What's your latest rum purchase?

That's awesome. I've been scouring places in search of that bottle. I never got a chance to try it. Congrats

No kidding - I must have hit 9 or 10 places trying to find a bottle of it. Sweet score!

You'll never guess where I've been.

I recently made my first visit to the Austin Shaker. It is one of my new favorite liquor stores even though I live near Dallas. I am really looking forward to trying the JM Shrubb. Clement Creole Shrubb has been my go to in a Mai Tai lately.

Rick

That JM White, and the Gold, are both extremely good drinks! The Gold is probably a little more flexible but both are excellent. Try the white in a 'ti punch.

On 2017-07-10 06:37, rbeyer68 wrote:
I recently made my first visit to the Austin Shaker. It is one of my new favorite liquor stores even though I live near Dallas. I am really looking forward to trying the JM Shrubb. Clement Creole Shrubb has been my go to in a Mai Tai lately.

Rick

So glad the love for Austin Shaker is spreading. When I first stumbled upon them shortly after they opened, their rum selection was like any typical neighborhood liquor store. When I was heading out, empty handed, assuming I would never return, Kiki said if there's anything I think they should stock, just write it down on their suggestion sheet. I jotted down about 7 items inlcuding BG Reynolds products, Clement and Plantation rums, Coruba, etc. Fast forward a few weeks and I'm in that neck of the woods so I decide to pop in. Kiki not only remembered me but ecstatically proclaimed that they had gotten in a few of the items I requested. We became fast friends and I've not only recommended a ton of people shop with and support them, but I've given them countless recommendations of items to stock. They were the first in town to get Plantation Pineapple and Denizen Merchant Reserve and Rum Fire. I believe they were the first place in the entire country to get the new Lemon Hart 151. And lately they've been stocking some specialty items such as the Four Square rums and the special El Dorado 12 and 15 years in the different cask finishes, as well as some of the limited Plantation regional items and several outstanding agricole options. They even helped me obtain a splurge item recently, a bottle of Appleton Joy, which technically wasn't even available to them. So glad to have a place like this around that caters to the requests of the public and make one stop shopping a possibility. Sorry if this reads like a Yelp review.

Mike:

It is very apparent that the tiki life is alive and well at Austin Shaker thanks to the input of local Tiki Central members. The selection of Agricole rums is one of the best I have seen. If I lived in Austin I might get in trouble with the higher priced, special edition rums. This time I limited myself to just the Foursquare Zin Cask (I already have the Port Cask). I am still looking for Criterion.

On 2017-07-12 06:46, rbeyer68 wrote:
Mike:

It is very apparent that the tiki life is alive and well at Austin Shaker thanks to the input of local Tiki Central members. The selection of Agricole rums is one of the best I have seen. If I lived in Austin I might get in trouble with the higher priced, special edition rums. This time I limited myself to just the Foursquare Zin Cask (I already have the Port Cask). I am still looking for Criterion.

Shaker has Criterion on the way. They've been waiting on it to arrive for a couple weeks.

Some bottles from a recent trip to France. The one on the right isn't rum, it's Calvados.

Particularly pleased with the Trois Rivieres, which is a bit of a specialist internet-only product in the UK (and £30 a bottle for the regular stuff), but cost me c. 18E for a litre in the supermarket over there! Makes a great, different, Daquiri.

On 2017-07-13 16:18, Early Landed Larry wrote:
Some bottles from a recent trip to France. The one on the right isn't rum, it's Calvados.

Particularly pleased with the Trois Rivieres, which is a bit of a specialist internet-only product in the UK (and £30 a bottle for the regular stuff), but cost me c. 18E for a litre in the supermarket over there! Makes a great, different, Daquiri.

What's the rhum traditionell/industriel situation in France? I've been fascinated by the stuff since I read Martin Cate's spiel on the Mai Tai in the SC book but I can't seem to find any one who has it for sale.

How do you mean, Palm Tree Pat? The rums above are all agricole except the Bacardi.

I don't know France that well and only went to the north-west region this year - but rhums from the old French colonial islands are certainly strongly represented in most regular shops! A good majority are agricoles from Martinique, Gabon, Haiti etc - brands like Clement and St James represented strongly in the sipping categories. Neisson, Trois Rivieres, HST and a bunch of other brands I've never heard of but that are all from Haiti seem to dominate the more affordable categories and most are blanc or unaged. I expect that is largely down to both the historical colonial / trade connection and the way preferences have developed over time. I don't know if that's the case all over France or just the NW. (If you don't know the story about why only the former French islands make rum directly from sugarcane I recommend looking it up!)

You do see the bigger non-agricole brands like EL12 and Don Papa etc, but that are not as common and there aren't as many on the shelves of the bottles that there are. Almost the reverse of the U.K. (I have never seen a rhum agricole in a regular liquor store, only in very specialist shops in London).

If you're saying you've never tried a rhum agricole I highly recommend it, it's great stuff - my go to is JM Gold for almost any purpose. I'm looking forward to trying this St James as the second rum in a Mai Tai as recommended by Jeff Berry, although I didn't stretch to the XO which was more than double the price. E

My first bottle of Plantation 5 Star with a few other staples

On 2017-07-14 15:49, Early Landed Larry wrote:
How do you mean, Palm Tree Pat? The rums above are all agricole except the Bacardi.

I don't know France that well and only went to the north-west region this year - but rhums from the old French colonial islands are certainly strongly represented in most regular shops! A good majority are agricoles from Martinique, Gabon, Haiti etc - brands like Clement and St James represented strongly in the sipping categories. Neisson, Trois Rivieres, HST and a bunch of other brands I've never heard of but that are all from Haiti seem to dominate the more affordable categories and most are blanc or unaged. I expect that is largely down to both the historical colonial / trade connection and the way preferences have developed over time. I don't know if that's the case all over France or just the NW. (If you don't know the story about why only the former French islands make rum directly from sugarcane I recommend looking it up!)

You do see the bigger non-agricole brands like EL12 and Don Papa etc, but that are not as common and there aren't as many on the shelves of the bottles that there are. Almost the reverse of the U.K. (I have never seen a rhum agricole in a regular liquor store, only in very specialist shops in London).

If you're saying you've never tried a rhum agricole I highly recommend it, it's great stuff - my go to is JM Gold for almost any purpose. I'm looking forward to trying this St James as the second rum in a Mai Tai as recommended by Jeff Berry, although I didn't stretch to the XO which was more than double the price. E

I was wondering if molasses-based rhum traditionelle/industriel from Martinique or other French Caribbean isles was widely available in France. Berry and Cate did a study recently in which they determined that when recipes from tiki's heyday call for "Martinique rum", they were usually referring to rhum traditionelle, not agricole, as almost no agricoles were being imported at the time.

http://www.amountainofcrushedice.com/?p=19258

I've been keeping my eye out for some ever since, but agricoles appear to have completely eclipsed molasses-based French rums as far as exports to the US go, so any experimentation I might do with them will have to wait.

I've only had a few agricoles myself, the favorite definitely being JM XO, but if Saint James ever starts exporting to the US again I'll be all over it.

Hey Palmtree - no idea and I'm pretty sure I didn't see any. I've heard there might be one or two rum industrielle distilleries on Martinique but I don't know what they're called, and didn't see any obvious standouts in France! I also can't find them with a quick google. That said, agricole is so common in the French market that they don't necessarily go out of their way to say AGRICOLE on the packaging, so I could perhaps have missed some.

(For what it's worth, and I know we haven't been talking about this, I think to emulate the later Mai Tais the best thing is probably to do what Cate and Bum suggest and use a reasonable non-agricole rum as a balance to whatever Jamaican pot still you're using. My current mix is a little Meyers, Appleton estate mixed 50:50 with Mount Gay Black Barrel, and a splash of Plantation 5 on top - 25:50:25. I actually am not that keen on agricole in a MT - I prefer to keep it for drinks where it can be more front and centre - but I can totally see how you might use JM XO in a super-luxury version of one! )

Rummy blessings to your weekend!

On 2017-07-21 18:37, Early Landed Larry wrote:
Hey Palmtree - no idea and I'm pretty sure I didn't see any. I've heard there might be one or two rum industrielle distilleries on Martinique but I don't know what they're called, and didn't see any obvious standouts in France! I also can't find them with a quick google. That said, agricole is so common in the French market that they don't necessarily go out of their way to say AGRICOLE on the packaging, so I could perhaps have missed some.

(For what it's worth, and I know we haven't been talking about this, I think to emulate the later Mai Tais the best thing is probably to do what Cate and Bum suggest and use a reasonable non-agricole rum as a balance to whatever Jamaican pot still you're using. My current mix is a little Meyers, Appleton estate mixed 50:50 with Mount Gay Black Barrel, and a splash of Plantation 5 on top - 25:50:25. I actually am not that keen on agricole in a MT - I prefer to keep it for drinks where it can be more front and centre - but I can totally see how you might use JM XO in a super-luxury version of one! )

Rummy blessings to your weekend!

Mahalo Larry. My every day Mai Tai blend is similar, but with Coruba for the dark and Doorly's 5 for the Barbados.

Seemed a little excessive given what I already hauled back with me from Jamaica, but I just couldn't pass up a pure pot still, 6 year, 100 proof rum at $25 a bottle.

Wow.....I've got to go back to Jamaica...

Damn. I want a sip of that.

Ableforth's Navy Strength.

Martin Cate says there are few spiced rums at SmugCo because he only stocks those that he has "personally seen physical spices being infused and not synthesized flavors froma lab being aded." This is one of those.

As a general rule, I avoid spiced rum. But I can't seem to put this one down.

I've had El Dorado 5, but this is the first time I've found 8 on the shelf of any of the liquor stores I haunt.

I have found my unicorn.

[ Edited by: coralreef 2017-08-02 18:29 ]

CoralReef, that Havana 3 is just THE BEST for a classic dacquiri! Have one right now! :wink:

Oh yeah - it's arrived!

Most looking forward to trying this in place of Wray & Nephew - any recommendations for a recipe that calls for unaged overproof pot still run?

I've already put the Clement Homere to good use.. I've started a tradition at my bar, anyone who visits on their birthday gets a $50 Mai Tai. Served first one two weeks ago:)

Coralreef:

That is one tasty haul.

On 2017-08-21 08:59, rbeyer68 wrote:
Coralreef:

That is one tasty haul.

Thanks just Recieved my order from hitimewine. The Hana Bay was on sale for $6.99, now I need to find a drink for the Hana Bay to try it out.

The Havana Club I bought out of country.

My haul from Tiki Oasis a couple weeks ago. I'm seriously crushing on this Clement XO and can't wait to experiment more with the Doctor Bird.

[ Edited by: mikehooker 2017-08-24 15:09 ]

On 2017-08-08 14:03, Early Landed Larry wrote:
Oh yeah - it's arrived!

Most looking forward to trying this in place of Wray & Nephew - any recommendations for a recipe that calls for unaged overproof pot still run?

Larry, that looks amazing. I've not been fortunate enough to try any of the Velier stuff yet.

This is my favorite application for Wray:
http://www.kaiserpenguin.com/jaspers-rum-punch/

At 151, you might wanna cut it to 1.25 oz rum or up the other ratios so you don't die.

Davidson''s in Highlands Ranch got A LOT of my money yesterday, but I was happy to get things I haven't found elsewhere.

A quick weekend tiki adventure in San Francisco was not only a great time but allowed me to get a few items that I can't get in Dallas. K & L Wine Merchants has a small, but high quality, rum section. Great fun at Smugglers Cove and Pagan Idol with a souvenir from each.

Rick in Texas

We went to the release party for this rum at the Royal Hawaiian (Laguna Beach, California) a couple of months ago. They introduced a half dzn. or so drinks using this rum-all were delicious. As you can guess this rum is not for sipping. I posted one of their drinks in the Tiki Drinks thread .

I was near Hi Times ( Costa Mesa, California ) so I stopped by to pick up a bottle of St. Vincent orgeat.
I found the Tahoe Moonshine Rum in the clearance bin so I grabbed a couple of small jugs. It has a moderate alcohol nose and I tried a small sip. Not a real strong rum taste but I like this rum. Btw, I was surprised to see Fugu Horchata vodka on the shelves. The Fugu H V is essential in a Paralyzing Pufferfish as served at the Bali Hai in San Diego. I grabbed several bottles as I have heard that It might be discontinued.

Paralyling Pufferfish

1 1/4 oz Fugu Horchata Vodka
1 1/4 oz Ballast Point 3 Sheets Barrel aged Rum
1/2 oz Cruzan aged 151 Rum
1/2 oz PassionFruit Syrup
Juice of 2 lime wedges
1 1`/2 oz Pineapple juice


Garnish; Pineapple-Cherry

so i came across this in an eclectic liquor store in a small colorado town - was excited to get my hands on a couple bottles

On 2017-09-04 12:24, stevekh wrote:
so i came across this in an eclectic liquor store in a small colorado town - was excited to get my hands on a couple bottles

Great find. I found one bottle in OKC a couple years ago.

A local liquor store has a pretty good selection of Plantation rums, and I've finally picked up a bottle of 3 Star.

Snagged a few essentials on the way back from Don's today.

Needed a new sipping rum that could fit in a desk drawer, so I settled on Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva. A bit more than I wanted to spend, but I heard good thing and the size fit the bill.

One of my coworkers went to the Philippines to see family recently and she brought me back a bottle of the elusive Asian market-only Tanduay 5-year (this stuff costs a measly $3 in it's home market!) and a little taster of "Lambanog", the Philippino answer to the coconut-flower derived "arracks" you see in other countries in the area.

On 2017-09-09 16:44, PalmtreePat wrote:
Snagged a few essentials on the way back from Don's today.

That rye is great stuff, PalmTreePat. Do you ever combine it with rum in a variation on an Old Fashioned? I think it goes great with various runs, but Demerara and golden agricoles particularly.

On 2017-09-21 05:45, Early Landed Larry wrote:

On 2017-09-09 16:44, PalmtreePat wrote:
Snagged a few essentials on the way back from Don's today.

That rye is great stuff, PalmTreePat. Do you ever combine it with rum in a variation on an Old Fashioned? I think it goes great with various runs, but Demerara and golden agricoles particularly.

It is really great with Demerara. My favorite combo for an OF when I'm feeling fancy is a 3:1 blend of the rye to Hamilton/Lemon Hart 151, which also happens to be the basis of the Poipu Beach Boogie Board, a drink you should definitely try ASAP if you haven't already.

1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
1/2 oz Demerara 151
1/4 oz maraschino
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz lemon
1/2 oz guava juice
3/4 oz grenadine
1 dash Angostura bitters

Blend 3 seconds w/ crushed ice.

On 2017-09-21 09:47, PalmtreePat wrote:

On 2017-09-21 05:45, Early Landed Larry wrote:

On 2017-09-09 16:44, PalmtreePat wrote:
Snagged a few essentials on the way back from Don's today.

That rye is great stuff, PalmTreePat. Do you ever combine it with rum in a variation on an Old Fashioned? I think it goes great with various runs, but Demerara and golden agricoles particularly.

It is really great with Demerara. My favorite combo for an OF when I'm feeling fancy is a 3:1 blend of the rye to Hamilton/Lemon Hart 151, which also happens to be the basis of the Poipu Beach Boogie Board, a drink you should definitely try ASAP if you haven't already.

1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
1/2 oz Demerara 151
1/4 oz maraschino
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz lemon
1/2 oz guava juice
3/4 oz grenadine
1 dash Angostura bitters

Blend 3 seconds w/ crushed ice.

Hey thanks man! Malaho. I'll definitely give that a try. I always have to sub OFTD for the LH 151 (we can't get it in the UK) but I reckon it would sit great with the Rittenhouse.

I have a variation on an OF which is : 2 oz rye, 1.25 JM Gold rhum, 1/2 oz Bonal (skip this if you want but I think it adds a little class) or other fairly dry aparetif like cynar etc; Scant dash each of chocolate and lemon bitters; Barspoon of simple syrup; Small lime peel slice for garnish, squeeze the juice in to taste. I find that sits almost exactly at the crossroads between an OF and a restrained 'ti punch.

Is that boogie board recipe from a book, or a bar?