Post #321133 by martiki on Wed, Jul 25, 2007 12:37 PM

Aloha,

I wanted to share with everyone a very special experience I had last week in New Orleans. I had the great pleasure of visiting Stephen Remsberg's house with Wayne Curtis (author of "And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails http://www.republicofrum.com/) and Jeff Berry. Stephen has the largest private collection of rare and vintage rums in the world. Those of you who have read Wayne's book will remember him from the last chapter. We tasted several fine rums, including several long lost New England Rums, and a few pre-Castro Cuban rums. But the main purpose of our mission that night was to recreate the Zombie using Jeff's recently unearthed recipe from 1934 that appears in Sippin' Safari. To not just make it, but to make it with the actual rums from 1934 as called for in the recipe.

I'm not going to reprint the recipe here, because you should buy Sippin' Safari (www.clubtiki.com), but we started with the Lowndes Jamaican (upon tasting, we realized that Appleton Extra would probably be a better contemporary substitute than V/X). He had just one mini of this wonderful rum, so screwing up was not an option. Stephen also had a few minis of the dark Puerto Rican, now an uncommon item. The best sub we thought of at the time was Lemon Hart Jamaican, but since that it unavailable as well, it's not much help. :(. And for the 151 Demerara, Stephen did have mid-1930s Lemon Hart, which does have a different flavor than todays, a little lighter and woodier in body. For the absinthe, a Spanish example from the 1930s.

So anyway, all of the spirits were exactly what was called for, and all made in the early to mid-1930s. The result was pretty spectacular: dry, tart & dynamic, with bold anise & strong oak flavors, with a dash of cinnamon & bitters. Certainly many of Don's signature flavors, and a showcase of the interplay between good rums.

Here's some pictures:

A fraction of Stephen's Collection:

Stephen very carefully at work:

The finished product (mostly consumed!) and the precious ingredients:

Stephen, myself, and the bum:

Big thanks to Stephen, Jeff, and Wayne for making it an unforgettable experience.

For a little of of the Wayne/Stephen magic:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/1049.And_a_Bottle_of_Rum_A_History_of_the_New_World_in_Ten_Cocktails

[ Edited by: martiki 2007-07-25 12:42 ]