Merry Xmas
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at the dark rum blog.
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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.
Cockspur Five Star Rum Review
This light amber rum is matured slowly in American bourbon barrels before blending takes place. On opening the bottle you are greeted with a simple yet pleasant smell. It has a much lighter golden colour in comparison to other dark rums (such as Appleton XV and English Harbour).
The ambient flavour of the bourbon barrels it is aged in is not lost on Cockspur. Five Star is sweet with a slight butterscotch aftertaste, and there is a little bite that this drinker can only attribute to the barrels. Not unpleasant in any way, just a little suprising. The bourbon undertones become even more obvious when drinking this straight. This is a good dark rum, but one better served mixed rather than neat.
Bundaberg Dark Rum Review
This Australian dark rum is double distilled using only locally grown sugar cane and aged in it’s own specially made oak vats for a minimum of 2 years, so the taste and aroma is all down to the blending process.
Known locally as ‘Cane Champagne’, Bundaberg has yet to make a big impact outside of Oz. It’s a light, sweet and straighforward rum, with no real complexity or depth of flavour.
There is nothing overly memorable about drinking this, but equally there is nothing to dislike either. It’s a generic mixer that wouldn’t be out of place at a party, but in my opinion that’s all I would use it for.
One of the ‘tests’ I light-heartedly apply to any dark rum I drink: Can I imagine pirates drinking this in Tortuga while counting their ill-gotten gains? Sorry Bundaberg, you’ll have to walk the plank.
OVD Demerara Dark Rum Review
O.V.D. (Old Vatted Demerara) is a very dark rum made with a blend of the finest demerara rums in the world and matured in oak casks for around 7 years. This was imported by George Morton from Guyana in 1838 and blended especially for the Scottish market.
First impressions are good. Suprisingly sweet with an hint of treacle toffee which settles comfortably on the tongue. Very enjoyable as a long mixed drink over ice, this will appeal to fans of all dark rums. O.V.D. sits somewhere between Alnwick Rum and English Harbour. Drank straight it reminds me a little of brandy, especially the aroma. Certainly one to add to the collection.
Alnwick Rum Review
One of my work colleagues suggested I give this particular brand a try so off I went in search of a bottle. I’m used to drinking dark rums that are a deep golden colour, so when I saw the black liquid sloshing against the side of the bottle I was a little reticent, but decided to take a chance.
First impressions were good. Alnwick Rum has a distinctive yet pleasant aroma, reminding this drinker of the elderberry wine my grandfather used to make. It pours like thin molasses and has a hint of the taste of black treacle.
After the more golden rums, the first taste was a surprise. Strong, but not overpowering, with a very pleasant aftertaste reminiscent of bonfire toffee, and oddly enough, rum & raisin ice-cream. When I decide to make my Rumtopf, I think this will be the ideal base rum.
This is a dark rum I would serve for special occasions, rather than for everyday drinking.