After three days of rain and clouds it is time to snap out of this blah I'm in. Today is going to be a sunny day even if I have to create the sunshine myself. Last night my local hangout the Hurricane Hole even slammed it's doors and didn't open, so the gang of us went to the Hogfish Bar and Grill, another local seaport bar and grill for our evening out. This is a great place to hang out, but because I can not dinghy over to the bar it seriously limits the enjoyment of any more than one cocktail. The food at the Hogfish is fabulous, the house specialty, the "Killer Hogfish Sandwich", which is truly a delicacy on a roll. Hogfish is a unique fish that has flavors that are heavenly to the palate. This is a great location and is the true picture of eclectic Old Key West. It's waterfront location across the harbor from the shrimp boats makes it an ideal location for lunch or dinner with pure atmosphere.
Today I've decided to go ahead and have another Rum Lab, manufactured sunshine, plus some fun with a good group of Lab Mice. At this time I'm not sure of what we will be working with, but some of the cocktails from last week used Aguardiente, an anise flavored "rum" from Columbia, although it is produced is many areas of Central and South America, it is one of the things that I would like to try as an additional "rum" to a few of my existing cocktails. I will be curious as to how the responses of the Lab Mice will be to this.
This Rum is made by the fermentation of a combination of one or more of the following, Sugar cane, sugared musts (orange or banana), aniseed, or vegetable maceration ( beet or potato). The most popular of these is one made in the Adean region of Columbia. Aguardiente is similar to Cachaca, which is sweeter and does not contain anything other than sugar cane syrup. The flavor of the Aguardiente varies with the country and region in which it is produced. Some is fruitier, and from Brazil it has more of a rum flavor, depending on which ingredients were placed in the fermentation tank.
They say that it is generally served chilled or on the rocks as an aperitif or a digestif, but we will try to put it to work as a mixer to bring some life into other cocktails. I feel that it will only take a small amount of this to alter the flavor profile of these cocktails. The very strong flavor of the anise can over power a cocktail in short order, and it will take a careful balance to prevent this from happening.
I'll let you know tomorrow how this has all worked out. ;o)
This Rum is made by the fermentation of a combination of one or more of the following, Sugar cane, sugared musts (orange or banana), aniseed, or vegetable maceration ( beet or potato). The most popular of these is one made in the Adean region of Columbia. Aguardiente is similar to Cachaca, which is sweeter and does not contain anything other than sugar cane syrup. The flavor of the Aguardiente varies with the country and region in which it is produced. Some is fruitier, and from Brazil it has more of a rum flavor, depending on which ingredients were placed in the fermentation tank.
