Antilles Treasures

One might wonder just what the title has to do with rum. I think the old adage
that a picture is worth a thousand words can apply here;  

Our English Harbour Flight

My son and I are on a quest to taste and own some of the worlds “First Class”
rums. Once they are ours we build a rum flight from other rums in the same
family and then placing our tray tables and seatbacks in an upright position,
prepare for our staged flight to first class.  

Our original “First Class” flight was more of a sailing as the rum family was
Pyrat. We consumed Pyrat Pistol, XO Reserve and their high ticket Cask. But we
are now off track.  

Here is the gist of things;
We just returned from a trip to ST Maarten and while there I happened to come
across a very special bottle, one that in fact completed the next flight which
is part of one of our favorite rum families. I located a bottle of English
Harbour 1981 the flag ship of the EH fleet. There was no bickering about the
bottle price. I simply asked how much, found the price acceptable and it made
the journey back to the states with us.  

When we returned to the states our son picked us up at the airport, after the
traditional greetings of hugs and fist bumps, the very first question out of his
mouth was did you bring home any rum. I of course told him no..my intent is for
this to be a gift for him.
While unpacking we handed him a well wrapped package, as he unwrapped it you
could see the excitement of an eight year old boy at Christmas come across his
face. He indeed is now the proud owner of one of his top four “First Class”
rums a bottle of English Harbour 1981.  I think we made his day…  

Ehglish Harbour 5 year

The next day we were on a mission to build and enjoy our English Harbour Flight.
While he was removing the wax and cork from the 1981, good ole dad was lignin up a set of three glasses each. We started with a short pour of English Harbour (EH) that is aged 5 years. A very good representative all on its own of the EH family. so we have lift
off and can now recline seats, drop those tray tables and push the call button for the stewardess, sorry, flight attendant to bring us our first round.  While sitting in the coach section we ordered a sample round of EH5.  It is a very smooth blend that is great neat or with a bit of ice.  For purposes of this flight it was consumed neat.   We let the
flavors sit on our palates, breathed in the alcohol flavor and swallowed this
wonderful nectar. Next we let it mellow a bit on our taste buds and enjoyed the
lingering flavor that it left while excitedly discussing what we thought and how
much we were looking forward to the next stage in this flight… 

 We finished with big smiles knowing that our next stop will be business class to sample the EHR10.   

English Harbour Reserve (a 10 year blend)

Drink number two is from what remains of a bottle of English Harbour Reserve aged 10 years. This is a very high quality rum in its own arena that could be the top of many rum flights but it jus so happens that we found its bigger more mature brother while on vacation so for this flight gets to sit in the business class section.  As you can see by the picture, we very much enjoy EH10 and sejoyed this sampling quite a lot.  
Before anyone asks..Yes, there is a noticeable difference between the 5 year and
10 year versions, one that is worth the cost difference. 

While tasting this
one, we noticed quite a bit less alcohol vapor up front but smoother flavoring than
the previous drink, this one did finish with a bit more of a hint of freshly toasted coconut that lingered for quite some time. Second stage is complete now so we pushed our way forward from business class into the first class section, hoping that there are no TSA agents that will make us return to our seats.  Settled in we are now ready for the in flight feature…  

English Harbour 1981

The third set of glasses were aligned and dad passed the honor of the pouring
responsibilities to the man that now owns this bottle of ambrosia…he steps up to the bar and begins to carefully pour two very even samples.   

We by this time are quite enthused to partake in the full effect of this beautifully crafted
marvel. First we take in the aroma…the up front alcohol flavor that is in the
younger bottles is all but gone. Next we gingerly sip a bit and let it tickle
the taste buds, careful not to over stimulate our palates. Then we breathe in so we can mix a touch of air with the rum…bringing an explosion of flavors that only a perfectly blended bottle of well aged rum can produce. We could taste a hint of smoke and leather from the oak barrels that had given character to this fine potion. This fine blend is one that had been aged long enough that
if it were a person it could vote. 1981 had little to no alcohol burn, this is
the smoothest rum I have ever tasted…by a long shot! There is a hint of toasted
coconut at the end that leaves a pleasant reminder that there is still more rum
left in the bottle and left both of us wanting more.  Yes, the 1981 is a quantum leap above the EH Reserve 10 year, as it had better have been with the heafty price tag that accompanied this precious jewel.  

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we even did a head to head comparison of the Pyrat Cask and the EH 1981. Lets just
say that 1981 was a banner year and left the cask in its dust.  

Two down and now still hunting MT Gay’s Tri-Centennial and a particular very old
Pusser’s brand bottle.  

When submitting your taste buds to rum flights…always reward them with the “First Class” upgrade…salute!!!

Grab your passports and a hand full of doubloons, we have a concoction that will take you to ST Somewhere.  A Caribbean escape from the reality of an oncoming Fall and Winter.  We also believe a glass or two of this on a regular basis will keep one from contracting a case of scurvy.  Prepare to have your timbers shivered and the barnacles blown right off your hull by this elixir.

We know that  yesterday was “talk like a pirate day”and this drink certainly would have helped to loosen your tongue to make pirate speak easier however we wanted to share the recipe for our Tropical Tuesday post.

This is our favorite of rum punches, grogs or any rum flavored mixes and we have brewed this punch successfully for several parties. Always with the warning, if you partake, do not plan to drive as it has quite a kick.

How to make a pirate’s grog;

Fill a pitcher with ice, use a shot glass to measure and add in each of the following,
1 shot of white rum (any white rum is fine)
1 shot of amber rum (we use Pyrat pistol or MT Gay)
1 part dark rum (again we use Pyrat this time XO reserve or Gosslings Blackseal)
1 part Grand Marnier
4 parts Orange juice
4 parts Pineapple juice
1 part Ruby Red Grapefruit juice

This potent concoction will make enough to serve 4.

For those that would prefer a bit less alcohol increase OJ, Pineapple and Grapefruit portions to taste.

When we have made this grog for parties 1 shot is replaced with 1 part and is equal to a 375 ML bottle of pyrat pistol or 1.5 cups.

Even made strong the fruit juices mask the alcohol flavor and drinking more than a little of this grog can lead to waking the next day aboard a ship a victim of a local press-gangs recruitment.

Please don’t drink and drive!

Cap’n Rouge recently escaped his terarium and set sail on a business trip to sunny Florida, specifically Orlando and figured that while he was visiting the great state of Florida would stop to fill his sea bag with some Siesta Key rum. 

This were to be a 4 day journey, a shake down cruise of sorts to work out the kinks of dealing with the TSA and migrating himself thru the multitudes of airports that he will be traveling thru in a couple of months to get back to his Caribbean home.

This trip Cap’n Rouge has a new crew member…we will call him Mr Peebody as this crew member be a nervous flyer and lets just say Mr Peebody got to know the aft stewardess well because of his many visits to her staging area. 

Cap’n Rouge and Mr Peebody started their travels at 8 bells on Sunday morning.  Sitting in the airport MR Peebody wanted to take a bit of edge off so we strolled to the airport bar…which didn’t start serving till 9.  Traveler’s nerves appropriately calmed….we head off to our gate for a great flight to Orlando.  Navigated across town to our hotel and checked into our rooms.  The search for Siesta Key began in earnest.  We were on a county line…one county no liquor on Sunday the other no big liquor stores.  Stopped in one that had rum but not the Key….did however decide to mitigate risk and snagged the only bottle of anything decent in the store…..a bottle of Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva….now this trip is not wasted even if Siesta Key doesn’t end up in the Cap’n’s storage locker.  Gave up the search at this point and will focus on it later. 

We were in town for three and a half days of training as we work for a company that has just merged with another so this was both sides eyeing new teammates and determining the pecking order!!   We had some long days and fun evenings. 

The Cap’n didn’t abandon searching for his mystical rum but changed course and lets just say “enlisted” local team members to put their heads together and help locate the treasure we had set out to find.

Cap’n Rouge and Mr Peebody did stop at another large liquor store but they acted as if this rum were the proverbial black spot…and pretended to never hear of it. 

One of the crew members did locate all three variations at a store that is on the return route to the airport.  Now that you have the history…..here is how the return trip to the airport went.

Cap’n Rouge was of a mind set that he was to have a bottle or more in hand so set a time for leaving our training to allow for a stop.  We took a different route on our way back to the airport which was all surface streets so I am thinking we stopped at 1500 red lights and got behind every snow bird and tourist in Orlando…..Rouge nearly clipped the wings of a few snowbirds that habitually drove 10 mph under the speed limit and thought the dotted white line was where they centered their cars. Rouge was pretty busy dodging snowbirds, lost tourists and reading cross street signs looking for that turn off that would lead him to his local obsession.  With about 75 lights to go to the airport Mr Peebody spoke up that he needed to make a pit stop so we found a McDonalds and off he went to off load a bit of nervousness.  Once he returned to the car Rouge recognized that he had one shot at getting his stash of rum and that was it otherwise, may miss the flight home. 

Peebody had by now forgotten about Rouge’s quest and the Cap’n was switching his focus to return of the rental car as he had been warned that the last time Peebody was in Orlando with another crew member they had totally blown by the rental return and had to circle the airport like a buzzard looking for road kill.  Cap’n Rouge promised he would hit the mark on the first attempt.  While having this very conversation and passing thru intersection #1486 with a green light…..Rouge bellowed out….that was our exit to the liquor store….CRAP!!! oh well, guess there is always a next time to stop and get this rum or we can beg one of our local friends to pick up some for us and send a care package our way.

Rouge did find the rental car exit on first attempt.  Check in was a breeze.  Cap’n Rouge then saw a Sea World store in the airport lobby…..he had to stop in and pick up something for his grandson, the family powder-monkey.  Rouge picked up a penguin pillow that converted into a stuffed bird, cool gift for a three year old.  Next stop was TSA for our yearly physical then off to wait on our flight in hopes that none of the forecast thunder boomers would develop before we got into the air.  None did and  the return flight was even great…..Peebody only got up 4 times on a two hour flight to visit the lavatory and we are still friends…that is at least till he reads this..

We made it to our home port but while standing at baggage claim waiting on our luggage to appear, it donned on Rouge that he had left powder monkey’s new pillow on the plane.  Rouge talked to an agent at baggage claim and they called to the gate.  The pillow had been rescued.  The agent told Rouge to go to a specific gate and wait for the bag.  The gate was of course behind security so a knock at the door startled the security agent Deputy Fife.  As he reached for the bullet in his pocket…Rouge stepped back away from the door and told the agent he was looking for a package.  As Deputy Fife was giving Rouge the once over to see if he were a threat or not, one of the flight attendants arrived on the scene and told the Deputy that this indeed was the package that Rouge was looking for.  Whew, she saved Rouge from at least a full body cavity search and probably a screen door to the shoulder..I owe her for that one!  Thank you, MS. Flight Attendant!!

Epilogue

We all made it home safe, the Cap’n, MR Peebody and the penguin.  The bottle of rum that was purchased…though not Siesta Key, was tasty and the powder monkey is bonding well with his new penguin.  A good time was had by all!!