Previous
Rum and fun
DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - JAN 2006
Rum and fun
Vacation libations
What do a daiquiri, a mojito, a Waikiki woo woo and a zombie have in common? If you answer they're all cocktails, you're right. But if you add they're all made with rum, go to the head of mixology class.
Perhaps because it's made from molasses, a by-product of sugar refining in hot countries, rum is the alcoholic beverage most often associated with a holiday in the tropics.
Hundreds of different rums are manufactured throughout the Caribbean area, ranging from crystal clear to dark brown in clarity, and from smooth and elegant to rough and ready in taste.
One of the biggest producers, Bacardi, transferred its expertise and its trademarks to The Bahamas before Fidel Castro confiscated the original Cuban operation in 1960. Today, Bacardi exports the equivalent of millions of cases of rum per year from New Providence to Europe, but a small percentage is sold here.
Rum is arguably the the most called-for spirit in bars, restaurants and nightclubs around New Providence, whether you are visiting Paradise Island, Nassau or the Cable Beach strip.
Like others around town, Radisson's Edgewater bar serves beer, wine and spirits, mostly rum, to swarms of visitors every day.
Lots of choices
In an average busy hour, Edgewater's eight bartenders empty six bottles of rum, creating more than 100 drinks including the famous Bahama mama and some other concoctions they've dreamed up for their guests.
"We go through 75 to 80 bottles of rum alone every day," says Wilton Russell, bartending veteran and Cable Beach?s two-time champion mixer.
Russell and his colleagues use only five of the 47 different types of rum available on the island in their drinks.
Rum is believed to have made its debut in Barbados in the early 1600s. It was an extremely potent drink until distillers began to refine the taste in the 1800s.
While all rum makers today have a unique process or a secret ingredient, it is the ageing that adds variation and subtlety. While some rums are bottled for immediate sale, others are left to age for years in wooden casks before being bottled.
Lots of flavours
Rum comes in varying proofs, or measures of alcoholic content. Most rum ranges between 70 and 100 proof or 35 to 50 per cent alcohol. These include the well-known Castillo and premium rums made under the Bacardi and Captain Morgan labels.
Some companies take their alcohol percentage to higher levels. "Take one shot of the Bacardi 151 and you?ll be all right," says Russell.
These more potent rums, along with the darker, more robustly flavoured ones, are favourites with chefs who create distinctive and sometimes quirky rum-infused sauces and desserts such as flambed cakes. The classic rum cake, for example, is as much a tradition in the West Indies as the fancy drinks at the bar.
Traditional island bush medicine uses rum in elixirs to treat illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer. It's also used as a preservative and a mild sedative.
Vacationers, however, choose rum drinks because of their distinctive flavours, and perhaps because of their fanciful and provocative names. Who can resist something called the Caribbean Slammer or the Purple G-String?
Island rose
by Wilton Russell
1 oz shot peach schnapps
1 oz shot banana rum
2 oz light rum
2 oz melon liqueur
2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
Dash of grenadine syrup
Mix together and serve over ice.
Caribbean slammer
by Jumico Maura
1 1/2 oz peach schnapps
1 1/2 oz Amaretto
1 1/2 oz Midori (melon liqueur)
2 oz banana rum
2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
1 oz cranberry juice
Dash of grenadine syrup
Mix together and serve over ice.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-Mail: Click here
Internet: https://
Disclaimer:
Information in editorial and listings is subject to change at any time.