{"id":1330,"date":"2016-03-03T16:42:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T16:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2023-10-13T12:46:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T12:46:16","slug":"authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Authentic Souvenir Shop in Jamaica"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve already <\/span>introduced our readers to Ras Malekot,<\/span><\/a> a devout Rasta, poet, writer, craft maker and recording artist. He took us deep into the Blue Mountains to visit his home and talk about the Rastafari movement. Here, he gives us a tour of his variety shop at the foot of the mountains in Kingston, just down the road from our <\/span>Strawberry Hill<\/span><\/a> hotel. Mount Debre Zeit Records and Variety Store\u2014which translates to \u201cMount of Olives\u201d in Amharic (the language of Ethiopia)\u2014has been open for a decade. It\u2019s become a mainstay in the community, with no set hours. Malekot often sleeps in the shop, so he opens early and closes late, basically opening the door whenever he\u2019s awake! For tourists, that means you can stop by any time you\u2019d like and pick up some of the most authentic souvenirs on the island. (You will not find this stuff at the airport.)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Shop owner Ras Malekot is always on hand to explain the health benefits of each tonic. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rastas frequent the shop to purchase root tonics (wellness drinks) and root wines (naturally fermented drinks that contain less than 5% alcohol). Passersby stop in to buy souvenirs like Jamaican and Rastafari flags and knitted hats, or to rummage through his collection of reggae cassette tapes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at Mount Debre Zeit Records and Variety Store, located at 84 Gordon Town Road.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The store\u2019s sign is painted in traditional Rasta colors\u2014red, green and gold. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Malekot explains his process for making root tonics and wines, which can take up to six weeks to brew. The store carries more than 30 different kinds, some of which are sold in the United States. \u201cIf you\u2019re a person who likes to keep your immune system balanced,\u201d Malekot says, \u201cyou should drink a root tonic every day. Maybe three!\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rastafari flags and portraits of Haile Selassie I hang in the shop.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve already introduced our readers to Ras Malekot, a devout Rasta, poet, writer, craft maker and recording artist. He took us deep into the Blue Mountains to visit his home and talk about the Rastafari movement. Here, he gives us a tour of his variety shop at the foot of the mountains in Kingston, just down the road from our Strawberry Hill hotel. Mount Debre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":1332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAuthentic Jamaican Souvenir in Kingston near Strawberry Hill<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Shop at the eminent Reggae artist, Rae Malekot's, Mount Debre Zeit Records and Variety Store to experience the Rastafari culture & some Jamaican tonics.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Authentic Jamaican Souvenir in Kingston near Strawberry Hill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shop at the eminent Reggae artist, Rae Malekot's, Mount Debre Zeit Records and Variety Store to experience the Rastafari culture & some Jamaican tonics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Outpostings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-03T16:42:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-13T12:46:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-1-1-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"outpostings\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"outpostings\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/\",\"name\":\"Authentic Jamaican Souvenir in Kingston near Strawberry Hill\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-1-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-03T16:42:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-13T12:46:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#\/schema\/person\/f3469d74bc3f5369ba1edd14f399d90d\"},\"description\":\"Shop at the eminent Reggae artist, Rae Malekot's, Mount Debre Zeit Records and Variety Store to experience the Rastafari culture & some Jamaican tonics.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-1-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-1-1.jpg\",\"width\":5422,\"height\":3615},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Most Authentic Souvenir Shop in Jamaica\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/\",\"name\":\"Outpostings\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#\/schema\/person\/f3469d74bc3f5369ba1edd14f399d90d\",\"name\":\"outpostings\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be45706c8c2c293e831e0511a4f372888d1a79c6b57b66134439c19b88f4c769?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be45706c8c2c293e831e0511a4f372888d1a79c6b57b66134439c19b88f4c769?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"outpostings\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/author\/outpostings\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Authentic Jamaican Souvenir in Kingston near Strawberry Hill","description":"Shop at the eminent Reggae artist, Rae Malekot's, Mount Debre Zeit Records and Variety Store to experience the Rastafari culture & some Jamaican tonics.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Authentic Jamaican Souvenir in Kingston near Strawberry Hill","og_description":"Shop at the eminent Reggae artist, Rae Malekot's, Mount Debre Zeit Records and Variety Store to experience the Rastafari culture & some Jamaican tonics.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/","og_site_name":"Outpostings","article_published_time":"2016-03-03T16:42:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-13T12:46:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-1-1-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"outpostings","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"outpostings","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/","url":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/","name":"Authentic Jamaican Souvenir in Kingston near Strawberry Hill","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-1-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-03T16:42:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-13T12:46:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#\/schema\/person\/f3469d74bc3f5369ba1edd14f399d90d"},"description":"Shop at the eminent Reggae artist, Rae Malekot's, Mount Debre Zeit Records and Variety Store to experience the Rastafari culture & some Jamaican tonics.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-1-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/Outpostings-Malekot-Jamaican-Remedy-1-1.jpg","width":5422,"height":3615},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2016\/03\/03\/authentic-souvenir-shop-jamaica\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Most Authentic Souvenir Shop in Jamaica"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/","name":"Outpostings","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#\/schema\/person\/f3469d74bc3f5369ba1edd14f399d90d","name":"outpostings","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be45706c8c2c293e831e0511a4f372888d1a79c6b57b66134439c19b88f4c769?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be45706c8c2c293e831e0511a4f372888d1a79c6b57b66134439c19b88f4c769?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"outpostings"},"url":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/author\/outpostings\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}