While in the Dominican Republic I spotted a magazine article saying that Bermudez rums were in the process of being launched in the United States for the first time. The Bermudez rums are pretty good. The Bermudez Aniversario 1852 ended up being the bottle I took out of the country with me. Yes, I even picked it over the Brugal Extra Viejo!
I have no idea if Bermudez will be made available throughout the whole of the United States. The article only mentions North Carolina. What do I know anyway? Perhaps Bermudez has been available in the U.S. for years and a new distributor is simply creating some publicity for themselves?
However, just in case there is somebody in the United States who read about Bermudez rum on this blog, wants Bermudez rum, and cannot find Bermudez rum, here are the contact details of the importer:
C&R Imports
(919) 272-4165
pereza@cnrimports.com
Maybe somebody can import this stuff to New Zealand?
When the world thinks of Haitian rum it generally thinks of Barbancourt, an exceptional product compared by some with the finest cognac. Barbancourt is universally well received and can hold up its head in the finest of company. Few care to know Clairin, Haiti’s ‘other drink’, Barbancourt’s rustic and alcoholic cousin, a relative frequently found incoherent and exhibiting delirium tremens.
While traveling in Haiti I made an effort to get to know Clairin. It was no easy task. Requests for information were often met with nonsensical babbling, contradictory answers, and invitations to have a swig of something horrible. Only occasionally was I rewarded. At the end of it all I was left thinking Clairin is probably a waste of time. I would like to be proved wrong, but for now that is how I see it.
I have been traveling around too much to be in Mixology Monday mode recently. Unfortunately I missed the last one on 19th Century cocktails. How did I manage to miss that? It sounded great. Ahh. . .the travails of travel.
Anyway, this time round the theme is Guilty Pleasures, hosted by Two at the Most. The main idea behind the theme seems to be ‘comfort cocktails’, similar to ‘comfort food’. There is also a suggestion that it could include drinks that appeal a poorly educated palate. Hmm. . .
Forgive me if I randomly muse rather than picking a single drink.
OK, what I’m really going to do is smack you in the face with a Bunnyhug. However, I’ll soften the blow by first musing on cream, creme de menthe, and other inoffensive things. Read the rest of this entry »
When I picked the Dominican Republic for a holiday I figured one of the benefits would be hopping across the border to Haiti, making it a sort of two-for-one Caribbean travel destination. Haiti has always interested me. Haiti was the setting for “The Comedians”, one of my favorite novels by Graham Greene, one of my favorite writers. Haiti is the only nation to have been formed through a slave rebellion. The slaves quite reasonably turned the call of liberté, equalité, fraternité against their French masters. In a typical example of hypocrisy it was years before the United States, itself founded on an anti-colonial rebellion, extended diplomatic recognition to Haiti. Haiti is also home to the Isla de Tortuga, once the most notorious pirate nest in the Caribbean. Then you have the imposing Citadelle, quite possibly the ultimate Caribbean fortress. Add a sprinkling of voodoo and the mix is becoming most impressive. To that impressive mix you can start adding drinks-related attractions, such as Haiti being the home of Barbancourt rum, the bitter oranges used to produce Grand Marnier, and the famous bar at the Hotel Oloffson - once known as the Greenwich Village of the Caribbean. New Orleans’ Peychaud’s Bitters also traces its roots to Haiti, with Antoine Peychaud having been born in Cap-Haitien. There are even vague rumors of an ancestor of mine having been born in Haiti. In other words, plenty of reasons to visit. Read the rest of this entry »
As the United States races to the polls in an increasingly sleazy and bizarre electoral race, New Zealand is jogging more sedately towards its own election. While sifting the election related news I came across this interesting little snippet on Chinese voters.
I am now in Antigua, Guatemala, sipping on Mayan hot chocolate - which sounds like a tourist gimmick but may not be. I left the Dominican Republic about three weeks ago, spending a couple of weeks in Haiti before getting on a COPA air flight to Guatemala via Panama. The original plan had been to travel from Port-au-Prince to Guatemala City via Havana, but this proved a little difficult to arrange. Everything in Haiti is difficult. Internet and power in Haiti were absolutely horrible so I was pretty much unable to blog while I was there. Of course laziness also played a part.
The world of Dominican Beer is far from exciting. If the New World had only been discovered by Belgians things could have been so different. Still, meager as the offerings are, it seems a shame to leave the Dominican Republic without giving them a brief nod. Latin culture is formal like that, and so I should at least say something.
I somehow managed to lose half my photos of Dominican Republic beer bottles. I’m not sure how that happened. Anyway, sadly there is no picture of the rather cool Bohemia bottle.
China constantly bullies Taiwan, threatening to invade, test firing missiles into the sea near Taiwanese harbors during elections on the democratic island to remind its voters of the consequences of voting the ‘wrong’ way, excluding Taiwan from international bodies like the World Health Organization, refusing to allow the Taiwanese flag to be displayed at international sports events (sometimes even those held on Taiwanese soil!), and the list could go on practically forever. It’s not all scowls and frowns though. Militaristic nationalism has a cute side too.
When I lived in Shanghai I remember hearing an audio ad along similar lines that ran in Carrefour supermarkets. From memory it involved a bunch of Chinese children celebrating because Taiwanese children from ‘our precious little island’ were coming to play and bringing a bunch of, presumably tributary, mangoes.
