Cafe No Se* to scope out the redbull situation there (if one existed at all).  At the time, Melissa and I were completely unaware that we were accompanying one of the foremost authorities in Red Bull. I in no way, shape, or form consider myself to be any kind of connoisseur when it comes to the upper echelon of imbibing, so I must say, we were both extensively impressed with the sheer expertise (and I may go so far as to say “awareness”) that Rachid commands when it comes to Redbull.

We were all pleasantly surprised by the quality of Cafe No Se`s Redbull (Melissa and I were actually surprised not by the drink itself, but that Rachid, one of such understanding and experience with such a fine cocktail, would even finish a beverage served at one of the more “unpolished” establishments of Antigua).  Rachid was in fact so satisfied with his finespun libation that he decided to order a second…  After some quality conversation and general good times, we all decided that Rachid, since it was already quite late, should err on the side of moderation and keep his drink count at 2.  Rachid, being the responsible fellow that he is, agreed to call it a night and head home.

The following night, Rachid and I decided to meet up again.  Persistent about his quest to find the finest RB, we made our way back to Nokiate.  We were both contented to find that Nokiate was in fact open.  While ordering up, I told the bar tender that I had heard that Nokiate was known to make a mean Bull Rojo.  Tending bar with a bit of class, he played it modest and said that he wasn´t sure that it was the best, but he´d see what he could do… and then did in fact make the best one that Rachid had experienced in Antigua… and it went well with some sushi tambien.

Right before Rachid took off we decided to go to Mono Loco.  He had yet to try the nachos.

The nachos

The nachos were good, but we had to eat them fast.  I had to get to work and Rachid was already late to go get picked up… and he hadn´t even packed yet.  I ended up having to skip out with nachos still on the plate.   No tips (and alot of harassment) if I´m late to work.

Eating nachos while talking to uncle Carlos.

So it was good to have Rachid in Antigua.  Didn´t get to hang out too long, but at least we were able to meet up a few times.   By the way, so what makes a good Red Bull?  It´s all in the ice…

* Cafe No Se is a very respectable and popular bar in Antigua.  However, at the time, I had falsely assumed that they did not cater to the refined palates of upper tier clientele.