Making a Pretty Good Mojito

The Mojito is a simple drink that was originally created by the cane cutters of Cuba and made famous by the likes of Hemingway and others.     This is a wonderfully refreshing cocktail that when made right, is a wonderful tasting cocktail that you can not put down.

The Mojito

• Juice of 1/2 Lime
• 1/2 (More or Less depending on taste) Cane Syrup
• 5 to 7 Mint Leaves
• 1 1/2 oz Rum (Your Choice of Blanco, Gold, Dark or Flavored)
• Club Soda

The ingredients are simple, but the making of the cocktail is critical to the taste.     The biggest mistake that I've seem people make when making Mojitos it "over muddling".    Mint is a herb and only needs bruising to release the flavors, shredding and crushing only serves to release the tars and ruin the flavor of the cocktail.

First you squeeze the lime juice into the cocktail glass.

Second is to add the Cane Syrup and Mint to the glass.

Third you muddle very lightly.

Fourth you add the Ice.

Fifth is the most important, add the Rum.

Pour into a Bar Shaker and shake until chilled.

And finally pour back into the cocktail glass and top with Club Soda and garnish with a lime and a sprig of Mint if you like.


Photos by Tom at Island Hopper Photos





Sit back and enjoy this wonderful cocktail from the wonderful people just 90 mile to our south.     The Mojito is a wonderful and simple cocktail that is so often the victim of an over zealous bartender, and the Mojito is the loser every time.   KISS couldn't apply more when you make these simple little cocktails.   ;o)

Another Day on the Water

     Yesterday was a picture perfect day to be out on the water in the little boat.     Having friends in town from North Carolina is the perfect excuse to sneak off to the quiets of the mangrove keys that lay just north of Key West.     Sharing time with nature is one of the real benefits of living on the water down here.    To be able to just head off and float down a Disneyland like channel that runs through the mangroves is my idea of heaven on earth.     This is almost like falling down the rabbit's hole and visiting wonderland where you can just drift where the currents take you and once in a while come upon some unique and different sight.  

      Yesterday was all about stingrays and birds that seem to be following us everywhere we went.     As we traveled from one mangrove Key to another we saw very different things, sort of like going from one planet to another.     We ran across a group of cormorants sitting at the top of a mangrove tree and seemed very intent on what they were staring at.   It was like a panel of judges sitting and scoring an event.     The stingrays were every where yesterday, probably say 6 or 7 of them all ranging in size from 2 to 4 feet.     This is a beautiful creature to watch as it seems to be gliding effortlessly through the water just off the bottom.

     Our next stop was at a very uninhabited beach that I've visited several times as I floated through the Mud Keys.     Here we just sat neck deep in the 85 degree water and watched as all the little almost transparent fish swam around our feet and legs.    This is a very peaceful place also where we could just be and enjoy all that mother nature has made for our enjoyment.     A walk up the beach found that in a month or so many of the flowers will be blooming and just another excuse to revisit  this nice quiet beach.

     The sun has take it's toll on all of us and the sunscreen isn't doing that well so it is back to the "Mothership" and have a few cocktails as the sun sets on another fantastic water day in the keys.     The trip back is so cooling as we cruise along at about 20 knots on our way home.    Along the way home we see several others that have been out to their secret places of relaxation and all seem as happy as we.

     The day like all really fun things has to come to an end on the back of the "Mothership', as we enjoy our rum cocktails and watch another fantastic Key West sunset as we watch through the rigging of the sailboard behind us.   ;o)

Barefoot Man Headed Back to Nippers!!!!

     It is that time of year again and the Barefoot Man is going to be playing at Nipper's on Great Guana Cay, Abaco, Bahamas.   http://www.barefootman.com/whahappenin.html .      If you haven't attended one of these concerts at Nipper's, you have missed the concert of your life.     This year the Concert is July 22 & 23, and a party that starts around 11am and doesn't end 'til the wee hours of the morning.
Make your reservations for hotels etc. as early as possible, because concert week it will be sold out.     This is a really fun party that all rumstyler's should attend.     Your won't be sorry, unless you are unable to let your hair down and have some fun.

     Barefoot Man is introducing a new album at the party and who knows what else might happen and things usually do happen there.
A barefoot man concert is not something you will ever forget, and an experience that keeps happening throughout the party.     His laid back Bahamian style tels stories of the Crystal Sea and all it's fun people and places.

     If you are looking for a great time don't miss the Concert, Pig Roast and Concert at Nipper's.   ;o)

Tribute to Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins 1911 - 1973

The Tattoo Artist and the Spiced Rum Guy!

      

Sailor Jerry, "My work speaks for itself"

Mount Gay Black in the Lab

Yesterday was another productive day in the lab.     Several new cocktail ends were tried with the new Mount Gay Black 100 Proof rum from Barbados.     This is an interesting rum to work with and very intoxicating testing the results.     The most notable part of the testing is how the bold taste of the rum was fully discernible even with some of the heavier syrup flavors that were tested.     This is a very usable mixer especially for the Tiki style cocktails like swizzles or zombie's.     The bold taste boded well for the brand in the "KeyZombie".     After several hours of intoxicating experimentation we came up with a "Key West Love Cocktail".


     Key West Love Cocktail

• 1 oz Mount Gay Black 100 Proof
• 1/2 oz Plantation Overproof
• 1/4 oz Triple Sec
• 1 oz Trader Vic's Passion Fruit Syrup
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 1/2 oz Lime Juice
• 2 oz Pineapple Juice
• 2 dashes of Traditional Bitters

Place all ingredients in s shaker with ice and shake til thoroughly chilled and pour over crushed ice in a Collins glass.    Garnish with a lemon and a lime.

     This cocktail has a bold sour/sweet taste with strong notes of the Mount Gay Black's bold flavor.     Try this cocktail at home or where ever you can find a place that stocks the ingredients.     This rum is very new to the United States so get out and get your local liquor store to put it on the shelf, it has the potential to be a big seller.    It's bold taste and mixablity makes it an instant winner.     Careful, this one has a serious strength and one or maybe two are enough.     Cheers!!!!!!!      ;o)

 

Today is a Lab Day

     Today we are spending at the Rum Lab and working on some ideas for new cocktails using the new Mount Gay Black 100 Proof.     This rum I believe will lend itself well to the Tiki style cocktails.    That bold flavor and the 100 proof means that I can blend it with some of the more exotic flavors to create a bold and exciting taste.       I have some guest tasters coming by to help with the evaluation of the experimentation and to put some of their expertise into the mix for a even better resultant cocktail.

    The lab is stocked and ready for the experimentation today, so lets see what results we can get today.     I'll let you know tomorrow, maybe a new recipe or two, who knows.     ;o)

Mount Gay Black 100 Proof: The Rum Lab is reopening to explore this one!

Rum Wreck Bar Photo

     I've been having some renewed interest in the newer and traditional overproof rums here lately.     The introduction of Mount Gay's new Black 100 Proof has given me some ideas that I'll be exploring tomorrow in the "Rum Lab".     I feel that with a little bit of work, this rum might just "Swizzle" it's way into you heart, but will probably kick like a 'Mule".       I'll let you know as soon as I can rectify my notes and tell you about some new Key West concoction.    

     The Barbados based Mount Gay Eclipse Black is a blend of a couple of seven year old rums.     It has an amber color with a stronger and more complex flavor that the traditional Eclipse, and carries a more pleasing aroma of smoke, fruit and spices.     This rum is more like the Mount Gay Extra Old, but with a 100 proof intensity.    This is classic Bajan Rum from the eldest rum distillery in the world and warrants the "Rum Lab" experimentation for a new Key West cocktail from this new rum.     ;o)

Smith &Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum

     Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum is one of the bold rums that was around in the early 20th century.     This is a blend of heavy and medium bodied pot-still rums and presented at 57% or Navy Strength.     Where the modern Jamaican rums are for the sippers, this bold style rum works best in a bold cocktail.    

      The aroma is strong with alcohol, but packed with very complex and strong flavors, with a warm and strong finish.     The rum is best used in traditional Jamaican cocktails such as the daiquiri, or a Jamaican Mule.     This blend of unaged Wedderburn rum and 1 1/2 to 3 year old Plummer rums really does not lend itself to further aging, because the wood will tend t dominate the fruits and spices that are so prevalent now, and further mute the aromas.

     Smith & Cross lends itself to some bold cocktails:

     Smith & Cross Punch

• 2 oz Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum
• 1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Cane syrup
• 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters.

Shake over Ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice and garnish with fresh ground nutmeg.

     Smith & Cross Swizzle

• 1 oz Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum
• 1/4 oz Falernum
• 1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
• 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters

Add all ingredients to a glass full of crushed ice and swizzle until the glass frosts on the outside.
garnish with a sprig of mint.

     Try any of these traditional cocktails or try replacing any darker rum with Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum and watch the cocktail come to life.     ;o)

Happy Fourth of July

     Key West is like most every other city n America on the Fourth of July,in that we have a grand fireworks display, flags and banners, and parades.     This is the one time of the year wen we are a bit more "conventional" in how we celebrate.       Some people get up early and run the 5 mile race called "Run Like a Conch", while others join the "Historic Seaport Bar Stroll".     In the evening all are involved in the fireworks display in some way or another.     Some take their own boats out on the south side of the island, while others sit on the beaches or in the beach bars where they will all will be able to see the fireworks.     Still others will get on some of the charter cruise boats and party on from sunset til the wee hours of the morning and the boats get back to the harbor.    No matter how the celebration is conducted, it is a celebration of America's Birthday and we are proud to be a part of this country and the party that celebrates it.     ;o)

   

Isn't Sunday a Beautiful Thing?

We are back to Sunday again, but this one is a beautiful thing because tomorrow is a holiday and we don't have to return to work until Tuesday.     Enjoy your 4th of July Sunday.     ;o)

Key West Outdoor Art

Key West has some really interesting people and the artists are no exception .    The is a variety of outdoor art that is visible as you move around this island.     Many of these are of a personal nature and others are just unique art works that tell you something about this island.     Hope you have some time when you are here to visit these wonderful examples that can be found all over the island.

Remember there is art beyond the regular gallery's here in Key West and some pretty interesting art at that.     Go beyond Old Town and you'll find a lot of what Key West is really all about.     ;o)

Today's Cocktail: Jamaican Mule

Moscow Mule

     The Jamaican Mule is a variant of the old Moscow Mule first created in 1941 by John G. Martin and John "Jack" Morgan.    It was born in Manhattan, at the Chatham Hotel, but stalled out there.     Jack Martin owner of the Cock 'n Bull Tavern on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles really got it rolling on the West Coast.      By 1943 it was climbing up the chart of "most popular cocktails".      It was served in a copper mug as part of the marketing ploy to raise the popularity.

     The difference between the "Moscow Mule" and the "Jamaican
Mule" is they substitution of vodka for rum in the recipe.     It is believed that someone from Appleton was the first to create this cocktail, but again, the real truth is hidden by time.     Most of the early recipes for the "Jamaican Mule" call for Appleton Extra Estate Rum.

     Early Jamaican Mule

Jamaican Mule

• 1 1/2 oz Appleton Extra Estate Rum
• 1 1/2 oz Lime Juice
• 4 1/2 oz Ginger Beer

Mix all ingredients over ice and serve.

Some of the more modern versions has substituted a spiced rum, light, gold  & dark rums and a mess of other ideas to "enhance" the cocktail, but most of them become too complex and loose the integrity of the drink.

I have compromised a bit with my recipe, but I have stuck with the original and  gave it a little bit of added taste.

     Bahama Bob's Key West Mule

• 2 oz Appleton Extra Estate Rum
• 1 oz Falernum
• 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 4 oz Barrett's Ginger Beer.

Mix all the ingredients except the ginger beer and shake over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass with crushed ice and top up with the Ginger Beer.

No matter which mule becomes your favorite, the mules will "pull you through the evening with a bit of fun.     ;o)

The Bahama Mama

     This is a favorite cocktail in the Bahama's, but with no real history as to it's origin.   There are as many recipes for the Bahama Mama as there are bartenders in the Bahama's. but it is still a large amount of rum and a variety of fruit juices.

Basic Bahama Mama

• 1 1/2 oz Light Rum
• 1 1/2 oz Gold Rum
• 1 1/2 oz Dark Rum
• 2 oz Sour Mix
• 2 oz Pineapple Juice
• 2 1/2 oz Orange Juice
• Dash of Grenadine

Place all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake til thoroughly mixed and pour into a tall glass and garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.

  What has been called the "Original Recipe" is significantly different from the more modern recipes.
     "Original" Bahama Mama

• 1/4 oz 151 Rum
• 1/4 oz Coffee Liqueur
• 1/2 oz Dark Rum
• 1/2 oz Coconut Rum
• 4 oz Pineapple Juice
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Shake all ingredients and strain into a chilled tumble with ice.   Garnish with a strawberry and cherry.

My own version takes from several of the recipes that I have seen in the past.
     Bahama Bob's Bahama Mama

• 1 oz Light Rum
• 1 oz Dark Rum
• 1 oz Overproof Rum
• 1 oz Nassau Royale
• 2 oz Pineapple Juice
• 1 oz Sour Mix
• 1 oz Cranberry Juice

Shake all of the ingredients over ice and strain into a tall glass filled with ice.   Garnish with Orange Slice and a cherry.

     As you can see there are a great number of recipes for this great Bahama's cocktail that are all fitting to the palate of a huge number of tropical rumstylers.     ;o)

Por Cuba Libre: Free Cuba or a Great Cocktail?

    The Cuba Libre's origin is as varied as many other cocktails of the period, but the one sure thing is that was originally concocted by U.S. Soldiers while in Cuba.     There are stories if the cocktail appearing in 1898 at a party to celebrate the Independence of Cuba from Spain.    "Cuba Libre" was the battle cry of the Cuban Liberation Army during the Cuban War for Independence that ended in 1898 The story of the off duty soldiers in 1898 has some holes in it being that there was no Coca-Cola in Cuba until 1900.     According to a deposition by Fausto Rodriguez, it wasn't until August of 1900 that the Cuba-Libre was first mixed in a Havana bar.     The story has it that a member of the U.S. Signal Corps was the first to mix the cocktail, and he is only known as "John Doe".    It seems that only Cuba has the real story of how this cocktail emerged into the populous.

     It took the "Tiki Pop Culture" growth in the United States for the popularity of the cocktail to really take off.     In 1945, the Andrews Sisters recorded a song named for in ingredients that made up the cocktail.     "Rum and Coca-Cola" as a song and as a cocktail swept the country.    Both of the ingredients is the post -war era were cheap and this didn't hurt the growth in popularity of the cocktail.     Today this is still one of the more popular cocktails here in America.

     Cuba Libre

• 2 oz. of Blanco or Gold Rum
• Juice of 1/2 Lime
• 4 oz. Coca-Cola

Place all ingredients in a "Collins glass" with ice and garnish with a lime.
    
     If you talk to the Bacardi folks, it was originated with "Bacardi Gold Rum", if you talk to the Havana Club , it was made with "Havana Club Light Rum", thus the mystery  continues.    Like all good cocktails everyone wants to be the originator, and as a result the story becomes so murky that the truth will probably will never be known.

     Modern Day "Rum and Coke"

• 2 oz Light Rum
• 2 oz Cola
• 2 drops of Bitters (Optional)
• Lime Wedge

Mix all the ingredients in a "Collins glass" and garnish with the lime wedge.

      No matter what you call it or how you mix it, this is one of the true classic cocktails and a great "go to" cocktail for anyone wanting a refreshing drink.     ;o)