Category: Rum

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Amrut Two Indies Rum from India

Amrut Two Indies is a rum produced in Bengaluru India and made with distillate from both India as well as the West Indies (Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados). The light style of rum has some mild spice notes on the finish after an initial burst of astringency. The rum isn’t really anything special when sampled neat, though the ABV is a bit higher than you’d expect at a precise 42.8%. This is not a heavy rum, so could appeal to those new to spirits or even some crossover whiskey drinkers.

Given the middling review of the rum when tasting it neat, I did not have high expectations for this rum in a Mai Tai where I usually like my rums to be bolder and boozier. But I’m here to tell you that Amrut Two Indies is fantastic in a Mai Tai.

Amrut has some bright and citrusy notes that paired so well with fresh lime and my custom blend of Clement and DeKuyper orange liqueurs. The Mai Tai was a pleasure from beginning to end and the mild aging notes certainly came through in the cocktail. Not every rum needs to be a sipper and I was impressed with Amrut Two Indies as a mixing rum.

West and East Indies, get it?
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Heather and Tim Complete the Kon-Tiki Rum Expedition

Congratulations to Heather and Tim for completing the 100 rum list as part of the Kon-Tiki Expedition. The ceremony Wednesday included a special menu of Heather and Tim’s favorite cocktails, plus cheering as they banged the gong to celebrate.

The Kon-Tiki was really buzzing in downtown Oakland on Wednesday. The place was quite full, though the service staff and bartenders were doing a great job getting drink and food orders filled in a timely fashion. The Kon-Tiki’s world’s best cheeseburger was in amazing tip top form, and we tried the very intriguing new desert item Vino Pears a la Mode. This is wine-soaked pears served with vanilla ice cream and this was truly interesting and delicious.

We must call out the excellent musical playlist from Kon-Tiki’s @not_carlos. The playlist featured a variety of mostly instrumental songs that leaned in a soul and afrobeat direction. This felt retro (even though some songs are very recent) and groovy, and since they were instrumental this still felt appropriate for a tiki bar.

Kon-Tiki Burger
Special Menu
Vino Pears a la Mode
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National Daiquiri Day at The Kon-Tiki

I’m doing Kon-Tiki’s Rum Expedition list of 100 rums again, and decided to Daiq it up last night for National Daiquiri Day.

I tried three rums in this format, all light/clear and I believe all unaged.

Copalli White – this pot/column blend from Belize is made from sugar cane juice but is very approachable. Not as much character in this one compared to the other two, but it is very serviceable in this format.

Père Labat Blanc 59 – a high proof rhum had more oomph and the traditional Martinique grassy notes were somewhat tempered in this format. I liked this, not just for the 59% ABV but because of the terroir of the island of origin.

KōHana Hawaiian Agricole Rum KEA – by far by favorite from this list. I absolutely love Kea for the savory qualities, even at only 40% ABV. Not grassy like the Martinique, instead this flavor bomb had a really lovely and long finish in the daiquiri.

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Atomik Tiki Lounge Luau and Grog Contest

We had a great time on a warm Saturday attending the annual luau at the Atomic Tiki Lounge. Big thanks to hosts Chad and Jenny who opened their home, backyard, patio, and rum collection to the party attendees. Their tiki bar is comfy and covered wall to wall with fab artwork, and the patio outside is covered and comfortable as well.

There’s a cocktail contest each year that Chad organizes. Last time I attended it was a Mai Tai contest and I came in second to a really awesome Mai Tai and this year’s fiesta was a Grog contest. I’m pleased to report that my Turkey Grog was the winning entry, and I won a bottle of Amrut Two Indies rum from India. These contests are a lot of fun and I tasted some of the other entries and they were all worthy of consideration with strong merits.

Photo credit: Josephine Bjellqvist

Turkey Grog by Kevin Crossman
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Ruby Grapefruit Juice
½ oz Honey Syrup (1:1)
½ oz Velvet Falernum
½ oz Don’s Spices #2
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
¾ oz Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum
1½ oz Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
Shake with ice, garnish with mint. Serve in glass of choice.

Don’s Spices #2: Equal parts Vanilla Syrup and Pimento Dram/Allspice Liqueur.
If you have non-alcoholic Falernum syrup then drop the amount to ¼ oz.

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Jamaican Mai Tai

A little twist on the usual weekday Mai Tai, using a 50/50 split with the Ultimate Mai Tai rum and Hamilton Pot Still Gold. The curaçao is a blend of DeKuyper and Clement Shrubb.

Quite tasty, a little more wild and funky than usual. Really love all the flavors coming together.

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Kon-Tiki Oakland Mid-2023

Had a great time at The Kon-Tiki Oakland on Wednesday. I’m still off dairy for the time-being so I ordered the Kon-Tiki Burger sans-cheese. Definitely still very good, but clearly not as awesome without cheese. Service tonight was really great.

Kon-Tiki is in between major menu changes, so the current menu is via a paper menu with about ⅔ of the cocktails from the last published menu. I did order the premium Golden Gong which I found to be rich and complex, consistent with previous orders.

I also ordered a Mai Tai made with Paranubes Aguardiente de Caña, a rum from Oaxaca, Mexico. This sugarcane juice-based spirit is quite flavorful and savory, not unlike some of the Clairins I’ve enjoyed from Haiti. Not grassy at all. Combined with the Kon-Tiki’s excellent base Mai Tai ingredients, this was an awesome Mai Tai.

Mai Tai with Paranubes
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The Appleton Rum Shortage and More Dr. Joy Spence Notes

Some additional notes and commentary from the Appleton 17 Legend event last week in London, this time pulling out a few items that weren’t directly related to the release of that rum expression.

Dr. Joy Spence noted that Appleton only uses high quality barrels for aging, because “if you age in crap barrels you get… crap.” Finely noted and certainly a factor in the end result quality of any aged rum. 

According to Spence, the Scotch Whiskey Institute did a study of the same distillate aged in Scotland and In Jamaica. The study found that the distillate aged in Jamaica was three times as fast for the same effective taste.

We asked about the shortage of Appleton 12 and Appleton 8 during most of 2022. Spence noted that it was a supply chain problem due to inability to get bottles from their sole supplier. That supplier couldn’t make the bottles because they got their raw materials from Ukraine. So, if you’re looking for another reason to dislike Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion… Hopefully we won’t have to revisit Appleton 12 shortages again.

Lastly, Spence described a cocktail that’s a favorite in Jamaica. The drink is called the Epic Cocktail and it is made thusly. 1) Open a coconut. 2) Crack open the top. 3) Pour in some Appleton 8, then drink. “You’ll have an epic time!” I’m sure that’s definitely the case.