About five dozen thirsty souls braved the snow and icy streets to flock into Cafe Diem for some samples of premium spirits and matching cocktails. This whole event started with William Ramsey (B2B band member, and also one of the gurus of the Richmond Ski Club). Bill was attending one of my events in Key West last November, drinking my rum and asking me, "why haven't you done anything in Richmond Virginia?". I didn't have a good answer, so we agreed to make it happen. He hooked me up with Richard Arther, owner of Cafe Diem; Richard was enthusiastic in his support, and we were on!
We set up a tasting of four premium spirits with matching cocktails - this method really catches the curiouslity of bar patrons and introduces them to new beverages. The rums were Tommy Bahama White Sand Rum and Pussers Rum; the vodka was Absolut and the bourbon was Jim Beam Black Label. A big thanks to the event's supporting distributors: Debbie Watts of Sparrow & Associates, and to Bill Luton of Southern Wine & Spirits. Debbie actually hung out at the event, helped me serve samples and gave away some swag - thanks!!
We served a classic Mojito sample using the Tommy Bahama, the popular Pussers Painkiller, the ever-popular Cosmopolitan with the Absolut, and a Bourbon Sour with the Jim Beam Black. All ingredients were fresh, and we wowed the crowd with the flavors. Patrons started ordering full-sized drinks from the tasting menu; this is why we're there and why we do what we do. The Cafe Diem bar staff was great - them made me feel welcomed, and we teamed up without a hitch. Even my older son Tony showed up with some friends and joined the fun, so that was great for me on a personal note.
Richard Arther (owner of Cafe Diem), Debbie Watts (Sparrow & Assoc. Distributing), and I, pouring some of Debbie's wonderful Tommy Bahama White Sand Rum.
They're actually looking at the tasting mat! They're reading it! I'm so proud............
In goes the Pussers Rum to complete a batch of yummy Painkillers! If you haven't ever had a Pusser Painkiller, you haven't tasted the tropics! Southern Wines & Spirits distributes this great mixing rum, imported from the Caribbean.
The Cafe Diem bar staff was great to work with; this mixologist is also a tennis pro. Poor guy, he must be lonely all the time............... yeah, right.
Tommy Bahama in da house!
Some patrons ordering full servings of the Jim Beam Balck Label - excellent taste!
People poured in, even if red-eyed.
Man, it was jumpin'!! A whole lotta fun.
While moving at light speed (hence the blur), Richard steps in to help. We had a huuuuuge crowd by 7.
"Busy, no, not at all, I can make you a custom drink.............................."
(but if I don't get the Cosmo samples out soon, people will riot!)
If the bar owner is happy, then I'm happy! Can't wait to work with Richard Arther and Cafe Diem again!
ATLAS GRILL & BAR, HILLTOP, FRIDAY DECEMBER 18, 2009 - WHAT A BLAST!!
Atlas General Manager Ryan Gransbury, Bar Manager Scott Herlitz, and I partnered up to offer a 'Locals Only' holiday party on December 18. There was a special flight of premium spirits and their matching cocktails, along with special drinks, special prices, and some complimentary HDs.
We selected the Bacardi 8 Anos for the rum, and matched it with a 'Planter's Punch' cocktail, to the delight of all (more on this later). We used the Glenlivet 12 for the Scotch, and 'The Godfather' cocktail to show it off; 3 parts whiskey, one part amaretto, all parts smooooth. Ketel One vodka found its way into the classic, crisp 'Cosmopolitan'. Maker's Mark contributed to the ever-tasty 'Old Fashioned'.
The crowd was large, enthusiastic, and created a great positive vibe throughout the event. Depite the looming inclement weather, over 60 hardy souls came to party, and they did! Take a look:
Now, this IS a rum website, so let me briefly wax poetic about the rum we're using for this event's tasting selection: Bacardi 8 Ron Anos. A sophisticated rum, presenting wood and toasted caramel notes. We're offering it along with a matching cocktail, the tasty Planter's Punch. This way, you can taste the rum standing alone, and then see how it melds with the cocktail contents to bring a standard offering to new heights. I used this approach in three Key West events this past November, with splendid results. For the Atlas event, we used 'Planter's Punch': 1 part Bacardi Anos, 4 parts fresh OJ, and a big splash of grenadine. PLEASE use fresh/homemade grenadine if at all possible. It's easy to make, just by combining (shaking up) pomegranite juice with a lot of sugar, or heating equal parts pomegranite juice and sugar just to a boil while stirring frequently, and letting it cool. You will notice an obvious difference between the bottled commercially-available grenadine and your own wonderful product.
Great event, great time. Kudos to Atlas Grill & Bar - can't wait to do it again!
Rum Barrel RumFest Key West, Florida Rum Barrel Restaurant November 4,5,6 2009www.rumbarrelrumfest.com
I’ve been wanting to do more events in Key West and the Keys. Burton Aldrich of Southern Wines & Spirits teamed up with Jeff Sorg, Managing Partner of the Rum Barrel on Front Street in Key West, to help me make it happen. We decided to target Meeting of the Minds, the annual national Parrot Head convention in early November, and combine rum and cocktails with TropRock music. Did it work out? Did my rum selections and cocktail recipes find favor with the crowd? Oh, yeah…………
Dozens of locals, rum aficionados, and Parrot Heads joined me and Rum Barrel bartender Alan on November 4 at the Rum Barrel for a selection of premium rums and matching cocktails. Live music was provided by the popular Tall Paul www.tallpaul.com We were joined by rum aficionados Robert and Rob Burr of Gifted Rums and Rum Renaissance Miami www.giftedrums.com and Mike Streeter of Rum Connection www.rumconnection.com Old and new friends from Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, and all over the USA came in to sample and learn about rums.
We started with a tasty flight of four premium rums, then served their matching cocktails. The RON VIZCAYA VXOP CASK 21 RUM from the Dominican Republic hooked the whiskey lovers right out of the gate. Produced using the ‘agricole’ method (fermenting sugar cane juice instead of molasses) and aged in seasoned white oak barrels, this delightful rum ‘wowed the tasters with sweet spices, toasted nuts, vanilla, baked apple, and gentle dairy notes. We paired it with a VIZCAYA CUBAN SOUR; the fresh lime juice, orange juice, and simple syrup melded with the rum’s palate notes to create a simple yet classic cocktail that brought out Ron Vizcaya’s signature flavors.
PYRAT XO RESERVE RUM from Anguilla was our second offering. This rum has a luxurious mouth coat. Aroma and taste notes include honey, mango, peach, citrus, vanilla, and chocolate. The signature hand-blown glass flask with its signature ribbon and good-luck medallion sets it apart, while allowing the beautiful amber color of the rum to shine through. We paired it with a PYRAT PIRATE DAIQUIRI that showed off the rum’s flavors in a clean, crisp cocktail. Lovely!
Our third offering was the RON ATLANTICO RUM from the Dominican Republic. This mahogany-hued rum offers sweet spice, caramel, toasted sugar, honey, nuts, and oak, with a gentle tobacco middle note. Once again, attendees were blown away with the sophistication of a well-crafted rum. The whiskey qualities of this rum led to an obvious re-creation of a historic Broadway classic cocktail, a RON ATLANTICO OLD FASHIONED. Muddled maraschino cherry and orange slice joined premium bitters and the Ron Atlantico in the shaker with ice, thoroughly agitated, then poured for the waiting tasters. The color, the flavor – wondrous.
The last selection was from the Virgin Islands, PUSSER’S 15 YEAR OLD RUM. This unique rum presents nuts, spices, citrus and citrus peel, with an underlying oak and smokiness. A bit of ice or water really lets this rum blossom (very true with all premium rums). This rum found new friends among Irish and Scotch whisky fans and impressed many more. While this rum would have made a great Manhattan or Gimlet, we were in Key West after all, so we used the Pusser’s British Navy Rum to make the classic PUSSER’S PAINKILLER, a delightful blend of rum, pineapple, and orange juices with cream of coconut and a dash of nutmeg. Very nice, thank you!
I'm moving so fast, I'm blurred!
November 5 saw most of the previous day’s crowd alongside a number of new faces, lining up to imbibe from a flight of six tasty cocktails
DIPLOMATICO RESERVE BLANCO RUM and RON ATLANTICO RUM were choice selections for two versions of our CUBAN CLASSIC DAIQUIRI. It’s hard to beat fresh lime juice, kids, and we proved it. We then went to the TOMMY BAHAMA WHITE SAND RUM and the SEAGRAMS BRAZILIAN RUM for their own individual batches of the famous ‘PAPA DOBLES’ HEMINGWAY DAIQUIRI, made with fresh lime juice, grapefruit juice, and a touch of maraschino liqueur (which I schlepped 1,100 miles to the event just for this cocktail). We used the same rums for the HEMINGWAY MOJITO, which uses a splash of grapefruit juice and less sugar to join the mint and lime. The CLASSIC MOJITO saw the arrival of the TOMMY BAHAMA GOLDEN SUN RUM to the fun with this traditional and popular cocktail; people were blown away with the idea of using not just white rums for mojitos; however, I took great pains to inform that premium rums must be mixed judiciously. Not every premium rum mixes well in every mixology recipe – you gotta be careful matching ingredients with the rum’s qualities or you can get less-than-tasty results. We finished with MALIBU RUMS to create a PASSION FRUIT MOJITO and a MANGO MOJITO; Malibu’s flavored rums provided the clean, fresh fruit tastes for these two crowd pleasers. Alan joined me again behind the bar, and he was once again a huge help.
Friday, November 6 was my last event. We were on the upstairs ‘Quarterdeck’, holding a two hour pre-party for Jimmy & Jimmy of Jimmy & the Parrots www.jimmyandtheparrots.com I created a menu of nine specialty daiquiris (NONE of them frozen, thank you) to join the standard menu of bar offerings. After I went over the daiquiri menu with the lovely Angelina from the Rum Barrel staff, she led the charge while I handed out the daiquiri menus and schmoozed the arrivals (tough job, huh?). We offered the CLASSIC DAIQUIRI, a VERY BERRY DAIQUIRI with fresh muddled strawberries I brought in for this cocktail, the DURTY GIRL DAIQUIRI made with FLOR DE CANA 7 YEAR RUM, a CARMEN MIRANDA DAIQUIRI made with the Seagram’s Brazilian Rum, an ATLANTICO HURRICANE DAIQUIRI using the Ron Atlantico Rum, a BARBADOS MANGO DAIQUIRI featuring the Malibu Mango Rum, the PYRAT PIRATE DAIQUIRI we introduced on Wednesday with the Pyrat XO Reserve Rum, a HAITIAN VOODOO DAIQUIRI featuring the BARBANCOURT 4 YEAR RUM (a cocktail very much enjoyed by Jimmy & Jimmy), and a VIRGIN ISLANDS DAIQUIRI with the Pusser’s British Navy Rum. We opened the Quarterdeck at 5; by 7 PM, it was a madhouse! People were intimately crowded together in a friendly manner and rocking to the music.
The calm before the ParrotStorm...........
Joyful madness ensues!
Alan, my capo de tutti capi on Wednesday and Thursday.
Angelina, my lifeline on Friday, and uno bella ragazza!
Burton Aldrich of Southern Wines & Spirits www.southernwine.com was a major help; the menus, tasting mats, and their associated SUPERB graphics were provided by his company, and I am indebted to him for his help. FYI, Southern Wines has a great rum portfolio, and they are to be congratulated for their efforts along these lines. The Rum Barrel www.rumbarrel.com was a great host, and my sincere thanks to Managing Partner Jeff Sorg, along with Alan and Angelina and the rest of the staff. My sweetwife Cherri was, as always, my anchor.
Is Rum Daddy going to be back in Florida and the Keys? You bet. How about New England, DC and the Mid Atlantic? Yep. Already planning the next events - stay tuned.
A word on TropRock music. Every genre has their prima donnas and divas; however, you have to go a long way to find musicians and performers as friendly and mutually supportive as the majority of folks in the TropRock genre. Tall Paul and his lovely statuesque wife Kristie, Robbie and the sexy minx, Lynley of the CalypsoNuts (they’re family to my wife Cherri and me), Jimmy and Jimmy with Jimmy and the Parrots, Ed with Radio Jimmydreamz, Sunny Jim, Amy Lee, the list goes on. So much music is a natural fit with rum (salsa, reggae, ska, jump up), and TropRock is no exception. Fun events, great parties, shared meals, embarrassing stories, great rums. Thanks guys, you make my work so damn much fun. This is why I give you free drinks.
