MxMo Rum Wrap-up

Posted by TraderTiki on May 12th, 2008 — Posted in Events, MxMo, Rum

When toasting to friends and close relations, it is often best to toast with a bit of the tipple in one’s hand. For anyone who has read Wayne Curtis‘ And a Bottle of Rum, you know that the tipple of choice in American Saloons in “toastier” times, was a nice bit of punch, a flip, or a tot of Medford Rum. The tradition of toasting has, alas, not been quite as present in this century. This is perhaps due to the tradition getting a bit frustrating with a toast risen to each stranger waltzing in, sentence uttered, or sneeze stifled. Though for this Mixology Monday, with the cocktail scene booming both on the internet, at home, and in the bars of this great nation, I raise this toast to you, my fellow cocktailians, contributors, and other various liquorati.

The first toast I raise to Courtney Patubo, winning designer for the new Mixology Monday logo above, and who will receive a signed hardcover copy of And a Bottle of Rum. I also cheer Paul at the Cocktail Chronicles, for running the contest, and all those who voted. A smaller, slightly less enthusiastic (though still encouraging) toast for those designers who did not win.

The next toast I raise to the subject of the day, Rum! What more is to be said for this syrup of the gods and devils that can’t be found at the bottom of a tot of Pusser’s, a dram of Demerara, or in the depths of a fine Daiquiri. Whether mixed with its natural friend lime, or poured through the belly of a giant ice-block tiki, this Kill-devil, Rumbullion, or however you fancy has been making and shaping history since the first drops came out of the still. This Monday, May 12th, the internet has been set ablaze with posts celebrating this luxurious libation. Here are the results of our look into this most fascinating and diverse spirit.

The first entry is a newcomer to MxMo and cocktail blogging, Chris at Rookie Libations. The Emotional Weather Report, inspired in part by a Tom Waits song features a blend of Barbancourt and Demerara, with homemade Cardamom Ale syrup and a touch of Pimm’s No 1. Definitely an interesting drink from a new palate. Welcome Chris, a toast to you!

The next entry comes from Rob at A Dram of Brine, another newcomer to MxMo and the Liquornet. His Rough Rider cocktail takes on the orange rum mix, asking for a bit of Santa Theresa Rhum Orange. May I also suggest Rhum Clement Creole Shrub for all your Orange Liqueur needs. A toast to Rob, and all newcomers to writing and drinking on the internet!

Yet another toast goes to that diviner of all things astromalogical, Gwen at Intoxicated Zodiac. Not only for her lovely newsletters and astrologically appropriate cocktails, but her post for this MxMo, taking on the classic Piña Colada. She found it wanting for not, but not for trying!

Next up in the line up is Marshall from Scofflaw’s Den. This rabid rapscallion rhapsodizes over the ponderous bulk of his rum collection, and brings in the Tahitian Club from Gary Regan’s own The Bartender’s Bible. There is of course, some discussion of original cocktails below that entry, featuring various concoctioneering with Aperol and Coconut Water. Well played good sir, and a toast is raised to you!

Another skipper from the Scofflaw’s Den, Sean, finds a Dark ‘n Stormy most comforting in the sturm und drang of local weather, but the Ti’ Punch becomes the true satisfier, with a bit of Agricole, lime, and cane syrup. Paired with a fine (and rum-barrel aged!) cigar, and that’s a sun and sand in any weather or locale. A toast to you, your cigar, and the products of Martinique!

Stevi at Ana Bolena perdió su Cabeza joins in the rum frenzy with the Nassau Cocktail, a potent libation of Rum, Citronge, and a rather rarely seen mixer, Drambuie. Emptying the Cruzan Light and replacing it with 10 Cane must have been a hard choice and cost to put out, I’m sure, but well worth the expense. A toast to you Stevi, and a toast to a good excuse for a new bottle of rum!

Seamus takes his rum from Bunnyhugs and charges San Juan Hill with another Rough Rider (and may the highest bidder for the name win). This concentrated Cuba Libre takes advantage of Rose’s Kola Tonic, a hard to find (for some) ingredient that can be approximated with Cola concentrate mixed into a simple syrup. A toast is raised to Seamus, to obscure ingredients, and to America’s Rough-ridingest 26th President.

A very special Prost! to Christian at Cocktailwelten. Christian takes some off the shelf rum and makes it into something extraordinary and special with notes on Rum Infusions (English Translation available via Babelfish), including a very original Popcorn and Butter infusion. Sounds like the perfect drink alongside a showing of Robinson Caruso.

Shawn at Rejiggered dares, DARES to repost a rather lovely Pineapple Mojito. With the Derby over and a few spare scraggly sprigs of mint left, there are still many damned good purposes for the versatile herb. No fear Shawn, noone sits in judgment of you. A toast is raised to Shawn, and to recyclable content!

Anita from Married …with Dinner finds inspiration in the little things, specifically the Food & Wine Cocktails 2008 pocket cocktail guide. The Thai Boxer, a drink by Scott Beattie of Cyrus, is their entry into the arena. This drink pairs three herbal ingredients with Coconut Milk, lime, Canton, and Vanilla Infused Rum for a sweet and savory experience. A toast to you Anita, a toast to Scott, and a hearty toast to Coconut Milk, for being such a wonderful texture-enhancing ingredient.

The next contribution, from Anna at Morsels and Musings also utilizes Coconut Milk and even Condensed Milk for a 1-2 punch to the liver and diet with the Coco y Crema. This drink uses coconut rum for its sweet and tropical flavor. Malibu is used, but after a few years of trying these suckers, my personal favorite is Cruzan Coconut, for lots of real coconut flavor(ing). Of course, you could always infuse your own! For working with Coconut, Power tools are recommended. A toast to Anna, and to the mighty coconut!

The infamous, inspired and eponymous Jeffrey Morganthaler takes his cues from Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide, and combs through the pages, only to find the Beachcomber Cocktail. Well, he finds it not to his taste, and adjusts it accordingly. A side note on Maraschino validates my own findings on the difference between Maraska and Luxardo, both of which I’m happy to have in stock. A toast all around to Jeffrey, Trader Vic, and to the refinagling of old cocktails that never quite became classic, with good reason.

Mr. Bali Hai, in an unenforced, but heartily encouraged contribution, posted his Scorpion Rising for his foray into Tiki-devoted Rum goodness. Inspired by the Kelbo Scorpion in the Bum’s Sippin’ Safari, Mr. Bali Hai adds a few touches of Allspice, Peach Bitters and Absinthe for a new spin on a fantastic drink. Twelve toasts and twenty for Mr. Bali Hai, the Bum, his books, and Kelbo’s long lost habit-forming ribs.

The hivemind over at the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum came up with a few fantastic drinks for their MxMo contributions. Chris posts a whopping 5 tropical rum cocktails, including a Surf Room Mai Tai from the Bum. Erik of Underhill-Lounge finds his inspiration from… crabs, well, a contribution to a crab-related project, and introduces the Crab Malice. Andy contributes a “little something” with Kahlua, Vermouth, and Flor de Caña, and Mr. bostonapothecary throws in his “shift drink”, a blend of some globe-spanning rums, grenadine, lime, and Peychaud’s bitters. Tiare throws in an interesting blend of Rum and Paprika syrup in her Bell Pepper Punch. One toast for all the imbibers at eGullet!

Orlando at el machete’s rum reviews teams up with his nutritionist wife for a full-bodied, and nutritionally significant drink for the morning after, the Peel of the Dog. A full list of nutrients follows, with vitamins and minerals described by their various purposes in helping the body to purge the former evening’s after effects. Here’s a cheers to Orlando, nutritionists (the ones that don’t discourage decent drinking habits), and to the morning after!

Marleigh from Sloshed! pops open a new bottle of Ginger Beer for the classic highball and perfect anytime drink, the Dark and Stormy. Perhaps not a surprising entry, considering the copious quantities of Ginger Beer Marleigh recently went through in a series of Ginger Beer Reviews (1, 2). The sacrifices made to make sure we don’t get a nasty batch of sappy crap. A toast to Marleigh, to Ginger Beer, and to the Dark and Stormy!

Jacob Grier pulls a new classic from The Art of the Bar, featuring that Brazilian spirit and spirit of Brazil, Cachaça. the Sangre de Fresca. Jacob then uses Barbancourt, an Agricole rum with a bit of the same grassy notes as Cachaça, to prove he’s got the guts to use some real Rhum. This fresh and fruity concoction also involves the making of a Balsamic syrup, a sort of reduced, sweetened Balsamic. Somewhere in Scotland, Camper English is receiving little happy beams of joy from the internet knowing vinegar and drink are going together yet again. Toasts to Jacob, to Brazil, and to Balsamic!

Pavel at Science of Drink, a bilingual blog for those ambilinguistic imbibers out there, has posted on one of his, and certainly my favorite, Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. As a particular nitpicker on the subject of the Mai Tai, I have to say a hearty thank you to Pavel. I scrutinized and found no missteps. Pavel also goes in-depth into tasting Rum with some of the finer Rums for sipping, and for use in a Mai Tai, including some stuff not so easy to get in the states. The Mai Tai really is a drink you can “waste” your finest sipping rum in. A hearty toast to Pavel, to Rum, and to the Mai Tai!

Matt, aka Rum Dood finds himself overwhelmed by being in his element. Nonetheless, he perseveres and digs deep into his mailbox to pull out some Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole, whipping up the Depaz Midnight Mojito. This is a bit darker than your standard Mojito, but all the richer and better for it. Matt also discusses the proper muddling, crunching, grinding, twisting and torquing of the mint to get that “ahh” crisp herbaciousness out of it. A toast to Matt, to the Mojito, and to any distilleries or distributors that also want to fork over some product to me, Shilly McShillerson of Shillingston.

Dr. Bamboo takes a few stabs, directed at himself, in making the Jamaica Mule from 1001 Cocktails. The good Dr. hits upon something I think we’ve all come across, where the recipe calls for White, Dark, and 151, for example, without any specifics. The difference between Bacardi White and Flor de Caña’s light rums are like comparing apples and orangutans, and reaching for the wrong bottle can make monkey-piss out of a masterpiece. After a few bad attempts, a proper combination is hit upon, and all was well again. A toast to Dr. Bamboo, to self sacrifice, and to bartender’s guides that aren’t afraid to say what brand, country, age, or otherwise of booze to use to make the cocktail proper!

Kevin, advocating for Idaho Imbibers at Save the Drinkers! waxes poetic in his first MxMo entry, discussing Scarlet Ibis, a rum made with a special need in mind, from a special man working for special people. Supposedly a fantastic rum (can’t find it to save my skin here), imported by Eric Seed of Haus Alpenz for Death & Co. Kevin discusses the rum, and then brings about the Gustad Noble Punch, a bamboozling bowl of delight with Demerara Sugar, Apple Juice, Scarlet Ibis, Pimento Dram, and Peychaud’s. Well done Kevin, a toast to you, to Haus Alpenz for the bottles of Batavia Arrack on my liquor shelf, and to Death and co.!

Dominik at the Opinionated Bar-Log=Blog brings up a classic recipe in his Old Plantation Punch. One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong and four of weak, makes for a great planter’s punch, and is probably the best mnemonic device to my knowledge when attempting to improvise a punch. Another extoller of the Anguilla Rum Pyrat XO, Dominik mixes it, according to formula, with Lime, Gomme, water, and just a touch of bitters for flavor. A toast to Dominik, the best Dubai-based bartender blogger in this MxMo!

Over at Infusions of Grandeur, the Mad Scienticians, recently back from a trip through the various nether-regions of who knows where, did a thoroughly unprecedented, unethical, and likely delicious experiment, fusing a Pineapple and Bacardi Coco Rum. None yet know what sort of unholy love child these mating of these products of tropic climes will produce, but we all eagerly anticipate the results. Toasts all around to Brendan and Wayland, to doing weird things with fruit, and to home infusion experiments. FOR SCIENCE!!

Another newbie to the intertubie, Kevin at Beers in the Shower, posted a nice and simple recipe using his own Black Tea Infused Rum, aptly titled the Sun Lemonade. Infusing rum is nothing new, and tea, cinnamon, allspice or other somehow herbed up or spiced rum really is a product of history, and not just modern marketing. If you’ve got something coming out of the still that tastes like Satan’s own sick, adding a bit of flavoring gave it a few nice notes, before it got you speaking in tongues. Welcome Kevin, and a toast to you and your mixture of caffeine and alcohol!

My dear friend Matthew at the Booze Council has put his post into the pandemonium, even managing to somehow quote The Big Lebowski , while bringing up the matter of the Fig Leaf, out of Paul Harrington’s Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century. This recipe is, well, at first glance, it’s puzzling. Rum and Vermouth? Well ladies and gentlemen, it has been done before… and by whom? None other than Donn Beach hisself, in his classic Beachcomber’s Gold (or, a Perfect Rum Manhattan with a dash of Pastis). Matthew, along with Craig, Lance, occasionally Jeffrey, and very rarely Paul, are part of the burgeoning cocktail community here in Portland, OR, that I am pleased as Planter’s Punch to be a part of, and to call my home. Many cheers to Matthew, to Portland, to the OBG, and to The Dude.

In my own rather rambling post at TraderTiki.com (where you should be at now), I blather on about three different types of Dark Rum, and the drinks that Don the Beachcomber made to salute them. I now call a toast to Don the Beachcomber, Ambassador of Rum, host to Diplomat and Beachcomber, Prince and Pirate.

Darcy, that chipper Canuck from Art of Drink chimes in, turning the contents of a bottle of Lamb’s Navy Rum into a Lychee and Apple Highball. Darcy discusses a few of the benefits of living by a Loblaws (owner, Bob Loblaw?) for their high quality seasonal products. A toast to Darcy, to our friendlier neighbors up north, and to fresh seasonal ingredients!

Felicia of Felicia’s Atomic Lounge submitted this altogether far too tasty looking Bananas Foster Cocktail. She utilizes the power of this Gosling’s Rum in a liquid version of this classic dessert to lure you to her site, where the rest of her delicious concoctions lay. That pictures speaks miles to my tastebuds, and loving bananas so much I’m practically part monkey, there’s a good chance it will be seen in this household sometime soon. A Flambéd Toast to you, Felicia!

Michael from A Dash of Bitters takes on Thomas Tew Rum, made by a local (to him) distiller in Rhode Island. He then takes the Tew into a Skewed version of Trader Vic’s Kona Cocktail, from his eponymous Book of Food and Drink. Local liquor is a real treat for the dedicate locavore. Luckily, I’m in a pretty good are for that, with House Spirits, Rogue Spirits, Integrity Spirits, all nearby, and craft beer by the barrelful. A close-by toast to the Locavores, to Michael, and to all those little distilleries out there showin’ the man what they got.

Ted at Le Mixeur gives us a swift punch in the mouth from Ernest Hemingway, with an attempted deconstruction of El Floridita. This, the Hemingway Daiquiri, the Papa Doble, and the 40 some odd versions of this drink (possibly imbibed while writing, though none lived to tell) unfortunately runs Ted into a brick wall. It seems you like it how you like it, and Ernest liked his so much they’re still saving his a seat at El Floridita. Toasts to Ted, to Ernest, and to the many variations once recipe can make.

Sonja, distiller extraordinaire over at Thinking of Drinking enchants us with a Vietnamese-inspired Tamarind Lemongrass Mojito. That makes Mojito number three for this wrap up! My muddler should be nice ‘n minty now. Sonja also advises that, for those without a local Asian cuisine store, the Tamarind can be left out, and the lemongrass still makes a lovely drink. Cheers to Sonja, to Lemongrass, and again to that classic, the Mojito!

Ian at Iceland Spar treats us to a Pollen Island, Ian’s own original creation, inspired by St. Germain. I don’t know about you, but my mental palate just can’t mix with the stuff. It’s knock your socks off good, particularly with Gin, but my improv cocktails with it always fail. Inspiringly, Ian uses Pusser’s and Martinique in this cocktail. Perhaps there’s a chance I can pick up that big beautiful bottle again. Toasts and Mahalo to Ian, to St. Germain, and to all those poor elderflower pickers out there.

Dennis from Rock and Rye gives us a classic from The Savoy Cocktail Book, posting about the Judge Jr. This classic cocktail from a new MxMo contributor brings Rum and Gin together again. the two play very nicely, one will find, and this drink looks like a good one with the right blend. You’ll notice a bottle of Dry Fly Gin in Dennis’ post. Dry Fly is a distiller based in Spokane, Washington, and another notch up on the Northwest’s list of Distilleries. Thanks Dennis, a toast to you, to the Savoy, and to Harry Craddock.

My very close friend and neighbor Craig from Tiki Drinks & Indigo Firmaments sets sail while staying local, with his Rhubarb Bumbo Cocktail. I’ve had a few of the prototypes myself, and do declare it a rather special treat. Rhubarb, after all, is the new cardamom. Bumbo is one of those fun ingredients that you can put your own spin on, keeping various spices and molasses together with a tot of rum for those days your land legs start craving the Sea. A glorious toast to Craig, to Piracy (yar!), and to the consistent love of Rum!

And just in at the whistle, the Papa of this baby behemoth we call MxMo, Paul from CocktailChronicles casts down the shackles of oppression, and brings on the shackles of freelancing, celebrating the exchange with his Short Timer. Taking the best of the best of modern rum drinks, he combines them in this Rum and then-some cocktail, featuring Creole Shrub and Barbancourt, with decanter bitters, vermouth, and ginger liqueur thrown in to taste. A toast to helpful mixologists, another hearty toast to Paul, and a another toast… well, maybe just some toast to keep his belly from going empty after throwing in the towel at the day job.

I think that will do of toasts for now. Stragglers will be picked up in a follow up, and only mildly humiliated.

My thanks to the many (35!) contributors to this Mixology Monday. It was a pleasure chatting with all of you, and I do so hope we’ve all learned a little bit more about the versatility and power of the spirit known as Rum.

For more information on Rum, may I strongly suggest a trip to Ed Hamilton’s site, the Ministry of Rum, where one can find all sorts of information on the spirited tipple. When asked for rum advice, I often use his site as reference when I am missing information to properly answer the question. The best advice I say though, is to drink more rum!

Now it’s time to start preparing for next month’s MxMo topic, Bourbon, to be hosted at Scofflaw’s Den. Thanks for stopping by!