The education-oriented Rum Congress returned this year as an add-on to the San Francisco Rum Festival, offering deep dives into everyone’s favorite spirit. As with Saturday’s Festival event, Rum Congress was at Trader Vic’s Emeryville with the Lanyu room hosting 40 attendees.
Most of the sessions were hosted by a rum brand, with flowing samples provided – the best of which was Kate Perry representing LM&V and doing a deep dive into Hampden Estate from Jamaica with rum pours across their line. Many bottles were killed… Planteray’s Alexandre Gabriel discussed Navy Rum including the first U.S. tasting of the new blend of Mister Fogg’s Sail No. 2, including samples from each of the rums in the blend. I found No. 2 to be better than last year’s expression.
The Rum Lab founder Fede Hernández discussed historical details of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, once known for rum production. There was even a session that was a deep dive into Sherry styles, increasingly important considering how many rums are either aged or matured in different Sherry casks.
I was paired with Mitch Wilson for the last session of the day, discussing Essential Rums for Tiki Cocktails. I provided the premise for 10 key rum styles most common in historical and modern recipes including some brand recommendations. Mitch then led a more open discussion of additional considerations, such as how today’s expressions may not fully represent what Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber were using back in their heyday. Mitch also brought some Black Tot rum expressions, including a very interesting Solera expression and also some fabulous Master Blender’s Reserve that I think tastes a lot like vintage Navy Rum.
We ended the day with toast:
There are tall ships,
And there are small ships,
And there are ships that sail the sea,
But the best ships, are friendships,
So here’s to you and me!
Thank you to all the attendees, especially those who stayed engaged all the way to the very end of a long weekend. You are the true champions of rum.
