The Story Of Kawama

Every good estate needs a quirky name, preferably one that features the letter "K." As such, there is John D. Rockefeller's Kykuit and Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill.

Kykuit is a Dutch word for "lookout." Indeed, the Rockefeller estate looks out on the Hudson Valley up in Westchester County. I think Val-Kill was also Dutch — at least it sounds Dutch. I guess it's a stream that went through the property near Hyde Park.

I don't believe the word "Kawama" has a Dutch origin. According to the key chain that was attached to the master set of keys when we bought the estate, "Kawama" is an orange liqueur produced in Mexico:

No matter, we were destined to name the estate "Kawama." And we have stuck to Kawama, even though for a few weeks I had to look at the key chain every time I wanted to say the name — in those first couple of weeks, we lived at "Kamama," "Kawawa" and even "Wakawa." What's that Shakira song? Waka Waka? We lived there, too.

I thought it would be easier to learn more about Kawama Orange Liqueur, but I'm stuck. There seems to be a distributor in Miami that imports it, although the product now seems to be called "Kawama Orange & Cognac Liqueur." I'm not sure I want this beverage to become the house drink but I would like to try it. Maybe I'll call around.