Tag: Jamaicarum

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Kon Tiki Single Barrel Release Party

Congrats to our friends at The Kon-Tiki who celebrated Monday evening with the long-awaited release of their Worthy Park Single Barrel Rum. This cask-strength rum from Jamaica comes in at a hefty 66% ABV and you’ll taste every bit of the flavor. Obviously overproof and quite funky by general rum standards, but not so much that this can’t be sipped neat or on the rocks. It’s from barrel 717 and aged five years in the tropics.

These bottles are for sale. Prices vary depending on whether you buy one, two, or a case, but think ~$60 per bottle. It is a great rum and supplies are limited, so be sure to visit The Kon-Tiki soon to secure this great rum.

For the party on Monday, there were some cocktail specials featuring this rum along with other products from the Worthy Park / Rum-Bar Rum portfolio. Of course I had to try the Kon-Tiki Barrel Mai Tai and this rum is simply a great choice. One of my favorite Mai Tais of 2022. Expect to see this as a higher-end Mai Tai option in a revised menu coming soon.

Got to speak a little with Zan Kong who is the Commercial Manager for Spirits at Worthy Park. Such a nice guy and knowledgable and passionate about what Worthy Park is doing. 

For many years the distillery has made a tidy profit selling bulk rum to the likes of Hamilton Rums, Doctor Bird, and others. But lately the distillery seems to be using more of their rum for their own products. I’m a fan of their mainstream aged rum release Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve, but also their unaged Rum-Bar Overproof expression and Worthy Park 109, a lightly aged dark rum. 100% pot still rum, always.

Kon-Tiki Barrel Mai Tai
Zan Kong from Worthy Park
Kon-Tiki Owner Christ Aivaliotis
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SF Rum Fest Recap: The Rums

Had a great time in the city for this annual Rum Fest, this time being billed as the San Francisco Rum Fest now that there’s a companion new event in Los Angeles.

This is an event that’s mix of educational seminars, rum education, rum exploration, and social meetup. Having tasted more of these rums over the years, I lean more into the social side but there’s always some new brands or expressions to try. View the video of the layout.

I was impressed by the single-still releases from El Dorado: Enmore, Versailles, and Port Mourant. These are all aged 12 years and provided at cask strength. I was told these would retail at ~$90, in which case that would be a steal. I do see them offered online for ~$150 which seems to be more what I’d expect. In any case, these are flavor bombs that are so great. I was most impressed by the Versailles, with the Port Mourant being a close second.

Diamond Distilleries was also showing off a fruity and light white 151, aged six months. And a heavier dark 151 aged two years, somewhat more reminiscent of the famed LH151 but still quite lighter.

Rhum Barbancourt had a white expression I’d never tried before and liked. It’s a lighter style than the Haitian rum clairin from Saint Benevolence, which has an aged expression in the market and more things to come.

Copalli rum from Belize seems to be everywhere. I liked both the white and the barrel rested expressions. They were serving a great daiquiri riff by local bartender Maritza Rocha-Alvarez that was superb.

Rhum Saint James from Martinique seemed to be making a push to get better distribution and had a number of new and interesting expressions.

I spoke to the Hawaiian producers about their product, which will be covered in a deeper dive in a couple weeks.

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Aperol Bird

We had some pineapple juice and so I did a Jungle Bird riff using Campari’s sweeter cousin, Aperol. I have been enjoying Aperol Spritzs this month and thought this might work in a cocktail that calls for the more bitter Campari. I’ve grown to appreciate the Jungle Bird as a cocktail, but regular readers know I lean sweet.

Aperol Bird
½ oz Lime Juice
4 oz Pineapple Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
¾ oz Aperol
1 oz Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black Rum
½ oz Goslings Dark Rum
Shake with cubes.

This was okay. I’ve found that when the Hamilton is used by itself it can sometimes overpower a cocktail, hence cutting it with Goslings. As it turns out, it probably would have been better with all that Jamaican rum instead. The Aperol does give this a lighter and sweeter taste but it isn’t able to stand up to all that pineapple juice as well as Campari.

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National Mai Tai Day at Hale Pele

Tiki Kon weekend is here, and the first event was a ticketed, private seating at Portland’s world class tiki bar Hale Pele.

Of course we started with Hale Pele’s Mai Tai, and damn that is a fantastic cocktail! This is still made according to their longtime specs with 1½ oz Cobura Dark Jamaican rum along with ½ oz of Wray & Nephew Jamaican Overproof rum. So flavorful, and one of the best Mai Tais you can buy anywhere on planet earth.

Such a great time at Hale Pele when filled with tiki people, and the Hale Pele team really put on a great show with the fire drinks. Mrs. Mai Tai started with her default cocktail the Lava Flow (yummy!) and then we shared a flaming Jet Pilot. Such a great cocktail and even more special when set on fire by Hale Pele’s team of fire experts.

We really like the food at Hale Pele. My Mahi Tacos were fantastic, as was the Kalua Pork sandwich.

We also have to thank Appleton rum for the wonderful pour of their incredible Appleton 15 rum, along with a small rocks glass. Thank you to Martin and Rebecca Cate for hosting the event, and the entire Hale Pele crew.

Hale Pele’s World Class Mai Tai

 

Jet Pilot
Appleton 15 rum
Flaming Jet Pilot
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Trader Vic Grog in Trader Vic’s San Jose Anniversary Glass

We had the pleasure of flying out of San Jose a couple weeks ago on the 1st anniversary of Trader Vic’s SJC – the world’s best airport bar. The problem was that our flight was at 7:30 in the morning, so our visit to Vic’s was at opening at 6 am (Mai Tais at 6:15 am!). And the 1st anniversary celebration was at Noon that same day, so all the event merch was held under lock and key. The staff graciously tried to get into it, but no luck.

So we have to thank our benefactor for getting us this amazing Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport glass, and the incredible airline wing-style pin. Mahalo, friend.

To celebrate I made a Trader Vic’s Grog. This is one of the cocktails I’ll sometimes go to at the restaurant when I look for something besides the Mai Tai. It’s a pretty good cocktail in this format, and is basically a crushed-ice and double sized version of the Siboney cocktail that’s served up.

For this version, I used two flavorful Jamaican rums. Some Worthy Park 109, a dark Jamaican rum at 54.5% ABV, alongside Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold. I also made a tiny tweak by adding ¼ oz of simple syrup so that the cocktail was slightly less tart.

Trader Vic Grog
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Passionfruit Syrup (Liber)
2 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Add simple syrup to taste
Shake with crushed ice and garnish with mint.

It is not without a great deal of irony that after being a tiki bar wasteland for decades, that we salute San Jose that now has two very good tiki bars with this Trader Vic’s location and Dr. Funk downtown.

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Recipe: No Pain, No Gain

Everyone loves playing with the rums in a Mai Tai, with bars competing for the best custom blend and home bartenders organizing blind taste test parties. But why stop at the Mai Tai? Why don’t we do this for the Painkiller?

Well, there is a certain reason.

Pusser’s Rum trademarked the Painkiller cocktail, which means that legally it can’t be called that unless you use Pusser’s rum. Which is kind of ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Pusser’s – especially their boozy Gunpowder Proof which is so flavorful and clocks in at 109 proof.

So, today’s cocktail isn’t a “Painkiller” at all. It is something else. But, you know, it kind of isn’t different.

No Pain, No Gain by Steve Perez
3 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Cream of Coconut
1½ oz Rum Fire Jamaican Overproof Rum
1½ oz Plantation OFTD
Shake with crushed ice and garnish with nutmeg

Steve Perez was talking up this rum blend last week at Dr. Funk and after a hard day it seemed like the perfect time to try this rum made with one rum at 63% ABV and another at 69%. So, quite boozy! More importantly, quite flavorful. I do feel that Jamaican rums can add a lot to this style of coconut-forward cocktail.

Thanks for the suggestion Steve!

Glassware: Tiki Goth Club