first time Cuban rum , oh the joy.

So I was in Toronto last weekend,
and I made it a point to get some Cuban rum before I left.
So I went to the Government run Booze store.
and found Havana Club Rum,
there was an amber and a dark( 7 year aged)
so I got the later.
at 36 bucks I coudn't afford both.
The friend I was hanging out with was gonna make Thai food that night, and needed to go to the market area to get fresh ingredients for the food.
so I went along and got Fresh Limes, Mint, and found Demerara brown sugar.
I'm not positive what it is, but I heard it was Brown sugar mixed with molasses.
and I know that there is a Demerara rum, so it couldnt be all bad.

The guy didn't really have any mixers and I wasn't ina super mixer state of mind. so I just basically did a grog.
I mixed
1 teaspoon of the Brown sugar,
with 3 ounces of the Cuban rum,
1 once of water,
and 1/2 once or so of the Limes juice.
mixed it all together with Mint, a muller would have been nice.

man what a drink.
the few that tried it, were quite im pressed.
as was I.

now how to get that Rum here in the US or find something similar in taste.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

[ Edited by: bigtikidude 2008-06-11 10:58 ]

oh and I was worried that I wouldn't drink it all, or be able to get it back, needless to say that we polished it off no prob that night.
and I was able to bring home the empty bottle.
:wink:

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Some friends and I decided to have some real Cuba Libres the other night. Not only did we use Havana Club, but we got our hands on some Coca-Cola from Mexico made with cane sugar. Add in a squeezed wedge of lime and man, now I know why this is a popular drink. Rum and cane sugar Coke mix perfectly.

Damn our corn sugar Coke! It's not "The Real Thing"!

My first Cuban rum experience was in London at the Mahiki. God bless that bartender. He GAVE us tastings of 4 Cuban rums side-by-side. Yum-o. Think Obama or McCain will lift the embargo?

I hope somebody lifts the embargo,
its stupid as hell.
especially now that Castro's brother is in charge.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

On 2008-06-11 20:45, bigtikidude wrote:
I hope somebody lifts the embargo,
its stupid as hell.
especially now that Castro's brother is in charge.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Oh, don't get me started. We happily trade with China and Vietnam -- two Communist countries that we actually fought wars against -- but still not a little island a few miles off our coast. Stupid, silly, ridiculous.

Headin' down to Mexico next week. Wish me luck at the border check.

On 2008-06-12 08:43, arriano wrote:
Oh, don't get me started. We happily trade with China and Vietnam -- two Communist countries that we actually fought wars against -- but still not a little island a few miles off our coast. Stupid, silly, ridiculous.

Plus, the whole while Cuba has been our Landlord. We've been continuously leasing the Guantánamo Bay property since the 1890's to house our oldest overseas naval base. I wonder if we're considered good Tenants. :roll:

On 2008-06-11 20:45, bigtikidude wrote:
I hope somebody lifts the embargo,
its stupid as hell.
especially now that Castro's brother is in charge.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

First, law needs to be rewritten to even begin the process of recinding the embargo. The actual law which allows the embargo to be enforced states that "...anyone named Castro..." can be in leadership of Cuba. The strong South Florida Cuban population which has staunchly supported the embargo is aging and being replaced by younger people which are more ambivalent about all things Castro. But, it will take a lot longer before any change comes about.

Each time I visit Vancouver BC, I'm astonished when I return home and
find several "stowaways" of Cuban origin hiding in my suitcase. Has never
been a problem and the drinks are fantastic!

can you bring bottles of Rum from Cuba, from Canada or Mexico here?
if so how many bottles?

somebody told me he thought it was 2 per person,

I dont know if that sounds right to me.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

It is illegal to bring anything back from Cuba to this country, but I have. Before 9/11 and the little plastic bag issue it was a lot easier. Most people enter Cuba by way of Mexico, Canada, or a Caribbean country. I went on a day trip from Jamaica. Flew in a very old rickety Russian Yak (prop plane). Very scary, but the minute we took off the rum cart came down the aisle. Big glass bottles of Havana Club. Unlimited for the short flight. Then they took us already half tipsy to the distillery that used to be owned by the Bacardi family (now Havana Club). Lots more free tastings. Bought a couple of bottles, and some good Cuban cigars. Remember vaguely sending myself a post card from Santiago de Cuba that said "Been here, done rum". It took 2 months to arrive to my home in LA. I mixed the rum with my Jamaican booze purchases and breezed through customs in Miami. Not so easy now with all the rules, red tape, and Xray machines. One time my husband and I smuggled 12 bottles back vs the 4 we would have been allowed.
Depending on where you live it's still possible to get across border from either Canada (easier) or Mexico, but you never know if border crossing guards will decide to search. We look like old foggies now so we get away with it.
Just got back from a trip to Puerto Vallarta last week. Lots of Cuban rum there, and we got 4 liters at the airport that were put in a sealed bag. When we landed at LAX we had to transfer to our checked luggage after customs. Fortunately we had lots of towels and dirt laundry and all 4 bottles made it safely back to our home in WA state.

All I can say is good luck and don't get caught. The price is high. Jail time possibly, especially if they find out you actually went to Cuba. Another great reason to get rid of BUSH and all the stupid Republicans who want to keep us out of Cuba.

On 2008-06-14 23:34, bigtikidude wrote:
can you bring bottles of Rum from Cuba, from Canada or Mexico here?
if so how many bottles?

somebody told me he thought it was 2 per person,

I dont know if that sounds right to me.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

No, it is not legal to bring Cuban rum or cigars into the US. Every citizen can bring back 1 liter of booze, duty free, but that does not allow for banned spirits. Yes, is it possible to sneak in some rum. But, you cannot declare it. Say, if one is driving back across the border from Mexico and you have 2 or 3 bottles of Havana Club. The Customs/border agent will ask if you have anything to declare, alcohol or cigarettes. Say, "no". They usually don't search. If you are caught, there is no jail time or fine. They detain you for a half hour and take the contraband. From then on, though, when you present your passport to come back to the country, you WILL be checked every time. If you are caught with cases of booze which suggest that you are acting for profit or commercial enterprise,then, fines and jail time.

Sigh. I just finished off a bottle of 7 year old Havana Club, here in Germany you can get it at any market. Though truly, Cuban rum is best enjoyed in its proper habitat: :)

Sven you lucky bastard, you make me jealous.

all the more reason for me to go back to Toronto for next years great lakes surf battle.
:wink:

Jeff(bigtikidude)

oh and thanks to everybody for their stories and tales of rum hijacking.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

On 2008-06-15 10:47, bewarethe151 wrote:

On 2008-06-14 23:34, bigtikidude wrote:
can you bring bottles of Rum from Cuba, from Canada or Mexico here?
if so how many bottles?

somebody told me he thought it was 2 per person,

I don't know if that sounds right to me.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

No, it is not legal to bring Cuban rum or cigars into the US. Every citizen can bring back 1 liter of booze, duty free, but that does not allow for banned spirits.

I'm heading over the border in a few weeks to buy some Cuban rum myself. A friend just told me to beware of counterfeit rum like the cigars which are labeled Cuban. Anyone have any problems with fake Cuban rum in Mexico and if I transfer into a Bacardi bottle and declare it as such, isn't that technically the truth?

The bottle transfer works perfectly. But, I just bring it across, 2 or 3 bottles at a time, in my luggage and don't declare. I have never seen fake Cuban rum. It's just not that sought after to counterfit. There are 10,000 cigar afionados for every rum-nut.

So just got back from 5 days in Mexico. Went to a grocery store in Rosarito called Calimax (it's a big chain). Bought a bottle each of Anejo Blanco and Anejo Especial for the grand total of $19.65. Hot damn! No problems coming across border. Declared two bottles of liquor and that was enough.

Maybe I should start a new thread, but depending on the response to my question Here I will figure that out later.

what Rum that we can get here in the USA tastes the closest to The Havana Club Dark Rum, 7 year aged?

thanks in Advance.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

There has been sometype of embargo on Cuba since the Eisenhower administration. It began with the republicans, but there are plenty democrats that have had their hands in the embargo as well

Rex

All I can say is good luck and don't get caught. The price is high. Jail time possibly, especially if they find out you actually went to Cuba. Another great reason to get rid of BUSH and all the stupid Republicans who want to keep us out of Cuba.

I'm sorry to say that I'm glad there's the embargo. :wink:

That's right, if you could have the rum and cigars, it would be impossible for us europeans to get some, as everything would go to the USA, or it would be very very expensive.

On 2008-06-20 16:35, arriano wrote:
So just got back from 5 days in Mexico. Went to a grocery store in Rosarito called Calimax (it's a big chain). Bought a bottle each of Anejo Blanco and Anejo Especial for the grand total of $19.65. Hot damn! No problems coming across border. Declared two bottles of liquor and that was enough.

I know this is an old thread but I'm headed to Tecate and Valle de Guadalupe this weekend and hope to find some Cuban Rum. I did a little searching online and didn't find any big liquor stores in either town. Looks like Calimax is my best bet.

While the embargo was never lifted, the regulations became very lax near the end of the Obama era. Travel to Cuba from the United States was allowed under certain criteria and you were able to bring back as much rum and cigars as would fit in your luggage, so long as it was for personal use and not commercial resale. We went to Havana a few years ago (flight from Ft Lauderdale) for a week and brought back 17 bottles of rum. Declared we had $100 of rum and they didn't even check our bags or question us at customs.

I couldn't tell you how many friendly Cubans stopped us in the streets to ask if we were Americans and thanked us for Obama, saying how they now earn a decent living because of the added tourism. Many people are taxi drivers and rely on fairs from visitors to feed their families. So the influx of Americans really improved their situation.

That said, I have no idea what the state of affairs are now under the current administration. I had hoped the clown in charge would have bigger fish to fry and leave Cuban affairs alone, but I'm pretty sure he cut off travel to there like a year ago and I don't know the latest regulations on "contraband." I will say, a friend of mine just this week brought me back a liter of Havana Club 3 year from Mexico and he had no issues whatsoever coming across the border.

Hope you have a great trip and bring back some good stuff! Let us know how it goes.