Drink Matron

Category: Booze of the Week – Rum

  • Ron de Jeremy Rum is Coming!

    It looks like Ron Jeremy’s Rum, Ron de Jeremy, is on it’s way to the United States and is scheduled to arrive in New York on February 28!

    For those of you who don’t know, Ron Jeremy has decided to join the ranks of other celebrity booze hounds like Sammy Hagar (tequila), Willy Nelson (bourbon), and Dr Dre (Cognac) in introducing his own brand of liquor. Why he chose rum is still a mystery to me, but what is not a mystery is that he has chosen to work with legendary Cuban Master Blender Francisco Don Pancho Fernandez to create this sure-to-make-him-lots-of-money spirit.

    The seven year old premium rum is traveling to us from Panama, and is being released by a company called One Eyed Spirits. Fitting name, don’t you think?

    I’ve got my pre order in, and I cannot wait to sip the drink that’s said “comes through robustly and satisfyingly, yet gentle enough to allow hints of vanilla and raw sugarcane to reveal themselves. The finish is elegant and long.”

  • Rum Runners

    The Prohibition era was an interesting time for the liquor industry in America.  In the short time in which booze was illegal in the States, it didn’t stop Americans from drinking it. In fact, black market spirit sales sprang to an ultimate high, making way for money to be made from illegal booze. And the rum runners made a killing.

    Rum runners were smugglers who specialized in bringing alcohol into the United States via boat. What started with Caribbean rum (hence the term rum runner) eventually moved to include Canadian whiskey and English gin.  Rum runners would go to any number of Caribbean islands, buy enough rum to fill their boats and head back to a U.S. port. Originally, they traveled from Bimini to southern Florida, but as authorities started tightening down on booze smuggling, ships would make runs up and down the entire eastern seaboard.

    Rum was inexpensive to procure, but the rum runners couldn’t turn much of a profit on it because rum was so inexpensive.  Typically, runners employed “profit enhancing” techniques such as watering down the rum or putting expensive brand labels on cheaper or unmarked rum. One of the more famous rum runners, Captain Bill McCoy, made a name for himself by never stooping to these “cost cutting” tactics.  This is where the term “The Real McCoy” comes from.

    McCoy was also known for the Rum Line.  In order to avoid the crack down on the major ports by federal authorities, the runners had to use mid-sized boats to transport the rum and other spirits. After running rum for a while, the intrepid captain realized that they could make most of the trip in much larger boats and then move the cargo to smaller boats offshore and make more profit per trip.  Utilizing this model, they could use even smaller boats to make landfall, allowing them to use smaller ports or even beach access points. Once they started implementing this, making the cargo transfer five miles from the U.S. coast (where International waters begin) the idea took hold.  The large vessels coming in would sit in a long line just outside of U.S. waters and wait for the smaller vessels to pick up the rum, eventually earning the name, “The Rum Line.”

    Rum runners brought in roughly $200,000 in product per week when the average American was making $50 per week.  It was a highly lucrative business for the few short years that alcohol was prohibited in the U.S.  After prohibition was repealed with the 21st Amendment in 1933, rum running became far less profitable, and fell mainly to less boisterous smugglers. The golden era of the rum runner was gone.

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  • The Controversial History of the Mai Tai

    Like any good cocktail, the Mai Tai begins with a good old fashioned controversy over who really invented it. The story of the Mai Tai begins in Oakland, California in 1944, when Victor Bergeron, also known as Trader Vic, claimed to have invented the cocktail at his restaurant.

    Trader Vic stakes his claim as Mai Tai Inventor

    According to the Trader Vic website, Bergeron was looking for a way to mix a bottle of his 17-year old Jamaican rum, J Wray Nephew. He wanted to mix it with something that would accentuate the flavor rather than over power it, so he mixed the rum with fresh lime, orange curacao and Rock Candy Syrup with a splash of French Orgeat and poured it over shaved ice.

    Naming the cocktail was easy, Vic said in a 1970 statement posted on the Trader Vic’s restaurant website.

    “I stuck in a branch of fresh mint and gave two of them to Ham and Carrie Guild, friends from Tahiti, who were there that night. Carrie took one sip and said, ‘Mai Tai – Roa Ae!’ In Tahitian this means ‘Out of This World – The Best.’ Well, that was that. I named the drink ‘Mai Tai.’”

    Don the Beachcomber says the Mai Tai is his

    However, although Vic claimed to have invented the drink, his rival, Don the Beachcomber, jumped on the bandwagon to claim that it was actually him who had invented the exotic cocktail. While Don had invented a similar drink, it was vastly different from Trader Vic’s in both ingredients and taste.

    Legacy of the Mai Tai

    For years after its invention, the Mai Tai enjoyed a large amount of popularity and was featured in Trader Vic’s restaurants as well as other Tiki themed restaurants. It was also famously shown in the Elvis Presley film “Blue Hawaii.”

    Today, the Mai Tai continues to maintain its popularity at Tiki-themed bars and restaurants. Variations on the drink have always been around, but most Mai Tai fans prefer to drink it as Trader Vic originally intended.

    Because of the popularity of the Mai Tai, the original rum used to make the drink was soon unavailable, and was replaced with other long-aged rums. Today, it is recommended that the drink be made with Jamaican rum aged either 8 or 15 years.

    Old style Mai Tai

    Ingredients:

    • 1 oz Fine Jamaican Rum (aged 15 or 8 years)
    • 1 oz Martinique Rum
    • 1/2 oz Orange Curacao
    • 1/2 oz Orgeat Syrup
    • Juice from one freshly squeezed Lime

    Add ingredients together in a shaker and shake vigorously. Pour in a cocktail glass over ice. Garnish with lime and sprig of mint, if available.

     

  • The Mojito: A Caribean cocktail with a centuries old history

    The mojito is a refreshing summer drink that is sure to cool even on the most sweltering of days. But what many do not know is that its history begins with pirates.Made famous in modern times due to Ernest Hemingway’s love for the drink, and seeing a new surge more recently due to the Bacardi Company’s new ready-to-make advertising campaign, the mojito has a surprisingly long history.

    Pirate Origins

    According to The Mojito Company, the story of the mojito begins in the mid 1580’s on pirate Francis Drake’s ship when his associate, Richard Drake, the crew “doctor” would use aguardiente, a predecessor of rum, with sugar, lime and mint as a medicinal cocktail. Many on the crew would enjoy the drink during their pillaging of the Cuban islands, and because of this, the cocktail became popular throughout the Caribbean world. Drake named the beverage El Draque, the dragon, after Sir Francis.

    In the 1800’s, when rum became popular, it replaced the aguardiente, and the mojito was born.

    Another story states that the mojito was invented by slaves working Cuban sugar cane fields in the 1800’s. This story shares similarities with the origin of the daiquiri; however, and many believe the stories have become confused over the years.

    Hemingway and the Mojito

    It is not surprising then, that a cocktail that originated in the Caribbean would become the ideal summer cool down. Ernest Hemingway adored the drink and was said to have enjoyed it at La Bodequita in Havana, Cuba. He is said to have written, “I drink my mojitos at la Bodequita and at La Floridita,” on the wall there.

    The Mojito

    Ingredients and hardware:

    • 10 – 12 mint fresh mint leaves
    • 2 Tablespoons simple syrup
    • 2 oz. light rum
    • 1 lime, sliced
    • Club Soda
    • Lime wedge and mint sprigs for garnish
    • Muddler

    In a highball glass, gently crush the mint leaves and the sliced lime with a muddler. Add syrup, and fill glass with ice. Add rum and top with club soda. Stir to mix. Garnish with lime wedge and a few sprigs of mint.

    Recipe variations

    Like many summer cocktails, people experiment in order to get exactly what they’re looking for. In the case of the mojito, many different flavors can be added to the original recipe to spark new taste sensations. In order to add more flavor, one can either add the desired fruit (raspberry, mango, strawberry, etc) to the lime and mint during the muddling process. One can also replace the lime with these fruits if desired.

    Another way to get more flavor is to use flavored rums. Rum flavors range from raspberry to watermelon to orange.

    No matter how you enjoy your mojito, remember, drink responsibly. Always have a designated driver and remember to know your limits!

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  • Booze of the Week – Rum

    It’s time for us to explore the greatness that is rum! Dark, light, spiced, and tasty, we’re on a mission to bring you some great info and recipes on this barroom and beach vacation favorite.