Di right juice in Papine

Certainly a little more enthusiasm on my part would have been nice, but I'm afraid that was a near impossible ask. You see, when the aptly named 'Juice Man', who sells (you guessed it) juice of many sorts, in Papine, St Andrew, offered me a sample of a highly touted cucumber blend, I expected a mild drink. What the good fellow failed to mention,as that a potent brand of ginger was a major part of his recipe.

Cough! Cough! The fiery taste caught me by surprise. "A wah happen?" asked Juice Man, seeming genuinely concerned. After a few seconds of violent chest-heaving, I told him that it appeared the ginger had got away from him. I asked him why he hadn't warned me about it.

"Yuh know seh mi really never taste dah batch yah," he said, sheepishly. Juice Man gave me a drink of water and I downed it with gusto. "Mi really did a wonder how di ginger done so fast, yuh know," he said, mainly to himself. "It look like it get mix up inna di brew. Sorry bout dat, mi bredda. A so it go. Ginger good fi di stomach."

While my throat burned, I listened to Juice Man talk about his days spent selling his creations in busy Papine.

"Yuh haffi come out here early," he said. "Yuh have di morning crowd, people who going work and who going school, and so on. If dem see yuh out early, dem might buy a juice and carry wid dem fi lunch and ting."

Juice Man and I were just about in the centre of Papine Square, close to midday. All around us, buses were being loaded, taxis were coming and going, people were walking about and other vendors were calling out to passers-by.

I asked Juice Man if competition was tough in Papine. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "Everybody want to buy and sell now. We out here from we a likkle pickney a sell. All of a sudden everybody want to turn seller now. Nobody don't want to learn no trade again. What a ting!"

By now the sting in my throat had dissipated. I asked Juice Man where he was from. "Mi live up into di hills dem," was all he offered. I asked him how he learned to make the drinks he was selling. "Well, we just teach we self," he said, smiling broadly. "We grow some of di ting dem and den we just blend and blend fi see what taste good from what don't. After a while, we get used to di ting and start deal wid it fast-fast. Di people dem love it. A me a di original Juice Man. Is so mi get mi name," he said.

I asked him if he planned to stay in Papine, given the increased competition.

"Of course!" he shouted. "A quality juice mi deal wid. Some man a sell flava water and a call it juice. Once yuh deal wid quality, people will support yuh. Mi nuh worry bout dem. My juice a di right juice. Papine people know bout quality, and from yuh seh quality, den yuh must seh Juice Man!"

Where should Robert go next? Let him know at robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com.