enjoy your new knowledge

Now that the basics are covered, all that's left is for you to try it!

Many of the rums and liqueurs profiled in this blog can be procured relatively easy.
*pro-tip* If you are itinerant or have a family member that is, duty free alcohol is the most cost effective. Alternatively, if you're in Trinidad, here are a few liquor outlets that you can visit:

Naughty Grape (Bryden's retail arm)Naughty Grape Website
81A Mucurapo Road, St. James

BottleStop Bottle Stop Facebook page

Singh's liquor mart -
Bournes Road, St. James


Solera (Angostura's retail outlet) Solera facebook Page
Corner Gray and Tragerete Road.

(868) 628-7258

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Sipping rum with a liqueur - Choice #4 Amaro di Angostura

This is a relatively new product from Angostura. Was fortunate enough to attend the launch in 2015 where they also debuted a signature cocktail which featured their single barrel rum. Warm and robust cinnamon and licorice flavors with the award winning Angostura bitters recipe. This Liqueur can really add a kick to your rum. Again due to its strong flavor, I recommend using this liqueur like bitters....a dash or two will do.

Tell me if you've tried this before or whether you have a rum you would recommend to be brightened up by the Amaro!

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Sipping rum with a liqueur - Choice #3 Jagermeister

Not typically thought of as a liqueur but rather a shooter Jagermeister (pronounced yayy-gerr-my-sta) may have slipped past your notice. That's why i'm here. Take it out of the shot glass and pour a little in your sipping rum!

Jager is quite flavorful (fruity and spicy) and can easily over power anything its mixed with, so I recommend using restraint with this liqueur. A drop or two should do the trick!

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Sipping rum with a liqueur - Choice #2 Goldschlager

Although some may snort in derision at the abhorrent nature of anyone that would believe drinking anything containing pure gold flakes makes appear superior, my intentions with Goldschlager are simply for its cinnamon goodness...and boy does this deliver.
Adding a dash of this liqueur to your sipping rum has two effects; 1) Cinnamon goodness (of course) and 2) real gold flakes adorning your already exquisite glass of sipping rum.

I recommend adding this to rums that are not excessively spicy or have a somewhat monotone palate.
My choices here are : Pyrat, Siegerts 190, Ron Abuela, Chai Rum.

Have a try and let me know what you think in the comments section or make a recommendation for a unique pairing with Goldschlager !

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Sipping Rum with a Liqueur - choice #1 Cointreau

So if you've been following my blog up to this point we've covered a few of the nicer sipping rums in the Caribbean/Latin Americas. We also discussed how to consume them and some tips and tricks for cooling down the warm spiciness of these sipping rums either with- or without ice.

Now we're going to talk about adding some additional flavor to these rums.

First up? Cointreau. A sophisticated orange flavored triple-sec
Traditionally used in cake making and other culinary purposes, I first discovered this partly by accident. I had the weird notion to change an ordinary, less aged rum to taste more like Pyrat (see rums from Anguilla). Looked in my home bar and there was an un-opened bottle of Cointreau. I added a dash and the rest was history.

I highly recommend adding a dash of Cointreau to Zacapa XO, Appleton, and Ron Barceló Imperial

The history of this liqueur is also quite interesting, beginning in 1849 with the Cointreau brothers.

Read more here

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If you must use ice, don't just use regular ice

Using a large spherical ball of ice to chill your sipping rum is a great idea. It melts much more slowly, allowing your rum to chill without watering it down.

I highly recommend getting a mold. There are a few options (amazon is your friend, use him) that you can choose from however its a pain to make a ball of ice at a time. I recommend buying a few molds, freezing them and saving them in a ziplock freezer bag.

This is the  mold i'm currently using for the large ice ball

This is the mold i'm using that is slightly smaller but can add some decorative value in a high ball glass

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Chill your rum without ice

When enjoying a premium spirit, why tarnish the taste with water? Providing a slight chill protects the taste without drowning the quality. Sipping Stones are made of all natural soapstone, which is non-porous and won't impart any taste or flavor. Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) by the FDA soapstone is comprised of talc, which will not react to water, alcohol, or other drinks. When used with care, Sipping Stones will not scratch your glassware.

Here's my personal bag of sipping stones. Always kept handy in my freezer

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How to sip your rum

So many of the rums profiled in this blog are recommended to be consumed neat, chilled, or over ice.
This may seem like a bit of common sense, but there are a few tips that can help you.

1. Take your best shot glass

“Grappa glasses are really good,” MacKay says, but notes that “anything that funnels the aromas to the nose is a good bet.”

2. Get warmer

MacKay suggests serving rums neat and at room temperature, “because that’s where you’re going to get the most flavour and the most aroma out of them.” Unlike at a wine tasting, she says, it’s okay to hold the glass in your hands in order to warm the rum up ever so slightly.

3. Approach with (nasal) caution

“Take it slowly. Don’t breathe it in like you would wine because that will blow your nose to smithereens,” MacKay warns. “You want to kind of creep up on it slowly – even one nostril at a time – from a distance. Let the beverage seduce you with its fragrance and aromas, then kind of back away from it for a minute before you take a closer sniff. That will produce the best effect, because strong alcohol will render your nose incapable of discerning anything.”

4. Down the hatch

“Take a tiny little sip first,” MacKay suggests, “just to get your mouth used to it and let it roll around every section of your tongue. Remember, there is no spitting in spirits. Part of the excitement of a really good spirit is what comes afterwards, once you exhale – you’ll get a whole treat of things that come up into your palate on that breath.”

5. Welcome dissent

“Everybody’s tastebuds are different,” she notes. “All of the lovely vanilla tones and cocoa flavours and the honey and the tannins that you get from a barrel will be there in different proportions for different people.”

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Where's the rum Pt. 10 - Appleton Estate

I was a bit of conflicted as to whether I should profile this rum or not. In the end I decided that it warranted the exposure even though I'm not particularly fond of this rum.
Appleton Estate- proud product of Jamaica is highly favored (though not by me) and has quite the line up.
There are 5 products - the V/X, Reserve, Extra, Legacy and 21Yr old.

There are also 2 special editions, a 30yr (US$30-50/btl) and 50 yr old (US$3,500/btl) I'm much more partial to the darker rums so recommend trying the 21 year old first before sauntering over to the pricier 30yr and (collector's item) 50 yr old bottles. Due to the heavy fruitiness of these rums, I recommend tempering it a bit with a chaser like sparkling water or soda. The 50 yr old is definitely to be sipped neat.

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guess what just came in!

Just thought i'd share an update to my arsenal...like the old adage goes .." a picture paints a thousand words" Not sure how long they'll last so best to take a picture...

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