Rum punch challenge in Alexandria, brings another visit with Bacardi

 "This smells awful, what was this?... Bacardi Superior, wow shocking, and if I can help it I am never having this light rum again". - July 7th 2010 - concluding my own personal blind light rum tasting.

When I first started this blog and video channel, it came out of a necessity to really examine what I was drinking and to have some balance between seriousness and fun.  As time has gone on I've learned quite a bit, and it's always interesting to revisit past tastes.  When I think of Bacardi I can only think of one thing, and that is of course rum.  They are the largest distiller on the planet and make ubiquitous products for easy consumption in my opinion.  Most of their really good stuff is impossible to get or just flat out unheard of (I can think of ONE product).  I sort of think of them as the Anheuser Busch - InBev of the rum world.  However, I was given another opportunity to spend some more time with Bacardi in a historic setting, in what looked like an excuse more than anything to also have a good time.  It was almost 2 years since the last visit with the bat himself for me.

There was an event in Old Town Alexandria VA that was being held at Gadsby's Tavern, a historic place which was built in 1785 (with the adjacent hotel coming in 1792, check out the website link for the fabulous history of this place).  It was here that the 8th annual Rum Punch challenge was being held.  Punch?! I asked myself..  Could I go drink 6 different rum punches, complete with catered food snacks, judge the entries made by local restraunters and vote on who was the best?  I think I needed to pay a visit, as many others did the same.

I arrived with a good group of friends, was presented with a solid rocks glass, 5 tickets which represented 5 votes to enter for each punch I thought was worth it's weight in salt (or in this case rum!), and of course came with thirst and desire. With a historic setting and friends and some simple eats what was not to enjoy?  So how did the punches turn out?  They went as follows in the order I tried them.

The first one I tried was "Jones Point Punch" from the actual Gadsby's Tavern Restaurant.  Using Bacardi Select Dark, the punch didn't have the sense of dark rum to it to me.  It was memorable in how I always associated punch, kind of fruity, summery.  There was a good amount of fruit in this one, somehow it really tasted like pineapple juice too much to me.  However, as nice as it was it didn't really grab me.

Onward hoe!  For there would be much more, taking in a great open space that also serves as a ballroom.  The second punch was also with Bacardi Select Dark but went for a different angle.  The darkest of all the punches served, this was the "Queen Anne's Revenge" made by FireFlies restaurant.  Here they went for a dark molasses angle, spices, and ingredients that were often quite extensive, that many times I couldn't remember them all.  It was very much heavy on molasses, but not thick.  Burnt brown spiced edges of cinnamon, warm, charring, quite delicious.  I imagined myself having this punch nestled up in front of a fireplace on a cold winter night, perhaps not the angle we think of for punch, but it was I thought a very unique and fantastic creation.

After two punches it was obvious to me that there was some good thought that was going into these punches.  Rum punch is actually one of the classic serving summer cool downs of yore.  Much of it was consumed here in George Washington's day.

Our third contestant was Bittersweet's "Pomander punch".  After taking another happy dip, my grove started to hit, or perhaps it was the merriment of enjoying fireplace and molasses like punch tickling my fancy.  Here we dove in.  This punch out of all the ones I had, had the best smell.  The nose on this was a glorious orange and clove bouquet, hints of floral, extremely airy.  It was fairly solid in taste as well, but also kind of a classic fruity punch.  Very impressive, but.. I think I was looking for something unique.

After three punches I was beginning to think of the angles each participant was going for.  Should they go for something fruit and basic?  Or were there going to be more things challenging unexpected??

I headed to another corner and saw the "isla besos" ("island kisses"??) from RedRocks.  My eye glanced to the Bacardi Select Dark, and then saw the ubiquitous Superior.  Yeah I remember you... we didn't get along so well last time did we?  However, I was beginning to notice that Bacardi's rums mixed pretty well in punch with a slew of ingredients quite nicely so far.  Would I want to take a 80 dollar bottle of Agricole rhum and dump it in for punch?  Probably not.  The island kisses punch was.. well it was pink, and slushy in appearance.  Served with a message in the bottle (which later contained a coupon, but boy was it hard to get that message out!).  I thought I finally had some time to relax and talk to the participants, and so I began asking questions.  Before I took a sip I asked, "so what's in this?".

I got a bunch of ingredients listed that were very unexpected.  Strawberry puree, agave nectar, the two rums of course, some club soda, honey (I think?), and some jalapeno for kick.  Wait.. did he say jalapeno?

I quickly grabbed a good chug.  But I was sort of jealous that I asked what was in it before tasting, for I would have been even more surprised I do think.  Yup you heard that right, strawberry backbone with a sweet rum kick, mixing some syrup sweetness and this just right peppery green punch from the jalapenos.  Talk about a unique creation, and I DON'T LIKE STRAWBERRIES! but was VERY impressed by this one.  Someone here was making something unique, someone did some serious homework here, and everything was balanced nicely.  However, it was a big risk to make a punch like this, it was so different and was probably going to rub some people the wrong way.  This was a polarizing punch for sure.  But that's what you have to do some times you have to take a chance.  This was my other personal favorite, a summer beat the heat punch with pepper kick and fruit, just great.

Still reveling in the rum punch tales, the ice house slew that was attached to the tavern back in the day to keep the punch as cold as possible during those swampy 18th century nights, I saw a familiar sign or should I say fish, and in a punch bowl too.  Dogfish Head.  The brewery!  THE DOGFISH HEAD BREWERY IS HERE!!  I was ready to see if Sam was under the table, and my mind started racing as the beer geek in me was ready to explode out.  Palo Santo and Dark rum!  What about Noble rot and something?  okay wait a minute calm down now... I don't think punch is going to have BEER in it (not that you couldn't try), but this was a rum night dude. Then I forgot...  Dogfish makes rum!  I even remembered I have their rum at home.

The punch they offered was "Alison's Folly", a punch made with Dogfish Head's small batch Spiced Wit Rum.  I actually have a bottle of this orange peel and coriander made rum at home and it's quite nice.  I totally forgot they make spirits also besides beer, and I am also a big fan of their Honey Brown rum too.  However, the punch while certainly decent was rather basic, and not unlike the other two fruit punches I already had.  Unfortunately, those punches were also a little better than this.  The rum angle of the orange and the sense of the Wit Rum just did not come out here.  It was subtle and nice, lingering, delicious, but I knew it wasn't going to win amongst some of the other contenders.  I actually prefer this rum not to be mixed with anything.  They made a solid punch but it was not a favorite of mine for the night.

Speaking of rum, there was a new product that was being offered by Bacardi that was in two of the punches.  One was in the Pomander, the other in the next and last punch I tried the "Oak Ball Punch" with a new rum from Bacardi called Oakheart Spiced.  

I looked at the bottle, 35% alcohol (which would make it 70 proof).  The punch was pear based, and had a very large oak vanilla nose to it.  The smell was actually quite nice, with a faint caramel hiding.  Once again though with a pear base it was more of the classic fruity punch angle going on and not seeming to bring much of the taste out for the punch.

I asked a server if I could try the rum just by itself which I could.  It had that similar great vanilla nose, but even at 70 proof the rum had that harsh varnishy quality, not unlike the superior of days past, also had next to nothing texture wise.  It really did not taste good by itself.

So with all punches taken and imbibed, I had to decide on favorites.  It was clear that two punches stood out for me, and both felt seasonal.  One seemed right for winter, the other for a hot summer day.  I took 2 of my 5 tickets giving two votes to both "isla besos" and "Queen Anne's Revenge". I threw my last vote into "Pomander" mostly cause of all the other punches it has the best bouquet.

Votes were tallyed by all who attended, with a runner up and first place announced.  The runner up was....

Gadsby's Tavern and their Jone's Point Punch.

The winner of the best punch competition was:

Pomander Punch by Bittersweet.

So in the end my favorites didn't get it, but we all seemed to have a good time trying all the different concoctions.  I sat in the hallway on break and had a good chat with an older guy about the history of the tavern and Alexandria (the first place I lived in when I came to DC).  Full of tales of George Washington slept here, and ghosts that allegedly roamed the nearby cemeteries, there was good punch to be had for all who wanted.  As the town criers finished (that's our crier with a friend of mine in the photo) their announcements, we all settled home safely knowing that rum has a good place even if it is from Bacardi.

There's no question, all the punches made tonight were far better than the Cava version I made myself ;)

Gadsby's rum punch challenge offers a well planned out, executed and fun night of merriment.  Food doesn't run out, punches are out with no losers, and with it all comes with a great piece of historic setting that makes rum punch the center piece and star.  I don't think I'd want to have rum punch anywhere else in the world.

The year in beer 2011

It wasn't suppose to happen this way.  It wasn't suppose to happen at all.

When I started out deciding to write a blog about drink, I was very focused on spirits.  I've been a big fan of cocktails and spirits, and started focusing on bourbon primarily when I started.  However, there were many times I just want to just sit back and grab a beer, instead of mixing up drinks.

Beer.

It's one of those ubiquitous drinks that is just about anywhere on the planet, and when it comes to imbibing alcohol it's probably the first place you begin.  I started drinking beer up in Canada when I was in my late teens, not unlike most people who discover beer.  Back then there really wasn't much choice.  Many of the top producers or what some today would call macro-breweries, even made beers that weren't available in certain areas of the country, keeping certain brews to only local markets (I still to this day have never seen Molson Export sold anywhere West of Ontario, maybe things have changed?).  On top of that many of the liquor laws did not look kindly to imports, and taxes were generally higher.  In short there was less options, and you ended up usually drinking the same domestic mass produced fizzy yellow lager that probably first fell in your hands, because it was cheap and easy to get.  Then something happened.

It's hard for me to pinpoint the exact date I noticed something change, but around the late 80s / early 90s a word came up that I heard called "micro". Small independent brewers were trying to make their way on to the scene.  Part of my personality is to always taste something new, and when I heard there were small independent micro-breweries trying to make an appearance I desperately wanted their beer.  Reports came out about mass produced beer being pedestrian.  There were comments that small producers could make a better product, they used old recipes, better ingredients, the large mammoth breweries got so large that they could no longer make a quality product, and so forth.  They were "different".  All the points seemed to indicate their beer was better to some.  Still, whether you believed this or not, I often could never get my hands on these micro-beers, and if I did they weren't cheap.

When I came to the US and settled down 14 years ago, I remember distinctly wanting to try some better beer.  I was definitely not a fan of beers of macro US produced breweries.  I grew up being inundated with their advertising, and flooding the market, and perhaps more so really hated their beer not just on taste but out of some pride to buy local and some perhaps nationalistic sentiment.  Hey why have fizzy yellow US lager, when I can have... umm.. fizzy yellow Canadian lager?  This sentiment, didn't last very long, my tastes changed, and more importantly, I got bored.  Also in my young days of yore, it was probably a stupid sentiment to be had, so I'll chalk that up to inexperience.  I found myself leaving beer and going to wine.  Then something else happened.

I was at a liquor store in the US and started noticing more varieties of beer on the shelves.  I went to other places, some even specialized in beer sales.  Depending on what state I was in, the laws sometimes were less restrictive than what I grew up with, the shelves were filled with LOTS of different beers, some from around the world, more so than what I saw in Canada.  I was quickly drinking a lot of Belgian beer and liking it.

My head exploded, I had to have them all.  Then around 2002 I saw a 6 pack on the shelf that said beer of the year.  I thought that was a pretty dam bold statement to make.  I looked at the package and it said Dogfish Head Raison d'Etre.  Long story short, I took it home, and my life since then for beer has never been the same.  When I gushed my enthusiasm for the beer to a store employee about the micro brewery he described a term that to me was new.  Dogfish as he mentioned, was some of the best "craft beer".

Since that day over ten years ago, "craft" beer has taken off unlike anything I have ever seen.  There are more breweries now that I can think of.  Beer made locally is now considered desirable, perhaps even filling in with the niche of supporting local farms, and having an emphasis on a better product.  In Washington DC where I was living there were no local breweries 10 years ago, now with Port City, DC Brau, and a host of others there are several.  The same thing has happened in other areas of the country, and there is now a lot of craft beer.  Attitudes are changing about acquiring beer.  Instead of just going out to the bar and having "the usual", there are craft beer bars, where you can drink several kinds of beer from multiple breweries.  Events can be held, and even the brewery reps and sometimes the brewers themselves will be there and you can talk to them.  Local breweries are also turning into social centers.  Instead of heading to the store, you can go to the brewery and buy beer there direct from the source.  Many breweries have tap nights, entertainment, and it has become a social gathering spot and not just a place to take away the wares, or have a tour (you've seen one fermenter you've seen them all I say!).  Speaking of beer to take home, you can fill up on tap beer with a growler and take it home as well (either at the brewery, and some other beer bars).  This is a common practice in many States (it varies depending on the law), where you can bring in a growler to fill of 64oz of fresh tapped beer and just walk home with it.  Growing up in Canada, this was impossible because of the liquor laws.  When I first came  here I didn't even know what a growler was.

Suddenly I was very excited about beer again.

With my insatiable appetite, I had something at my disposal that as a young beer drinker years ago was practically impossible.  The Internet, and more so, the information that comes with it.

With a host of active tools and a world of instant information literally at my finger tips, I discovered beers I could only dream of twenty five years ago, and more importantly "understand" them better.  In 2011 I finally decided to chronicle my year in tasting beer, and I decided to make a video about it.  The results are below.  Grab a few beers, sit down and relax and watch the show.

I don't know where craft beer is going in this trend, but I am really liking the amount of drink and choice that is available.  Even back in Canada, there are more independent breweries than before, beer is now taking off more than ever and what could be a better time to have a great drink to imbibe on once in awhile.

Cheers!

Dogfish Head Theobrama, once, twice, three times was not the charm...

Hell hath no fury like a lover scorned.

When I first moved to the USA, (I was born and raised in Canada) I was excited to be delving in, and having a plethora of microbreweries to choose and taste from. I was also escaping much of the government run liquor stores which as many Americans depending on where they live, are all too familiar with. What that sometimes (not always) does is limits the amount and availabilities of liquor (beer/wine/spirits) that are available to you.

When I arrived in DC/MD/VA area I was amazed at the selection that was available to me. I tried so many beers that thinking back to those imbibing years was pure heaven, and so it went, and on that trail was one of nirvana... and its name is Dogfish Head.

I am a huge fan of this brewery. When I first tried their products I was absolutely floored as to how good they made their beers. Tastebuds don't lie, and in following up and researching them found they were highly respected and one of the best (if not some will argue the best around period).

That said, I ended up tasting another craft of theirs recently, called Theobroma. I will cut to the chase as time permits and give the reader the benefit of the doubt that from what I say will be taken with much consideration and heartfelt condolences on the status of this beer, and the lengths I went to review it.

Long story short. I bought 2 bottles. They were rancid, sour, compromised, oxodized, whatever you want to call it. While one of those 2 was better than the other, they were still UNDRINKABLE. I was miffed. How much did I just pay to review and taste this beer only to throw 90% of it away? I was debating my thoughts, I was dare I say it being a fan of this brewery... second guessing myself... there was no way this product couldn't be up to snuff could it? I was a lover jilted, cheated beyond belief it seemed. How could you do this to me? After all these years I've supported you! It was hard somehow when I say this... that I tried not to take this personally.. :) But damit! This is the Imbibe Hour! AND THIS IS SERIOUS!

I've learned from years past and it took me some time, but I know one thing now always... go with your gut. I finally got the third bottle, and it was not ruined and reviewed it. I have NEVER in my life gone to this much trouble to reviewing a beer as I had with this one. The results are in the video below.

Cheers and Enjoy!!

The bitch is back - Dogfish head brewery back for the win!

Beer, oh how I love thee. Dogfish Head brewery which is located in Milton Delaware, makes some of the best beer to date I have ever had in my life. I discovered them in places of beer appreciation, and then found out that on my trips to the beach in DE that they were located not far from where all that sun and goodness lands.

Cracking open their brews is always a highly anticipated moment, mostly because what they make is so fascinating, with very little faults or failures. They are without question a large go to beer for myself, and I enjoy them immensely.

On a recent beach stop up in DE, I discovered and heard they had a recent new release. The beer was called Bitches Brew, named after a Miles Davis album of the same name. Contents inside hinted of honey and a gesho root, what that is... I am not even sure if I would know one or taste one if it came across me from the street.

That being said, contents were devoured and reviewed in the video below. Check out the latest in the Imbibe hour joy. It has been awhile since I have posted or done an imbibe video, but I have been busy. Another note... the Imbibe hour will actually be going on the road! To some really neat places so stay tuned!