Fantasyfest Starts Tomorrow!!!!!

     It has finally arrived, the biggest, wildest, and most outrageous week of fun and debauchery anywhere.     Fantasyfest opens with Goombay in Bahama Village and the Royal Coronation Ball today and a week of outrageous events that follows to the grand finale, The Captain Morgan Fantasyfest Parade a week from Saturday night.   The complete schedule is on line at http://www.fantasyfest.net/ . 

     This is a yearly event that brings out the best in everyone and provides the visitors to Key West with the opportunity to party and act really crazy.    As though the visitors really need an excuse.     There are so many partys that you just can not begin to attend them all, and the streets are filled with revelers just having too much fun.   Body Painting, and an ocean of people just having a great time with and in the spirits of the party.   

    Behind the bar this week is just plain a fun and busy busy time with people that know how to party and have a good time.     ;o)   

News of the Day

    The Golden Rum Barrel awards from the London Rum Festival have been made official and our own Key West Blogger Mike Streeter has won the "Best American Blog" Golden Rum Barrel Award.   The other awards and the full story can be seen from http://rumconnection.com/uncategorized/golden-rum-barrel-awards/  with the complete story.      This is big news for Key Wester's because this makes 2 major awards for Key West Rumstylers this year.

     The day in the Rum Lab yesterday was another challenging one working with the Licorice flavored Aguardiente as the subject of the day.    As expected this one was difficult to make things work, few things seem to work with the licorice in Aguardiente.    We were triumphant though in coming up with several really tasty cocktails from this interesting "rum".

Aguardiente Sazarac

• 1/2 oz. Aguardiente
• 12 oz. Appleton VX Rum
• 1/2 oz. Cane Syrup
• 1/2 oz. Water
• 2 Dashes of Bitters

Place all the ingredients except the Bitters in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled.   Put the bitters in the rocks glass and swirl around and dump them out.    fill the glass with ice and strain the shaker into the glass and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Venezuela Hybrid

• 1/2 oz Aguardiente
• 1 1/2 oz. Mount Gay Black Rum
• 1/2 oz. Cane Syrup
• Splash of Orange Juice
• Splash of Tonic Water
• Dash of Bitters

Place all the ingredients in a shaker and shake until chilled and strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.   Garnish with an orange wheel.

For a rainy day it was a fun one in the Rum Lab and getting out on the water for and adventuresome trip to the Hurricane Hole for a few after lab cocktails with our bartender friends Nicole and Paul.     The weather "forced us to stay a bit longer than we planed, but it lifted just in time and we scurried back home for some much needed dinner and rest from the day.     By the way it is still raining for the fourth day in a fow here in Key West this morning.   Blaaaaaaaaaaaaah.      ;o)

Cloudy Day in Key West - Three in a Row - RUM LAB !!!!

    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)

Ron Centenario 7 Year Old

     The day spent with the Ron Centenario 7 Year Old in the Rum Lab was very productive.     This is a great sipping and affordable enough to be a mixing rum that brings cocktails to life.     We tried 21 different recipes and only 4 did the rum clash with what we were mixing it with.    This lab yielded some excellent recipes that take the taste buds to new and very exciting places.

•      We found that the rum does not do well with clover honey, does not mix in very well and the honey just sits on the bottom of the glass.     Apricot Brandy, Apple Juice, and overproof rums all seem to clash with the flavor of the Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum.     Other than these ingredients, everything else that we threw at it melted together to yield some really fine cocktails.

Spicy Senorita

• 1 1/2 oz. Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum
• 1 oz. Spiced Rum
• 1/2 oz. Pomegranate Liqueur
• 1 1/2 oz. Pineapple Juice
• 1/2 oz. Cane Syrup
• 1/2 oz. Lime Juice

Put all ingredients except the Pomegranate Liqueur in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled.    Strain into a highball glass filled with ice and float the Pomegranate Liqueur on and garnish with an orange and cherry.

Costa Rican Expresso

• 1 1/2 oz. Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum
• 1 oz. Coffee Rum
• 1 oz. Amaretto
• 1/2 oz. Dark Creme de Cocoa
• 2 oz. Half and Half

Put all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled.    Strain into a cocktail glass filled with ice.     Garnish with a sprig of fresh slapped mint.

Ginger Snaps

• 1 1/2 oz. Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum
• 3/4 oz Siesta Key Spiced Rum
• 1 oz. Pineapple Juice
• Top up with Barrett's Ginger Beer

Place all the ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake until chilled, strain into a highball glass filled with ice.    Top up the glass with Barrett's Ginger Beer.      Garnish with a thin slice of ginger and a lime.

    
Costa Rican Punch

• 1 1/2 oz. Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum
• 1/2 oz. Aguadiente ( Anise Rum)
• 1/2 oz. Falernum
• 1 oz. Pineapple Juice
• 3/4 oz. Orange Juice
• 1/2 oz. Grapefruit Juice
• Dash of Bitters

Place all the ingredients in a Shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice and garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.

     These are three of the wide variety of cocktails we came up with and a wide variety of ingredients that worked very well with this fine rum.     We have another bottle of this rum in the lab and I feel that we can further test the waters of the compatibility of  Ron Centenario 7 Year Old rum with many many more ingredients.      Lets just wait and see what tomorrow brings.      This is one of the better rums for a consistent result that we have used in the Rum Lab to date and I will have to say that I wound recommend it as a great all around sipping and mixing rum.         ;o)  


     

Rum Lab Results on Monday

Great Rum Lab Results on Friday, full report on Monday.

Ron Centenario 7 Year Visits Rum Lab Today

    

This is going to be one of the really interesting Rum Lab research Days in some time.     It is unusual for the rum lab to be working with such an aged and balanced rum.     Today is also going to be one of the more challenging to prepare new cocktails that will enhance the flavor instead of hiding the flavor of this fine rum.    The lab mice have been chosen and the cocktail ideas are being formulated, so in a few hours it is into the Rum Lab for some serious research.   

     Looking forward to the Return of Mike Streeter of the Rum Connection next week to give us samples of the many new rums that are being showcased in London this week.     ;o)

Jack Terry Wins Rumologist Search and other Thursday Tidbits

Jack Terry,  bartender at Bagatelle was announced the winner of the Tommy Bahama Rumologist Search .     See the complete story of this three month competition at http://rumconnection.com/uncategorized/winner-5/ .        Congratulations to Jack Terry for his tremendous effort and I hope he enjoys his year in the limelight.

     Ron Centenario in conjunction with International Wine and Spirits has agreed to do 6 Rum Tastings in conjunction with Bahama Street Promotions of Key West.    The First of these will be held at The Rum Bar on Duval Street on November 4, 2011 from 1 til 5 pm.     There will be new cocktails that will be developed in this weeks Rum Lab especially for the Ron Centenario 7 Year Old Rum.     The best 5 will be featured at the tasting.    This rum is a combination of the expertise of blending and aging in oak to produce such a rum with such body, texture, color and taste.    This well balanced smooth rum will be a pleasure to work with in the Rum Lab tomorrow.

     My friends are having a great time in London tasting new rums from Diplomatico and other distilleries at the "Rum Frat House", along with the usual rowdiness that always ensues at these gatherings.    Looking forward to their return in order to sample some of these new spirits.    Have fun for the rest of  rum fun in London.

     I guess that is just about all of the news for today and Tomorrow is the Ron Centenario 7 Year Rum day in the Rum Lab.     See the results on Monday of our research on Friday.     ;o)

Cruzin the Historic Waterfront of Key West

     Yesterday was a day off, and it was my pleasure to jump into the dinghy on such a beautiful day and just roam the water ways to see what was going on.     I found my way into the Key West Bight and found some beautiful and scenic images of boats and people and buildings as I roamed around.     The bight is filled with very colorful and impressive boats to see, as well as people and buildings.    The dinghy is the perfect vessel to wander through these harbor waterways, because you are low and small and can get in and out of all of the nooks and crannies easily to take the pictures and see what is happening.

     The Waterfront is dotted with all kinds of sights to rouse your interest, from waterfalls and art to the fantastic yachts you can see there.   You never seem to be lacking for something to see or do there.    If it is food you are looking for there are sophisticated to the funky little places that all present you palate with great culinary delights.     Whether it is swimming, fishing, parasailing, dining, drinking and music, you can find it in the area in and around the Key West Historic Seaport.   

      Historic is the best word to describe what this port has seen in it's history and today is no exception.    You to can be a part of the old history when you sail on the one of the historic old schooners or party at Schooner Wharf.

     Next time you are in Key West it is time well spent wandering through and enjoying the sights and trying out all of the things that happen at the Historic Seaport.    See you on the water there.   ;o)

Rum Wars & Rum Diary's

New Diageo Corporation  St. Croix Distillery

     The up and coming Johnny Depp movie "The Rum Diary" and the ongoing "Rum Wars" are bringing a lot of attention to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.    This war seemed to start when St. Croix offered Diageo Corporation some 2.7 Billion Dollars of incentives over thirty years to move the lucrative Captain Morgan Contract from Serrales Distillery in Ponce, Puerto Rico to St. Croix.     This money comes from the rebate of rum import taxes collected in the United States.    It seems that this move is costing the Puerto Ricans billions in revenue loss from the rum import refunds.

Donna Christensen

Pedro Pierluisi

     It seems that the wars are heating up again with the introduction of the "Investing in U.S. Territories, Not Corporations Act of 2011" introduced in the House by Puerto Rico's Pedro Pierluisi. and a parallel Senate Bill by Robert Menendez a Democrat from New Jersey.   Virgin Islands Delegate Donna Christensen that she had been expecting this bill for weeks.   Christensen said the bill was similar to one rejected a year ago , but this one contains points that are even more objectionable.      These bills are trying to limit the way the "Rum Cover Program refund monies are to be spent.     Christensen says the "While we are still evaluating the ramifications of this proposal, I can say on first review that it still is an attempt of one territory to dictate how the other achieves economic development and utilizes it own funding."

     This seems to be as really bitter battle between the territories and one that doesn't look like it is going to be resolved without some bruised feelings and pocketbooks.

Johnny Depp in "The Rum Diary"

     Meanwhile there is a new movie starring Johnny Depp, called " The Rum Diary", based on a novel by Hunter S. Thompson.    The story is based in Puerto Rico and is the story of a 1950's ex patriot American newspaperman who is down and out, working for a small-time Caribbean newspaper.

       

Cocktail Week in London

http://rumconnection.com/uncategorized/london-cocktail-week/comment-page-1/#comment-9554 .     This is a great article about the fun and rum in Londown this week courtesy of the Rum Connection.

Serenity at Sea

Serenity and good winds are what keep the world moving as you sail through life.   ;o)

Spooky Rum Lab

Just for fun we had a spooky day yesterday in the Rum Lab.    We tried to create some  new cocktails for the up and coming Halloween Parties.    We took a look at several of the more traditional cocktails of the season, most of which are vodka based and went "rummy" with some new twists to the ideas.
Most of the cocktails were ugly and seemed to be a study in "gross out" rather than in good mixocology.    We took some time to create some cocktails to fit the season, taste good, and could be garnished to your Halloween theme.

The Devil's Workshop

• 1 1/2 oz Brinley Coffee Rum
• 1 oz Creme de Banana
• 3/4 oz. Plantation Overproof Rum
• 1 oz. Half and Half

Place all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled strain into a Martini glass and grind some fresh nutmeg on top.     Garnish with your favorite Halloween do-dads.

Robert's Tea Party

• 1 1/2 oz. Plantation Guyana Rum
• 3/4 oz. Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz/ Cane Syrup or Clover Honey
• 2 oz. Green Tea (Semi-Sweet)
• 2 oz. Barrett's Ginger Beer

Place all the ingredients except the Barrett's Ginger beer into a shaker with ice and shake until chilled.     Pour into a pint glass and top with Barrett's Ginger Beer.     Garnish with your favorite Halloween do-dads.

Hallucinations

• 1 oz. Coconut Rum
• 1 oz. White Rum
• 1 oz. Melon Liqueur
• 1 oz. Galliano
• 1/4 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Place all the ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake until chilled, strain into a Martini glass and garnish with your favorite Halloween do-dads.

     These are a couple of the really fun ungross cocktails that we were able to come up with, hope you can have some fun with them at your Halloween Party.   Happy Halloween to all   ;o)

El Dorado 8 Demerara's Latest Success Story

     The addition of El Dorado 8 year old rum rung the bell on my first taste of it from our Opici Distributor.     This is a dark auburn rum that has been created from molasses and distilled in their wooden pot and column stills that bring out the fabulous flavor of the Demerara rums.    The Rum is aged in old bourbon and whiskey barrels for 8 years before being bottled and released for sale to the public.  This rum is a bit heavier than the 5 year, and a bit lighter than the 12 year old rums.    This is accomplished by the amount of pot stilled rum in the blend.

     The rum is a very well balanced full bodied rum suitable for sipping or mixing.      On the nose, you bet the woody and spicy aromas that draw you right in.     You pick up notes of vanilla, maybe some toffee, wood, fruits, and spices on the palate.  The rum has a long lasting finish and the flavor seem to linger on for a long time.     This is a rum that we will bring into the Rum Lab one day in the near future to see what we can create with it.

     The rum is very competitively priced and is affordable as a mixer, but good enough to be sipping as well.   First class rum that fits in beautifully between the El Dorado 5 year old and the 12 year old members of the family.   ;o)  

Are our Tropical Cocktails Real?

     As a bartender in a tropical rum bar, and around tropical bartenders all of the time, I really have to question whether you are really getting the real deal or just some fruit juice, rum, and enough grenadine to make it pink and tropical tasting.

     One of the things that makes our bar different is the quality of the cocktails that we serve, in that all of the cocktails are made as close as possible to the original recipes and made from scratch, not from commercially bottled mixes.      The integrity of the cocktail is an important thing to me, even in the Rum Lab, we may start with an original cocktail, then go to work on it to improve it, but when the research is completed it is renamed as a different cocktail.    Unfortunately many people don't know the difference between a Mai Tai and a Singapore Sling, so if you put some rum fruit juice and enough grenadine to get the right color many of them are happy.  

      
     Jeff Burkhart, a Marin County, California award winning bartender and author wrote an article in the San Jose Mercury-News on the subject that I would like to quote on the subject.

 "Many drink recipes call for essentially the same ingredients but in different proportions, or maybe with one or two slightly different variations. The Singapore Sling however, can be made really differently, which I tried to explain to Mr. Hat.
The Singapore Sling was invented around 1915 at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel Singapore. The hotel is named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, diplomat and imperialist extraordinaire, who founded the city of Singapore in 1819 after some extremely questionable diplomatic dealings involving the Dutch, the British Navy, the East India Company, a man named Hussein Shah, and quite a few bribes.
By the time bartender Ngiam Tong Boon stepped behind the plank, Singapore had been a British colony for nearly 100 years. There he mixed together a virtual mosaic of European colonialism using gin (a Dutch or British product), Cherry Heering liqueur (Danish), pineapple juice, lime juice, Cointreau and Benedictine (French), Grenadine (also British) and Angostura Bitters (invented by a German in Simon Bolivar’s Venezuelan army). Boon named his drink the Singapore Sling. Traditionally slings are a liquor, sugar, lemon juice and water, one step away from a sangaree which doesn’t have the fruit juice, and one step before a daisy which has the addition of grenadine (or another fruit cordial). Realistically his drink should have been called a Singapore Daisy, but now that just doesn’t have the same cachet, now does it?
Boon’s Sling would become world famous, slaking the thirsts of notable world travelers like Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad and Noel Coward. But by the time adventurer/writer Frank Buck contributed his Singapore Sling recipe to the 1935 book So Red the Nose (which also featured Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon cocktail) the drink had lost not only the Cointreau, but the pineapple juice and the grenadine as well. So began the Sling’s long march towards mediocrity. The 1950’s and 1960’s with their emphasis on premade items (think canned cocktails) further stripped the drink of ingredients, until the 1980’s when it consisted of little more than bottled sweet and sour, gin and grenadine (back, but now replacing the cherry liqueur). More recently, with the reappearance of quality products like Cherry Heering and the use of fresh juices the “new” Singapore Sling again becomes a much more palatable drink, albeit quite a bit different one than the original.
“I can make it with gin, Heering and fresh lemon juice,” I said. “We make it ‘up’ in a martini glass so the Herring sinks to the bottom, like grenadine does in a Tequila Sunrise,” I said.
Mr. Hat wrinkled his nose in distaste. Instead of responding he peered intently at the cocktail list. I switched from one tired foot back to the other, hoping that he wouldn’t order anything that contained the juices now locked up in the back refrigerator.
“I’ll have the Bramble,” he said after a relatively long pause that required another foot switch on my part. I sighed. Our Bramble was really nothing more than a version of the newer Singapore Sling, but on the rocks with raspberry liqueur instead of cherry. I opened my mouth to say something about that, but instead closed it and simply made the drink. Less than twenty minutes later I was in my car on my way home.
Most of the time in the restaurant business the customer will get the full treatment, but sometimes- say 15 minutes after closing-they will get whatever is easiest."

    

Jeff"s Mai Tai,Zombie, Rum Runner, Scorpion

• 1/2 oz White Rum
• 1/2 oz. Amber Rum
• 1/2 oz. Dark Rum
• 1/2 oz. Flavored Rum
• 1 oz. Pineapple Juice
• 1 oz. Orange Juice
• 1 oz. Guava Nectar
• 1 Orange Wheel
• 1 Pineapple Wedge
• 1 Maraschino Cherry

"Combine all or part of the rums with all or part of the juices along with ice in a glass.    Strain or don't into a serving glass with one or all of the garnishes.   Rest assured, no one will know the difference"

     I guess that really just about covers the subject.     ;o) 

    

Key West is Headed into Fall

     The heat of summer is disappearing into fall in Key West these days.   The highs have dropped from 90is down to the mid 80's .     This may not seem significant to your people that are now in the 60's but to us this is the time of year that is really wonderful.    The breezes are blowing and you can walk and enjoy outdoor activities without overheating.     I look so forward to this time of year in the keys and am enjoying our cool 79 degree evenings as well.    Season has not kicked in yet and the crowds are still at an ebb, making it easy to navigate the streets and waterways these days.

     This is sort of our vacation at home when we can do all the things that we enjoy before the craziness of Fantasyfest drop kicks us into season.     Yesterday I took a trip by dinghy through some of the canals here in Key West seeing the back side of the houses and boats that make up this colorful area.     This morning is beautiful, I have my windows open and only a fan blowing to cool the room, it is always great to get a break from the air conditioners steady whirring.    

     I guess that is why we live down here in the keys, the cold of winter and the warm of spring and fall, oh yes I do enjoy the hat of summer as well and hanging out on the water cruising around the mangroves.   I guess it is time to grab a bottle of exquisite rum and move to the aft deck and watch the sea rolling in and the sun setting as I sip a fine rum tonight.    It is very wonderful to have a good selection of fine rum from which to make a selection.     Enjoy your evening as well.   ;o)

Still Thinking about my VI trip and The William Thornton

     One of the highlights of my last trio to the Virgin Islands was the boat trip to The Bight at Normand Island and the "Willie T" (William Thornton) floating bar and restaurant.    Established in June, 1985 by Mick and Annie Gardner this is one of the most colorful and unique floating bar and restaurant in the world.     The original boat was a 1935 Baltic Trader that after about 10 years in the restaurant service sprung a leak in the middle of the night and sank on June 11, 1995 on her mooring in The Byte at Norman Island.    The boat was raised and hauled out to sea where she was sunk again in hopes of it becoming an artificial reef for divers, but the boat hasn't survived the rugged conditions and there is virtually nothing left of the old William Thornton.

     Today the new William Thornton, a steel hulled boat that was found in Florida is back on the original mooring and the party is still going on on a daily basis.     The new Willie T opened for business on January 6, 1996.      There is a huge lunch crowd there every day and the party at Happy Hour is legendary.   Prior to an accident in 2006, the practice of people of all ages jumping from the "poop deck" atop the bar area into the beautiful and warn blue waters of The Bight.     The use to be a Willie T t-shirt for the women that jumped off naked, but since the accident this practice has come to an end.     The menu is known for it's homemade conch fritters, chicken and seafood rotis, bar-b-que and fresh fish.     The bar is the center of debauchery  on the aft deck where body shots and "shotskis" are flowing.   The "shotski" is a water ski modified to hold 4 shots for synchronized guzzling.    

     The customers are as varied as the unusualness of the boat, Yachties arrive on their dinghy's boaters raft up to the Willie T and a full group of locals all for this floating parking lot around the Willie T as the come searching for food, drink and fun each day.     The life on and around the Willie T's slogan, "You're a long time dead"- encouragement to have fun and live or today, fits the aura of the venerable old ship perfectly.    

     I'll get to return to the Willie T in November and I really can't wait for my next visit there.   ;o) 

Koloa Rum and the Kilohana Plantation on Kauai, Hawaii

Koloa Distillery

     The Koloa Rum Company is nestled on the tiny island of Kauai in the Hawaii.    Rum is deeply seated in the history of Kauai, Captain James Cook and his crews of the H.M.S. Resolution and the H.M.S. Discovery were believed to have brought rum to the island when they first made landfall in 1778.     The Koloa Plantation and Mill established in 1835, first harvested sugar cane in 1837 and they produced  some two tons of raw sugar the first year.     Like in many other sugar producing regions the rum production quickly followed the sugar production in order to get rid of the waste from the sugar production.     These days the island's "tall cane" still is in production in the rich volcanic soil and fed by the water from Mount Wai'ale'ale.    This area is said to be the wettest spot on the earth and the pure mountain water nurtures this very sugar rich cane to maturity.

     Koloa Rum Company was established on the grounds of the Kukui Brands facilities in 2008.   This is still the primary location for the bottling and distillation of the rums.    Koloa Rum Company is the first and only legal distillery on the island.      The rums are twice distilled in a 1210 gallon Liberty Coppersmiths still that was built in 1947 and refitted for use by the Koloa Rum Company.    The Koloa Rums are made from locally grown sugar cane and produced as a single batch premium rum.    The first barrels of rum were bottled in September of 2009 to coincide with the opening of the Tasting Room at the Kilohana Plantation.    The combination of the finest sugar cane and the pure water that is naturally filtered by the volcanic strata and stored naturally in the aquifers, makes this a very special and flavorful rum.

     The tasting room is is the Kilohana Plantation, a full operational plantation in Kauai that offers a wide variety of experiences for it's visitors.    The narrow gauge railroad offers a chance to view the plantation.     Ike, the1939Whitcomb Diesel locomotive pulls the mahogany coaches modeled after the personal car of King Kamehameha as it winds through the plantation with the whistle blowing and the steel wheels chattering.    

     The Koloa Tasting Room is a must visit at the plantation, where you will be able to sample the award winning Koloa Rums.    This is a highlight of the tour and you won't soon forget the fine rums or the entire Kauai experience.     ;o)

    

Fantasyfest is Fast Approaching in Key West

Have you decided what you are going to be this year at Key West's Fantasyfest yet?

Siesta Key Spice Rum Lab Approved

     Siesta Key Spice Rum is one of the newly arrived group of spice rums to appear this summer.     This is a very flavorful spice enhanced quality rum, this is where it became tough to create new cocktails around this rum.   The flavors of the rum are strong and do not play well with many of the usual suspects in mixed cocktails.     The good news is when you find the right ingredients the rum really shines and the cocktails are real winners.    The rum likes to be mixed with several regular rums, amaretto, ginger beer, cream of coconut, lime juice, sour mix, and pineapple juice.

   Two of my favorites caught me a little off guard , they were exceptional in the complexity and the long lasting flavors.

Siesta Key Alexander

• 1 oz. Siesta Key Spiced Rum
• 1 1/2 oz. Coffee Rum
• 1/2 oz. Amaretto
• 1 oz. Cream of Coconut
• 1 oz. Half and Half

Place all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake til chilled, strain into a Collins glass filled with ice.  Top with fresh ground nutmeg, and an orange wheel.

Siesta Key Nutty Sour

• 1 1/2 oz. Siesta Key Spiced Rum
• 1 oz. Amaretto
• 1/2 oz. Sweet and Sour.

Place all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake til chilled.   Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a lime wheel.

     These are a couple of the 5 or 6 really exciting cocktails that we were able to produce with the help of our lab mice yesterday.   This is a great rum, but we found that to create a really good cocktail with spiced rum takes some work, spices don't all play well with other things or spices.   Enjoy the cocktails and the very fine new Siesta Key Spiced Rum.   ;o)

Siesta Key Spiced Hits the Rum Lab Today

     Mike Streeter of the Rum Connection is bringing a bottle of Siesta Key Spiced Rum to the Rum Lab today for experimentation.     This is the first time we have tried to work with a spiced rum in the lab and I'll be interested to see how it is going to work out.     As usual I'll be creating some ideas for new cocktails using this really fine spiced rum and the "Lab Mice" will help decide which of the cocktail will be usable and which one don't make the cut.

     This afternoon's project is going to be a interesting and challenging one, because with the rum providing so much flavor on it's own, you have to blend it with things that are complementary to the flavors and don't clash it.     Sometimes you can get some really great tasting combinations and other times not so much.    I always enjoy a challenge and it is through these challenges that you create some really special new cocktails.     I'll have a full report of what the results of today's Rum Lab adventure tomorrow.     ;o)

Iggies Beach Bar and Grill, a must see in St. Thomas

Iggie's is on the top of our agenda as we head into St. Thomas in November.      This fabulous beach bar is on of the best beach bars in the Caribbean.    With the live music nightly and the cocktails flowing freely, this is the place to be on St. Thomas.     I have a couple of friends that now live in Key West that both worked at Iggies that tell me they will shoot me if I don't stop by for some fun there.     The sign says "365 days of fun" and I guess that I'm going to find out if this is truly the case.   I do believe it is as my friends have told me.

Captain Jack and his crew

     There are regular theme  parties that shouldn't be missed at this Bolongo Beach Resort Bar.  Plus the "All You Can Eat Crab Night" on Tuesday and the "Wednesday Carnival Extravaganza" complete with limbo, steel pan, and Mocko Jumbie shows  that draw huge crowds .   The Pirate Party is probably one of the bigger ones each year.      

     Iggies has it's "Bands in the Sand" concert every night , plus Karaoke, and Televisions carrying all your favorite sports nightly.     You can mingle with the locals or hang with the tourists, either way you'll have the time of your life on a Bolongo Bay night at Iggies.     The cocktails and the food there is always interesting, from their famous Spinach Crab Artichoke Dip to the oysters, mussels, shrimp and burgers.   No matter what your reason it would seem that a trip to St. Thomas would not be complete without an evening at Iggies.

       I can hardly wait for November and my arrival at St. Thomas and hitting Iggies for some fun and frolic in the beautiful St. Thomas nights by the water.     When are you going to Iggies?   ;o)

Prichard's Buzz

Prichard's Buzz

   The nice little cocktail that has risen out of the need to have a good cocktail for the "White Russian" crowd that will put a smile on your face and graduate you into the world of rum.     In a collaboration with the Rum Connection  http://rumconnection.com/uncategorized/prichards-buzz/ we have a video on how this simple cocktail is created.     This cocktail has a honey warm flavor that blends perfectly with the Prichard's Fine Rum and half and half.



Prichard's Buzz

• 1 1/2 oz. Prichard's Fine Rum
• 3/4 oz. Agave Nectar or Clover Honey
• 1 oz. Half and Half

Put all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake til chilled.  Strain into a rocks glass and serve with a lime an orange wheel.

     This was another creation of the Rum Lab from last week.    This week there will be a surprise rum in the lab to be blended, stirred and shaken into some wonderful new cocktails for the book and for a future promotional event.    Watch for this week's Rum Lab edition.     ;o)

Rainy Day In Key West

     My day off today and it's raining, hmmmmmmmmmm  I guess that I'll just have to do some creative indoor work today.    Let me see, write my blog, do some work on the book, create a new cocktail.    Nah, I'm going out and play in the rain and watch all of the tourists dodge the rain and do all the things they do to get the most of a rainy vacation day.   

     We sit under awnings and on porches looking the wrong way, or drive our electric car in the rain with our umbrella up, or a scooter with a rain suit.   We try not to let the rain stop us from doing what we want to, but is does tend to slow us down.    Key West doesn't usual have all day rain events, but today sure looks like one to me.     I guess the correct action is to just keep on keeping on and get the stuff completed that I need to, and maybe head over to the Hurricane Hole in the rain for some lunch and a little rum.

     Well, the day in the computer room just came to an end with the Internet going down, that is why I'm finishing up this piece today.   The rain took out the whole day until about 6:30pm when the sun made a brief appearance before setting.   So you get the story today instead of yesterday.

Plastic bags are all the fashion this year