Merry Xmas
Wishing you a very merry xmas and a happy new year from all at the dark rum blog
More Rumfest – Brugal Ron Añejo
This stand at Rumfest 09 seemed very lively, and since I’m not exactly the shy retiring type, I felt compelled to see what all the fuss was about. The Brugal staff were friendly and enthusiastic, with a strong knowledge of their product. They had a couple of drinks on the go, so I felt obligated (any excuse!) to write a few words about one of the rums they had on offer. They made a very refreshing fruit punch using Ron Añejo, along with their own version of the infamous Mai Tai.
Ron Añejo is a delightful tipple. It has a deep golden colour and smells of warm fruit. Now I feel it’s important to mention the scent again as most rums have their own scent, but you can always smell the alcohol. Brugal differs in that there is no alcohol scent, just a gentle aroma of citrus and grapes. This is somehting that carries over when drinking neat. No overbearing taste of alcohol, but a gently warmth as is slips down your throat. There is still the hint of summer fruits in the taste, and I am starting to prefer the Dominican rums when drinking straight as I feel they are a little smoother.
As a cuba libre Ron Añejo still stands up well. Very enjoyable with lots of ice and lime on a warm autumn evening. And since the mai tai we tasted at Rumfest was so good, I have a feeling that Brugal will be my rum of choice for that particular cocktail.
My Rumtopf Recipe
Traditionally part of German Christmas celebrations, rumtopf is a winter food that requires a little patience, as the process starts in summer. I have a very vivid memory of my grandfather having this in his kitchen when I was a child. I was fascinated by what was hidden in the giant earthenware jar in the pantry, and knowing what I know now, I can understand why I was never allowed near it!
After some searching round the net, I compared a number of recipes and took the bits I liked to make my own version, which I am happy to share. You can change any of the fruit you like, but try to avoid too many citrus and soft/mushy fruits.
Requirements:
3 Litre sealable container
1 litre of Dark Rum of your preference (I chose Cockspur)
3 Red Apples
3 Green Apples
4 Peaches
8 Plums
Bag of cherries
Portion of blueberries
Tin of pineapple chunks
2 Limes
Clear Honey
Sugar
PATIENCE!
Chop the fruit into bite-sized pieces (removing any stones/pips) and for the small berries, prick the skins with a pin. Weight the fruit and mix in an equal weight of sugar, along with 4 dessert spoons of honey, then leave to stand for an hour. Transfer the fruit to the sealable container and then pour in the rum (the rum should cover the fruit totally by an inch) and pop it into the fridge.
Give it a good stir every other day for the first 2 weeks, then once every 2 weeks after that. Once it has had 2 months in the fridge, give it a taste. You may find that it is very pungent, or a little stronger than you anticipated. If this is the case, transfer half the rum & fruit to a similar container, add some more seasonal fruit (including the same wight in sugar again) and pop back in the fridge.
Now if you started this around August, it will be perfect in time for xmas parties.
Serve the Rumtopf fruits with its syrup (hot or cold) over ice-cream, cake, flan, puddings, or cheese cake, in brandy baskets or tall glasses topped with whipped cream or crème frâiche (my preference). You can also add two tablespoons of the strained liquid to Champagne for a unique and elegant cocktail.
Just don’t let the designated driver have to many!!
Appleton Special Jamaican Rum
Appleton Special is a blend of full-flavored traditional pot still rums and lighter character modern column still rums. Aged separately in oak barrels and afterwards hand-blended to produce a fine, medium-bodied golden rum. Appleton produce rums with a very distinctive taste which is hard to miss – gentle undertones of fruit and caramel with a soft after-taste. Where I can drink the standard Appleton straight or with ice, unfortunately Special is a little too harsh for my tastes. There is a strong edge to it which is reminicent of sour mash bourbons, but this is to be expected for a low-end bottle.
This weekend I was in the mood for an evening of rum & coke, and as a generic mixer, this delivers the Appleton brand taste at a low price. It’s perfect for party mixers and cocktails, or for those nice evenings at home where you just want to enjoy a simple rum.
Rumfest Recap – Part 3 – Appleton Estate White Rum
I was a little reticent about this as my previous experience of white rum has been limited to another well-known brand (coughBacardicough), but I was feeling a little adventurous so I took the plunge and picked up a bottle on the way home from work.
Appleton White, unlike many other white rums is aged and then filtered slowly through special charcoal. This results in a rum that is smooth, brilliantly clear and light bodied with a subtle taste and delicate aroma. It doesn’t have the scent I have come to expect from rum, and oddly enough has a similar scent to vodka, but sits nicely on the tongue with almost no aftertaste. As a sipping rum it is a suprising drink, and although quite enjoyable it’s not my preference.
One of my standard tests for all rums is the classic Cuba Libre, and Appleton White makes a refreshing alternative as a mixer. Where most dark rums bring out the caramel in the cola, this takes away some of the over-sweetness of the coke and gives the drink a little bit of an edge. I have a feeling that mixed with fruit or coconut juice is where Appleton White will really start to stand out. And it will certainly play a major part in the cocktails when I throw my rum tiki party!
Rumfest Recap – Part 2 – Pyrat XO
What more can I add to my compatriot’s initial comments. This was our first trip and I am certain it will not be our last. The sights and aromas that greeted us were simply astonishing, and I cannot wait for next year’s RumFest.
And now on to the review.
Pyrat XO is distilled on the small island of Anguilla and aged upto 15 years in French Limousin and American sweet oak barrels, before being decanted into handcrafted bottles. These bottles are based on traditional rum bottles of the 1800’s and each bottle is hand numbered by the cask. The length of time they spent crafting an authentic looking bottle is an example of the effort they put into creating this blend.
Sat in the glass, this aged rum looks like liquid cinnamon. Swirling it around gently, it sticks to the side of the glass and using a wine-tasters phrase ‘has good legs’. Pyrat XO smells sweet, with a slightly citrus edge to it. It sits very gently on the tongue with gentle overtones of orange and caramel, and slides down the throat with an unexpected smoothness and none of the afterburn I was expecting. A very subtle sipping rum.
As a secondary drink, Pyrat XO used in a Cuba Libre is a very pleasant suprise. I was expecting the coke and lime to mask the subtle taste of the rum, but far from it. The coke and rum bring out the caramel flavours in each other, while the lime brings the citrus to the fore.
This will be a permanent fixture on my shelf, and with the memories I have of RumFest, this shelf is going to be very very full indeed.
Rumfest Recap – Part 1 – Ron Barceló
We came, we saw, we drank some rum. This was our first visit to this yearly rum institution and it was fantastic! So this is part one in a series of posts devoted to the drinks and other happenings, well, the bits we can remember anyway, of Rumfest.
Within five minutes of entering the Royal Horticultural Halls we had landed at the Ron Barceló stand. Kirsty from Love Drinks talked us through the history of these Dominican Republic rums and treated us to a sample.
This brand of rum has been distributed by Love Drinks in the UK since July of this year I believe, and until Rumfest we hadn’t had the opportunity to try it.
Let’s talk about Ron Barceló Imperial. The aroma of this rum sent my head swimming with wonderful 
thoughts, citrus and chocolate, late nights at the beach, jumpers for goal posts. Maybe not, but something about it reminds me of childhood anyway.
On to the taste and it actually does live up to the aroma, no burn on the throat with this rum at all and a very syrupy and smooth taste. The Ron Barceló Imperial oozes quality and the bottle (lets face it, the bottle IS important) is fantastic and would look good on anyone’s rum shelf.
We can heartily recommend this rum. Get a bottle, you will not be disappointed!
A tremendous start to Rumfest for us, and shortly after this stand we realised we would have to slow down or things might get messy…
The UK Rumfest 2009
This weekend sees the biggest event in any Rum fan’s calendar, the fantastic Rumfest!
Myself and Ross will be there to sample all the wonderful rums and also to document the event for everyone who can’t make it. We’re hoping to get photos and video as well as tweeting live from the event.
This will be my first rumfest and I’m sure it will be fantastic!
If any of you have any specific requests or are going to Rumfest and fancy a chat with someone like minded don’t hesitate to get in touch.
See some of you there!
UPDATED: Rumfest done and your happy bloggers are back at home, nestling some very fine rum in our hands. Our updates will follow this week, where we review the rums we tasted and report on all of the happenings…
Summer Rum Cocktails
I’m a bit late with this one as I’ve had some severe technical issues, limiting my blogging some what.
RumDood is continuing his excellent Rum 101 series and his latest post is Six Summer Cocktails.
While we’re half-way through summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemispherists are still waiting for their summer, it seemed like a good idea to talk about six summer rum drinks to keep you cool and refreshed while in your bathing suit.
- Daiquiri
- Caipirinha
- Mai Tai
- Jamaican Mule
- Mojito
- Queen’s Park Swizzle
The Jamaican Mule is, of course, a Dark ‘n’ Stormy. Renamed due to the copyright issue I mentioned in my last post.
Cocktail Copyright
Having a quick look around the blogosphere (how much I hate that term cannot be measured in ounces) and stumbled across a slightly worrying fact.
Apparently the cocktail Dark ‘n’ Stormy is a registered trademark in the US. It’s registered by Goslings and the trademark DEMANDS that any cocktail calling itself a Dark ‘n’ Stormy uses Goslings Black Seal rum.
The strange thing is my recipe for a Dark ‘n’ Stormy calls for Goslings by name, because frankly, it tastes better than other alternatives.
This little fact might make me change the name and use a different Rum. I do hope this doesn’t become a trend, the possibilities are endless, and a little bit scary.