Tag: bacardi

The Summer of Rum: Part 1

On By traderjaysIn Mixing Tiki, Visiting Tiki1 Comment

While Club 33 over at Disneyland is having their second “Summer of Tiki” I have decided that I’ve started Trader Jay’s “Summer of Rum”.

It all kicked off on April 13th when Rum Runner Steve and his wife Kim the Rum-Dawg brought back Trouvadore 15 Year Rum from their visit to Turks & Caicos. That same faithful day we gave Bajan 1966 Rum a try (documented here) as well as had our first experience with Rum Captain Brad, Sarah and “Admiral” Fernando at Strong Water (documented here).

There were a lot of great rums tasted that evening… including Ron Abuelo XV Tawny Port, Dictador 20 and the aforementioned Bajan 1966.  And, there were a few misses (sorry Skullduggery from Antigua, you have a cool bottle but not a great product).

Next was the completion of a long standing quest (only 2 short days later) of obtaining Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black rum. Long story, short… Kevin Berry from Three Dots and a Dash Chicago told me it was his one “stuck on an island” rum and I’ve been after it for two years.  Of course, turns out it was at a liquor store I rarely pass but is only 4 miles from my house. I quickly went to work with the Hamilton (trying to match Rum Captain Brad’s brilliant Mai Tai).

The next rum “event” on the list is extremely unique… my boss decided to think outside the box a little on my company anniversary gift. She, being from Columbus, OH, went searching for something different and found a rum made in Columbus… Pipe Dream pot distilled rum from 451 Spirits. I will say this… I was 100% skeptical at first because I prefer my Rum to be from the Caribbean (for the most part) however Pipe Dream has a place. There is a drink that it would be perfect for I just haven’t found it yet… but I am confident I will.

A last minute Disney Cruise was next with a stop in Nassau.  Nassau used to be filled with rum/liquor/duty free stores however, it seems, they have slowly disappeared. I went on a solo hunt for any interesting rum/deal and was mostly disappointed.  That was until I stumbled upon a GREAT deal on Appleton Estate 21 Year. I was very excited with the find and it has quickly become one of my favorite sipping rums! If you have the opportunity to pick yourself up a bottle then DO IT!

Also on the ship I had the opportunity to try Bacardi Facundo Paraiso XA Rum at the ship’s premier Meridian bar. The rum is aged up to 23 years however it is still a blend. The claim is that it has more older rums than the others in the Facundo line and it is finished in Cognac barrels. I found it had a slight oak but not as much as the Appleton 21. It was a very nice rum however I don’t think I’d run right out and drop $300 a bottle on it anytime soon though the bottle is quite impressive.

Returning from the cruise Summer of Rum kicked it up a notch with another visit to Strong Water (SERIOUSLY, if you haven’t been then you MUST go). Our Rum Captain for this visit was Brittany, who had just returned from a Cuba Cruise (side note that we were planning to do that in September but now the State Department has put a block back on visiting). Anyway, Brittany was wonderful, she offered a different flavor profile than Brad and had some great insights about Papa’s Pilar line of rums.  I also had the opportunity to try Rhum Clement Cuvee Homere. It was enjoyable… started with the fresh cane juice, I could pick up a hint of hazelnut and had a dry finish. We also had the opportunity to catch up with Sarah, our hostess on our first visit, and Rum Captain Brad via phone.

I’d like to take the opportunity to call out the hospitality that the Manager (Admiral?), Fernando, provided. He was on the deck of “his” ship 99.9% of the time, greeting guests, talking with tables and we had lots of opportunities to talk about rums… new rums they were exploring, rare rums that he had recently experienced and everyday rum drinks. He was even able to ensure that Mrs. Trader had the opportunity to have her favorite drink, the Milk Punch before we left (which wasn’t ready yet when we arrived). Fernando is an amazing asset to Strong Water and if you have the chance to chat with him about rum you definitely should. It is wonderful talking with the entire staff of Strong Water. They each know their stuff as well as offer a slightly different perspective. We plan to return in the next week or so.

All this rum and it was only Memorial Day weekend!!!  The Summer of Rum was just getting started but I like to keep my posts “manageable” so I’ll stop Part 1 here and look to add Part 2 soon. If you have a Rum Suggestion I should try then leave in the comments.  And, as always, if you have a Rum you’d like to send my way for a full review then always happy to help!

The Rum’s Not Gone… Yet!

Part 2 is LIVE

Behind the Bar: The Black Pearl

On By traderjaysIn Mixing Tiki3 Comments

A few months ago I came across a video for a drink called The Black Pearl that is made at The Cove Bar at Disney’s California Adventure theme park in Anaheim. I’d never had one but with the Pirates of the Caribbean movie reference I knew I had to give it a try.

It is fairly straight forward… half an ounce of gin, vodka and rum then add sour mix and “black berry liqueur”. Two things that made gave this a little trial and error… 1) I don’t really keep Chambord in stock and 2) they didn’t provide measurements for the chambour and sour mix. So I tucked the recipe away for some point in the future.

Last Saturday rolls around and some friends are at Trader Jay’s for the Florida Gator football game. I’m telling my buddy, Golden, about the Black Pearl and he offers to run back to his house to get… wait for it… his bottle of Chambord! And the mixing was on!

I decided that the Chambord was the key ingredient so I made it an equal pour to the other liquors (1/2 oz). Then I thought the sour mix should be enough to fill a rocks glass (1 oz combined with 2 oz of booze). To stretch it, you could add more sour (in the video it seems like at least 3 ounces), but where is the fun in that? Vodka and gin are pretty straight forward but the final decision was “type of rum”. Once again the video showed a white rum (probably Bacardi). There was some debate in the bar but The Trader ultimately decided that the BLACK Pearl should have Kraken Black Rum! (*See variation with Bacardi below)

The taste testing (and over a bottle of Chambord) confirmed that the mix was true! (Shout out to Justin for taking us to liquor store halfway through taste testing!)

Here is the full recipe that Trader Jay’s will be serving:

  • 1/2 oz Kraken Black Rum
  • 1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
  • 1/2 oz Grey Goose Vodka
  • 1/2 oz Chambord
  • 1 oz sour mix

Pour all ingredients into shaker, shake and strain into rocks glass with ice.

All who partook in the taste testing agreed it was a flavorful, fresh drink but can really pack a punch. So give it a mix and a pour and let me know what you think in the comments.

Cheers and Aloha!

*Golden claims that he’s had a similar drink called a Grateful Dead with Bacardi replacing the Kraken. After some research, the Grateful Dead also include Tequila. The Trader will use Bacardi upon request via the Secret Menu. We will call that “The Black Pearl’s Dinghy”.

Hurricanes in a Hurricane

On By traderjaysIn Mixing TikiLeave a comment

As a Florida native, I’m no stranger to Hurricanes. While we take them very seriously, we also know that “Hurricane Supplies” should include alcohol… especially at Trader Jay’s.

Right on the heals of my trip to New Orleans, the perfect drink to feature, obviously, is the Hurricane.

Created and made famous by Pat O’Brien’s on Bourbon Street, it is known for being a strong drink, traditionally featuring at least 4 oz of rum.

My Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans in September 2016

The recipe on the Pat O’Brien site really is just “4 oz of rum and 4 oz of  Pat O’s hurricane mix”… this is all well and good if you buy their mix but not if you don’t want to cheat.

Another issue is that Hurricanes are a hard drink to tinker with because of the high alcohol amounts (had to keep some wits about me in case things went south with Hurricane Matthew).

After some interweb research, I came up with my owen recipes. They both have the same ingredients, just with different levels of alcohol (let’s go with “Cat 1” vs “Cat 4”; We will reserve Cat 5 for one using Overproof Rum).

For non-alcoholic ingredients I used orange juice, simple syrup, sour mix and cherry/pomegranate grenadine. For rum I went with Bacardi white rum and Kraken black rum. Finally, a popular ingredient to use is passion fruit juice or purée, however I decided to up the game by using Passoà passion fruit liqueur… that’s right, even more booze!

Trader Jay’s Category 4 Hurricane

  • 3 oz Bacardi White Rum
  • 2 oz Kraken Black Rum
  • 1.5 oz Passoà Passion Fruit Liqueur
  • 1.5 oz sour mix
  • 1.5 oz orange juice
  • 1 oz cherry/pomegranate grenadine
  • 1/2 oz simple syrup

Pour all ingredients into Hurricane glass filled with ice, give a stir and enjoy!

If you’re looking to bring it down a notch…

Trader Jay’s Category 1 Hurricane

  • 2 oz Bacardi White Rum
  • 1 oz Kraken Black Rum
  • 1 oz Passoà Passion Fruit Liqueur
  • 1 oz sour mix
  • 1.5 oz orange juice
  • 3/4 oz cherry/pomegranate grenadine
  • 1/4 oz simple syrup

Should fit in Collins glass with ice.

Enjoy, Cheers & Aloha! 🍹🌺🗿