I can’t remember the website where I saw this recipe. Maybe it was one of the smartphone apps.
Note: I used POM Wonderful juice.
Fill a shaker with ice. Add the ingredients and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Gosling’s Black Seal was my second dark rum. It actually says “black”. Rum terminology is often confusing and there is a lot of overlap. Gosling’s comes up over and over online with regard to a cocktail called a Dark and Stormy. I don’t care for ginger beer (one of the main components in the aforementioned cocktail). But after the Meyers’s, I was intrigued. The Gosling’s Black Seal had nowhere near the “punch” that the Meyers’s had and none of the “smokey” flavor.
I have tried to sip it straight. Alcohol. Some sweet or molasses bitter taste.
I have tried it with a little water or over ice. Doesn’t help, but again, did slightly bring out some subtle flavors.
Not that this meant that it was bad in a cocktail. I’d say it gets lost in heavily sweetened and fruity cocktails.
Distiller: Gosling Brothers Limited
Proof: 80 (40% ABV)
Paid: $17 for 750ml (on sale)
Buy again: Probably Not
I ran across The Naked Turtle White Rum in an ABC store I hadn’t visited before. It was labeled as an un-aged white rum (naked). The company advertises that they are involved in sea turtle rescue.
I bought the bottle and headed back to the Lair. Upon opening it, I was surprised by the aroma of marshmallows, and some alcohol. This carried through into cocktails, but more as an element of sweetness, than as a marshmallow flavor.
In a cocktail the Turtle doesn’t bring much burn. I’m guessing it has some level of sugar that offsets the alcohol burn.
Importer: Diageo
Proof: 80 (40% ABV)
Paid: $13 for 750ml
Buy again: Probably
Meyers’s Dark was my first dark rum. It was specifically called for in some cocktails, and I thought I’d give it a try. A few conflicting reviews let me apprehensive. I was about twice the price of the Cruzan Light, so not knowing if I’d like it, I picked up a 375ml bottle.
My first sniff told me that danger lurked nearby. It smelled harsh with a strong charred whiskey aroma from decades ago. The “dark” description did not disappoint.
I have tried to sip it straight. Not my best choice.
I have tried it with a little water or over ice. Doesn’t help, but did allow me to discover there was more than char in their.
No one considers Meyers’s Dark a sipper. No one. Ever.
In a cocktail, things got interesting. Most of my cocktails to this point were sweet and fruity. This added a depth that cut through the sweet and fruity with a smokey taste, and added a complex (but not overwhelming) molasses flavor.
Distiller: Sazerac
Proof: 80 (40% ABV)
Paid: $11 for 375ml
Buy again: Probably
Cruzan Light was my first light rum, or any rum for that matter. It’s choice was determined from painstakingly pouring (pun?) over reviews and YouTube videos. Of course, after I purchased it, I found other reviews that contradicted this. This brings us to rule #1:
On the Internet, an agreement on anything by one group, will be disagreed upon by another group.
I have tried to sip it straight. Don’t do that.
I have tried it with a little water or over ice. Doesn’t help.
Then again, I don’t think anyone expect Cruzan Light to be used in this manner.
I have tried other light rums, and as previously noted, in a cocktail, the differences are small or totally insignificant (to me). Middle-shelf and inexpensive.
Distiller: Cruzan Rum Distillery/Beam-Suntory
Proof: 80 (40% ABV)
Paid: $12 for 750ml
Buy again: Yes
I first saw this recipe on Common Man Cocktails, and a couple of other YouTube channels. We decided to give it a try in the Lair today. It really highlights the dark rum. It is sweet, but not overwhelmingly so.
Note: I used Plantation Double Aged Dark Rum
Fill a shaker with ice. Add the ingredients and shake. Strain into a Tiki mug or a glass with some of the ice.
Nope. We are done here. Move along.
I’m sure other sites will give Gin a fair shake, but not this one. Distilled pine is not my idea of something one should drink. But if that is your thing, enjoy.
I’m not insisting that you like anything I like. Please grant me the same courtesy.
Good day.
Buy again: You’re kidding, right?
Purchased when on sale. The reviews were good, but for me any middle-shelf vodka will work well with a cocktail.
Distiller: Russian Standard Vodka
Proof: 80 (40% ABV)
Paid: $17 for 750ml (on sale)
Buy again: Yes
My first vodka was Luksusowa. This is a Polish potato vodka. My first smell yielded very little, My first taste was of alcohol and a slight sweetness. I have used it successfully in a number of cocktails. It is a middle-shelf vodka and quite affordable.
Distiller: Luksusowa
Proof: 80 (40% ABV)
Paid: $13 for 750ml
Buy again: Yes
If you live in a state with privately owned liquor stores, you probably have never heard of an ABC Store (Wikipedia link). These are state run and controlled liquor stores. This, in addition to backward blue laws (Wikipedia link) can prove to be very frustrating to people who have lived in more progressive states. Blue laws were spawned by religious groups who among other things, try to prohibit alcohol sales, especially on Sunday. As of this writing, 12 states still have these laws in place.
In an ABC state, state and county boards determine what items will be carried and set the price! This is certainly true of my home state of North Carolina. And that, as they say, is that. You can’t mail order liquor from out of state. And if the item you’re looking for isn’t on the list, then it won’t be going in your cocktail. One might also be fortunate enough to live close to a non-ABC state that borders an affected state.
Many of the state run stores are relatively small (especially in less populated counties), with quantities of the same products, but less in the way of variety. I live near the capital, so I at least have the advantage of some larger stores that do have a relatively good stock and some variety. The recently built store near the Lair is pretty massive compared to others in the area.
As an example of the impact of these state and county restrictions, I was researching (of course I was) banana liqueur online. I found a blind taste test and the testers had narrowed the results to a couple of brands that tasted like real banana, and less like an artificial banana candy flavor. There were six options in the review. Number of options available in North Carolina ABC stores? One. And none of the six that were named in the review. Even more bizarre is that North Carolina sells quite a few DeKuyper products in North Carolina ABC stores, yet the DeKuyper Creme de Banana is not stocked. The brand on the shelf is Arrow.
This is played out over and over in North Carolina. In my research for a White Rum recommendation, Doorly’s pops up in reviews and recommendations. In non-ABC states it’s sold at Total Wine for god’s sake! Nope, not available in North Carolina. Occasionally, there are discussions about overturning the ABC system in North Carolina, but it seems fairly entrenched.
Maybe a trip to South Carolina one of these days to see what a privately run liquor store looks like…
The Tipsy Nerd's Lair