Thursday, April 10, 2014

Rum and Tonic?

     So many times I'm asked what do I drink when you are out?  It is very simple really, Ron Llave Blanco Rum and Canada Dry Diet Tonic with Lime.  Then the response, I thought you were a rum connoisseur?  Actually I am, but when I'm out at a bar it is very hard to find quality rums to sip, so I enjoy clean white rum and diet tonic, add a squeeze of lime and turn me loose.
    
     The Gin and Tonic was originally made to prevent and treat malaria. In India and other tropical regions, malaria was (and in some places continues to be) a persistent problem. It was discovered in the 1700′s that quinine (a natural white crystalline alkaloid found in the bark of the cinchona tree and still used today as an ingredient in tonic water) had fever-reducing, antimalarial, painkilling and anti-inflammatory properties, and could be used to prevent and treat the disease.
     The drawback?  Quinine had a very bitter and unpleasant taste. British officers in India in the early 19th century took to adding a mixture of water, sugar, lime and gin to the quinine, thus making the drink more palatable.  Soldiers in India were already given a gin ration, and the sweet concoction inevitably made sense. The Gin and Tonic was born.
 Read More at  http://chilledmagazine.com/Whats_Chilling_Right_Now-detail/delicious-variations-of-gin-tonic-cocktails/


  

     Living like a pirate down here in the Tropics of America, (Key West) I have to be concerned with malaria and scurvy, a good dose of tonic (containing quinine) and some good fresh lime juice and my health is all cared for.   The fact that I like the taste and it has very few calories are the real reasons for my imbibing it. 


Bahama Bob's Daily Prevention Cocktail
  • 2 oz. Ron Llave Rum Blanco
  • Canada Dry Diet Tonic with Lime
  • Juice of 1/4 Lime
Place all ingredients except the lime into a 12 oz. glass filled with ice shake until chilled and squeeze juice from a 1/4 lime into the mix and discard the shell of the lime.  No garnish necessary.

     Sit back of the aft deck or the bar on the dock and relax and enjoy your medicine.  ;o)