Ancient Mariner!

I'm sipping on my 3rd Ancient Mariner and I've gotta tell ya - this is a damn fine beverage! Anyone else try this one outta the Grog Log? I've finally found a place to pour my Pimento Liqueur! Maybe I should be posting this under bilge... I'm starting to feel a little tipsy...

Alright, where did you locate the pimento liqueur? This stuff is hard to find.

I had a Jamaican co-worker/friend of mine get me a bottle on a trip home for a funeral. I felt kinda bad asking her to pick me up booze when she was going for a sad event but she didn't mind! I've been using the stuff sparingly for over a year now but because I've discovered the Ancient Mariner I've started getting concerned! I'm praying my Jamaican friend is heading back sometime soon... hopefully not for another funeral!

Maybe your friend could bring back a few cases. I'm pretty sure myself and some of the other desparate bartenders on the site would make it worth her trouble.

On 2005-04-17 22:17, johntiki wrote:
I had a Jamaican co-worker/friend of mine get me a bottle on a trip home for a funeral.

Hey John,
That sounds like a plan.
I guess I should start reading more of the local obituaries. :D

We could post fliers in Caribbean communities across the country - "Have a loved one die back home? Why not put a positive spin on a sad event and bring us home a bottle of pimento liquer!" :)

I think she's planning on heading back to Jamaica sometime this summer - if so... I'm gonna run the idea by her about buying a case of the stuff.

Well if she's into it, so am I. Please count me in for one bottle! Hmmm, If she's game, how much do you think this will cost per bottle?

Pimento Liqueur..............$??.??
Shipping from you to me. ~$8.00
Healthy tip for her...........$??.??
Healthy tip for you......... $??.??
Total............................ $??.??

$497.67... now that's just a ballpark figure! :) Seriously, the stuff is dirt cheap, my big ass bottle still has the $11.90 price tag on it. I'm gonna run some things by Ingrid (I always thought that was extremely odd name for a Jamaican) and see if she possibly knows of anyplace you can get it in the states and if not when she thinks she's gonna make it back to JA or possibly see if any of her brothers and sisters are heading back anytime soon. I've always noticed in the Jamaican/Caribbean community that they have sources for island staples outsiders wouldn't even think to look for - such as cans of ackee (the country's national fruit and key ingredient in their national dish - ackee and saltfish - the stuff is potentially lethal if it doesn't ripen properly and therefore semi-illegal here in the states) and my favorite Jamaican grapefruit soda Ting which I can buy by the case at one particularly pungent ethnic grocery store. Perhaps one of these stores keeps a stash of pimento liqueur behind a counter for those who ask? I'll keep those interested informed of any details!

Ting! I love Ting! You're getting that locally here in the states? Awesome.

I'm tellin' ya, with the right marketing that stuff would be huge here.

Edited to add: Turns out it is a Pepsi product. Who knew? http://www.pepsiamericas.com/products/caribbean.shtml

Ahu

[ Edited by: KuKuAhu on 2005-04-25 22:29 ]

Ting kicks ass! I could definitely finish off a case by myself in less than 24 hours but the drive involved and high cost prohibits me from being as gluttonous as I’d like to be. My wife and I took a weekend trip to Jamaica a couple years ago and we stayed at one of the all-inclusive hotels where you can drink and eat like a pig. I ate reasonably but when it came to the booze I went way overboard – I made sure that every time I ordered a Planter’s Punch I had a bottle of Ting as a chaser… not that the rum was too much to handle but it gave me a chance to drink my fill of Ting!

As far as the link with Pepsi... I never knew that! I know Pepsi is the leading soft drink in the Caribbean and they must bottle Ting for export. The stuff I've been buying comes in the green 10oz. glass bottle with the D & G logos on the labels... maybe those bastards at Pepsi bought out Desnoes & Geddes? I'm afraid what will happen to the world's greatest grapefruit soda in the hands of Pepsi...

Dr. Cocktail writes about the return of Pimento Dram in the March/April Imbibe magazine. One of the cocktails he highlights is the Ancient Mariner:

1 oz 80-proof Demerara rum
1 oz dark Jamaican rum
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/4 oz Pimento Dram

Shake, and serve in a double old-fashioned glass over crushed ice.

I tried it with Myers and Coruba as the dark Jamaican - definitely preferred the Coruba. I also used honey instead of the simple syrup just because I like the added complexity. It is a damn fine cocktail, and is that perfect opaque amber color of great tiki drinks.

Koolau, I just made this drink as in the recipe with rock candy syrup,and I agree with you it is a fine drink. I also used Caruba for dark rum..The only thing I added was mint and mint and some more mint...

Turns out it (Ting) is a Pepsi product. Who knew?
Ahu

Seems it is fairly common practice for Coke & Pepsi to buy up the local softdrinks when they can't compete on the market with them. I was looking for the Peruvian "Inca Kola" and found out it was owned by Coke & available in the US

On 2005-04-25 22:26, KuKuAhu wrote:
Ting! I love Ting! You're getting that locally here in the states? Awesome.

I'm tellin' ya, with the right marketing that stuff would be huge here.

Edited to add: Turns out it is a Pepsi product. Who knew? http://www.pepsiamericas.com/products/caribbean.shtml

Ahu

[ Edited by: KuKuAhu on 2005-04-25 22:29 ]

Squirt was a grapefruit soda created in 1938, so I don't know what it tasted like then. I just remember how it was in the early 1960s. I don't know how many times the company changed hands. I do know that when the big soda bottlers got their paws on it the product as those of us who were "users" knew it changed completely...for the worse, of course. Squirt today tastes absolutely nothing like real Squirt.

There is on product that does taste like real Squirt. That product is Ting.

Anyway, if you like Ting, start stocking up. It will just be a matter of time when Pepsi will ruin it.