Thursday, February 14, 2008

Drink to me only with thy eyes.................

I like Rum.

The darker, and older, the better. I have flirted with other things, such as gin, whiskey, beer, ale,and wine, but I have always came back to rum. Now that is not to say that I was a rum expert, I started out drinking Bacardi and Captain Morgan (which I now feel that are equivalent to paint thinner as a refreshment) My recent trips to the Caribbean have allowed me to learn the differences and different taste available. Rum is a lot like cheese, flavors change from island to island, as well as the taste being influenced by it's age and method of manufacture. Right now, my current list of favorites includes:

Mount Gay Sugar Cane Brandy
Mount Gay Very old rum
Gosling's Black Seal rum
Gosling's Old Rum
Cruzan's Black Strap Navy rum

All of these rums can be drank straight without any mixes, (other than ice) I will admit, that most folks don't like to drink it that way, but I do. I do however have a few drink recipes for my friends that need a little something to help ease the rum down. The first is a type of shrub, a colonial fruit based drink. It is VERY sweet which can turn some folks off, so you can play with the recipe just a bit.

Shrub
In a 1 gallon container mix the following items:
1 quart of dark rum
1 can of frozen orange juice concentrate
1 can of frozen lime-aid concentrate
1 cup of sugar

Mix all items well, dissolving sugar, then fill container the rest of the way up with water. Shake well before serving.

Dark and Stormy
1 oz of dark rum
ginger beer

Place dark rum in glass, fill with ginger beer. (ginger ale works, but ginger beer is MUCH better.) You may have to hunt around a bit to find it, but it is worth it.

5 comments:

Andrew Duppstadt said...

Well, well Dr. Mike, it just so happens that while packing for my trip to Alabama I included a bottle of Gosling's Black Seal. The group of folks who I have fallen in with at this course seem to be enamored of pirates and they have decided that to celebrate the end of our first week we need to have a pirate party, complete with Captain Morgan's. I guess I'll have to educate the poor schmucks.

Michael W. said...

Good man Andrew!

Just tell 'em there is a reason they put spice in rum, to cover the taste.

Andrew Duppstadt said...

I missed out on the "Pirate Party" last night because I was just plain too damn tired. I stayed in my room and drank some of my Gosling's and read a book. From the reports I hear this morning some guy from Vicksburg showed up at the part (older guy, ex-military, etc.) and sang Irish drinking songs ad nauseum. They said he wouldn't shut the hell up and the whole pirate party went to shit. Glad I missed out on that one!

Michael W. said...

Just goes to show what happens when friends let friends drink spiced rum. GRIN

Chris Grimes said...

Especially when "Dark and Stormy" is sooooo tasty!