Martinique rums?

I'm not sure if this has been discussed in here, but as there was over 47 pages I didn't have time to look :)
I'm going to be in the Ft Pierce area of Florida next week and would like to know if any TC'ers in the area know of any location that may carry a Martinique Amber. I cannot find them anywhere in Georgia, so I figure I'll try down there in FL. I'm not sure which one would mix best; I'm trying out a couple different recipes, one of which is of course the 1944 Mai Tai. Any suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated!:)

Also, gonna try to hit up the Mai Kai again while I'm down there, if any TC'ers in the area want to hang!

can't speak for the location you're visiting, but the Total Wine chain has stores throughout the state, they usually carry several Martinique rums.

also, i've seen St James Ambre at several ABC stores.

Thanks! I'll definitely hit those 2 up while I'm there; how is the St James?

Roy's Liquors in Ft. Pierce has several rums from Martinique in addition to Kohala Bay and Lemon Hart 151.

ABC Liquors in Vero Beach on 20th Ave. has St. James Royal Ambre. Answering your question. . . for around $20 I think Royal Ambre is great. Makes a great combo rum in a classic Mai Tai and makes a fine Donga Punch, Three Dots and a Dash, and 'Ti Punch Vieuz as well.

As already noted, Roy's on US 1 in Fort Pierce usually has a few Martinique rhums, including St. James, La Mauny, and Depaz. Good luck just limiting your purchases to just agricoles at Roy's. They also are about the only place around for Smith and Cross. LH151, and Kohala Bay.

The Total Wine in Melbourne now has Neisson and Rhum JM as well as Dillon rhum blanc and Rhum Negrita which has it's place for mixing but is not a traditional rhum agricole vieux and certainly not what I would consider a sipper.

Thanks you guys!! I appreciate the tips! I think I actually have been to Roys--last time I was here in Ft Pierce, got a bottle of LH151 LOL Kicking myself in the ass for not looking for the martiniques while I was there lol

Clement from Martinique makes some interesting rhums and I like their Creole Scrub liquor to make killer a Mai Tai.

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2013-07-26 01:14 ]

Yesterday I went to Roy's and the only one he had was Depaz. I spoke with Keith and he said he couldn't get the St James any more and had run through his old stock. He said he thought Pappy's on Okchobee(sp?) may have it b/c Pappy's had a lot of old stock. I didn't check but did go to Total Wine in JJensen Beach and found a (not cheap) bottle of Clement. Also got a bottle of Velvet Falernum to try.

clement is not cheap.

St James Ambre is about $20 if you find it at an ABC. try it in a 'ti punch.\

with the falernum, try a corn and oil. (make sure it's the recipe version that's mostly falernum).

[ Edited by: thePorpoise 2013-07-26 21:08 ]

Another thread on TC reported that St James is no longer distributed in the US. I have just finished my last bottle of St James and have started using Clement. The results are very good. Velvet Falernum doesn't do it for me at all -- I got spoiled by making Falernum at home. Velvet Falernum is very subtle (weak, not much depth) compared to home-made Falernum #8 or #9. I usually make #8 and everyone loves it.

My next project will be to make home-made Orgeat. I have long suspected that the store-bought Orgeats are also less flavorful than what you produce at home.

I had also heard but not gotten confirmation on the recent inavailability of St. James. Seems to contradict its wide availability (of Royal Ambre) at the local ABCs for $20, unless that is a closeout price. For @ $12 less than Rhum Clement I certainly hope the domestic demise of St. James is just a nasty rumor.

Was browsing bottles at the Mansion in Melbourne this week and they had St. James Extra Old as well as the whole range of aged expressions of Rhum Clement. I do wish the Cuvee Homere was not $100 a bottle.

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2013-07-27 07:16 ]

I am also in agreement that, especially in a Corn N Oil, homemade Falernum is the only way to go. I have tried to strike the right balance with Taylor Velvet, but it just doesn't hold its own against a aggressively robust rum like Cruzan Blackstrap. With homemade (slight tweak of #8), 1:1 blackstrap to Falernum over a big ice cube is just about perfect.

"If you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel."
Robert Louis Stevenson

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2013-07-27 07:17 ]

There have been rumors of St. James disappearing from the American market for years. But it always seems to be around.

I've never made falernum. How big a pain is it?

On 2013-07-27 08:59, djmont wrote:
There have been rumors of St. James disappearing from the American market for years. But it always seems to be around.

I've never made falernum. How big a pain is it?

It's pretty simple and absolutely worth the effort. Google Paul Clarke's Falernum #8 as a good jumping off point. I use plain 40 proof light rum instead of JWray (I found JWray did TOO GOOD a job extracting flavors -- especially the ginger) use the zest of 10 limes (no pith), and I cut the ginger back to an ounce.

You can also find a lot of back and forth online as to weather to include lime juice as well as zest. For the sake of longer shelf life I do not include juice, and anyway most recipes calling for Falernum usually call for fresh lime juice as well.

Give it a go and you will be pleased with the results.

On 2013-07-27 09:40, Sunny&Rummy wrote:

On 2013-07-27 08:59, djmont wrote:
There have been rumors of St. James disappearing from the American market for years. But it always seems to be around.

I've never made falernum. How big a pain is it?

It's pretty simple and absolutely worth the effort. Google Paul Clarke's Falernum #8 as a good jumping off point. I use plain 40 proof light rum instead of JWray (I found JWray did TOO GOOD a job extracting flavors -- especially the ginger) use the zest of 10 limes (no pith), and I cut the ginger back to an ounce.

You can also find a lot of back and forth online as to weather to include lime juice as well as zest. For the sake of longer shelf life I do not include juice, and anyway most recipes calling for Falernum usually call for fresh lime juice as well.

Give it a go and you will be pleased with the results.

Yep, it's surprisingly easy. Almost every home syrup or liqueur ends up being a lot less difficult (or exotic) than it seems once you've made it a few times. I'd recommend following the #8 or #9 recipe the first time you make it as a baseline, then adjust individual elements how you see fit.

Wait, were we talking about Martinique rum? to keep this relevant to the thread: another couple to try and find are Rhum JM and Neisson.

kevin

I did a Neisson flight at a bar the other night. The Blanc is a little rough, but the aged varieties are quite nice.

so I (finally) made my first real Mai Tai the other day. The Clement was very smooth, however, I think I will try making my own falernum next time--I had the Velvet Falernum, and it just seemed like something was missing--kinda fell flat. Also, looking at my recipes: the one on the Beachbum's app says aged Jamaican rum; the one in the book says dark---any opinions?

Do you mean orgeat? I've never used falernum in my Mai Tais. Assuming you mean orgeat, I just made my first homemade batch yesterday and it was super simple if you use pre-packaged almond milk. Going to do a taste test soon.

darn!! yes!! LOL! the orgeat--I was mixing up 2 drinks! although that could be an interesting combination....but yes, as far as the mai tai goes, I think it was the orgeat that disappointed; I'm pretty sure it wasn't the rums. I would be interested to hear how your orgeat turns out