Dom Costa

Actually the only rum I suggest you take back home is Havana Club 15 yo, you can find it on the shelves of the few supermarkets in La Habana at 80 USD a bottle, which is an excellent value considering is on sale at least at 130/150 USD in Europe. All other rums ( Varadero, Caribbean. etc.), except Caney, yuo can find it everywhere in Europe, is useless to bring them with you. Just one suggestion: don't buy cigars on the streets, they are all crap, even if the package looks original inside you may find cigars stuffed with banana or palm tree leaves !!!! Watch it !!! Dom

In Santiago youll'find the distillery where they make Havana Club, but do not expect to find anything glamorous or something similar to the Bacardi visitors center in PR, actually I think they make miracles overthere, everything looks so old , rusty and worn out... By the way I asked all bartenders I met about Cuban produced Matusalem, but none of them knew anything about, actually most of them did not even know the existance of this rum, and you will not find any in the shelves of the bars in Cuba, I guess someone put the story around that you can still find Cuban made Matusalem in Cuba, but I realized it was actually a legend!!! For a change I suggest Ron Caney, it was a pleasant surprise to me as we don't get it in Italy , very enjoiable neat , in Cuba Libre and Daiquiri as well. Salud Dom Costa

Dear guys, since I was lucky enough to have the chance to go behind the bar al La Bodeguita and prepare a Mojito together with the resident bartenders, I'd just like to say that Mojito should NOT be prepared with sugar syrup , but with granulated white cane sugar, and since it's not like in the preparation of the caipirinha, it doesn't need the oils from the skin , but just the juice of the lime. Cheers Dom

Santa Teresa Orange Rum Liqueur makes a delicious Orange Daiquiri, remember to skip the sugar though, or it will be too sweet. I also tried a Daiquiri version with half white rum and half S.T. Orange liquer, and the result was excellent. For an extra touch I recommend to sprinkle a little grated orange peel on...... Cheers Dom

One of the biggest importer and distributor of rums in Italy, has recently declared in a weekly magazine , that Cuba is selling far more aged rum than they can produce, and he is convinced that all aged rums exported outside the country are white rums aged artificially and with robust addition of caramel syrup for extra coloring. I'd like to hear your opinion, what do you think about it? Cheers Dom

I suggest paying a visit to the Brixtonian Havana Club, 11 Beehive Place, Brixton, London SW9. A bar with an impressive amount of rums from all over the world, over 300 labels are on the shelves of the long bar. Really worth a visit, a must for all rum lovers Cheers Dom

Very interesting, thanks, I will look up for that book. As far as Campoamor's book, I doubt it was ever translated in english and I had problem myself in finding a new edition in Cuba as well, in fact I had to buy it second hand in a flea market. I have also asked if he has written other books about rum, but in the few(..and almost shelves empty ..) government's book stores nobody knew anything ... Thanks for your help anyway Dom

During my trip to Cuba last december I've bought a beautiful book about rum history, written by Fernando Campoamor, a Cuban rum historian, called "El Hijo alegre de la Caña de azucar". Inside the book I've found a picture of a rum called "Isla del Tesoro", I've asked around but nobody knew anything about it, I guess it's an old rum probably produced before the revolution, has anybody ever heard anything about it? By the way with my recent additions to my bar's shelves, Zacapa Centenario Black Lable, St. Kitts white rum by Rotschild, and Daimoiseau 15 yo, I have now 70 rums on offer to my clientele, and I think they should be quite happy about it, don't you think so? Dom Costa ps. guess what? not very long ago Paul, PFMANF, came to visit me, we found out we live few miles away from each other...sometimes life it's strange , you live around the corner and you get to know each other via satellite in a forum on the web , amazing!!!!

Hmmm, I still think Liberacion is not cuban, you should all know that original cuban rum must have on the bottle the "sello de garantia" just like on the cigar boxes, a stamp that guarantees the genuinity of the product, and I don't remember seeing it on the Liberacion bottle..... Dom

Dear all, are you shure Liberacion is a Cuban rum? I'd rather say it's a "Cuban Style" rum but I doubt very much is a genuine Cuban one. Anyway since I came back from Cuba 10 days ago, I've never seen it around, but I'd like to inform you I've tried an nother fine product from the Big Island, "Ron Caney", not that bad at all. Has anyone else had the chance to try it? Cheers Dom Costa

By the way , I get so many Havana Club glasses ( Collins , rocks and shooters), stirrers, bar towels and ice buckets, trays that I normally give them away to neighbour bars, cause I don't know where to store all the staff!!! Dom

I normally use "tulip" shaped glassess or sherry "copitas", which I believe are the most appropriate ones, especially if you are enjoiyng an aged rum, otherwise I use tumblers, medium sized ,imported from South America. Dom

Hi Edward here's the recipe: Isla Dorada ¾ oz Havana Club 3yo ¼ oz Midori ¼ oz Pisang Ambon 1 oz fresh pineapple juice 1 oz Tropical mix juice (mango, papaya, guava) a lime wedge Pour all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice, squeeze the lime wedge and drop it in before shaking. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Decoration : Get some 24 carat gold dust (is used in patisserie for garnishing) and with the help of a plastic chopstick dip it several times into the gold ( cleaning it each time) and into the glass until you get a beautiful gold layer. I know that is not easy to get gold dust , so if you have the chance finding it, the effect will leave your customers/ guests astonished, but if you have difficulties, just enjoy the drink without , I had to use it to impress the judging panel !! Cheers Dom

Dear rum lovers, I've just returned from Cuba where I attended the Havana Club Cocktail Competition held at "El Floridita" in La Habana. Believe me it was one of the best experience ever, to have the chance to go behind the bar at "El Floridita" was a dream come true, just before strarting to prepare my cocktail I felt a big shiver along my back, that place has such a mix of charm and history ,you can smell it all over the place. The grandeur of it's past as unfortunately faded a little, but what a feeling to stand behind the bar of " The cradle of the daiquiri" !! By the way I ended up at third place , and I left Cuba with a little bronze statue of the "Girardilla",a copy of the weathervane that tops the Tower of Castillo de Real Fuerza and symbol of "La Habana". But this is not so important..... Cheers Dom Costa

My rum supplier just told me that a new Zacapa Centenario is on the market, a 23 yo special blend to celebrate the third ( or is it the fourth ?) victory in the Rum Fest. Has anyone tried it? Apparently there's a limited supply, but is not cheap stuff, so I'd like to hear if any of you has had the chance to try it .... Dom

I strongly reccomend not to buy Malecon of any age, they are absolutely not worth the money you pay, a real disappointment. I have tried two of the Rum Nation's product , the Demerara 18 and 26yo, they are not bad, but a little overpriced I think. Do not hesitate on Eldorados ,Appletons and Mathusalem, they certainly are a shure bet. For Rene Malecon is exported in Europe by Caribbean Spirit inc. of Panama, but apparently they are not producers but "negociants", they blend and bottle only, and in my personal opinion with scarce results. Dom Costa

I would go for "Brugal Siglo de Oro", but if I had a second chance I'd say "Cacique Millenium", Zacapa has to many fans... Dom

French haute cuisine and a little anecdote. Few years ago I was in Cannes with an English friend( who did not speak a word of french),we went for lunch in a famous 5 star hotel and he ordered a marvellous sounding dish : Pâte sautee avec lard fumé , jaunes d'oeuf et fromage de Parme râpé....... well, you should have seen his face when he got his dish of spaghetti carbonara... Cheers Dom

Well, dear friends I think that as usual when speaking of Italian cuisine there's always a big prejudice, the majority of people expect an Italian restaurant to be family run, rustic, filled with screaming waiter saying "ciao bella" to every woman and so on.... I still get American tourists asking for spaghetti with meat balls and fetuccine alfredo thinking they order the best Italian cuisine has to offer. Not to mention when they ask for "pepperoni pizza", what's that? I believe it's an American creation. I really don't know what peaople expect but the situation in Italy is not that bad really, there are loads of restaurant offering modern Italian cuisine all over the country , and not only in the big city, of course trattorias and osterias still are very popular and they always will, but living next to France ( where I often go and experience different restaurants ) the situation isn't that different than is in Italy, maybe because Provence and Liguria are very similar in cooking habits and way of life, but except from few top rated restaurants over the border the food has a lot of similarity to the one on this side. I get the impression that is taken for granted that Italian cuisine has to be considered kind of "ordinary" and French as "chic", but is it really that way? I don't think so, but this is what majority of people think, and Italian food restaurants , especially in the US, really have not helped in this. Being Italian food very popular , many big companies have invested in the opening of Italian themed restaurants where the only thing they have of Italian is the name. I've also seen in London a lot of "Bella Pasta" "Spaghetti House" "Sbarro" etc. claiming to be authentic Italian restaurants, well I think not, if any of you has ever tried this type of restaurant know what I am talking about. On the other end I've also seen restaurant offering great Italian modern cuisine, and I'm talking of places like Osteria Isola, Cecconi's, River Cafè, Santini's, etc. , but of course you can not expect to pay little for dining in theese restaurants, and this is probably one of the main reason why people associate Italian food=cheap bill, Frech food=expensive bill. If any of you is around Italy I suggest to try places like Flipot in Torre Pellice, Gener Neuv in Asti, orBalzi Rossi in Ventimiglia, or Claudio in Bergeggi just to name a few, and see that Italian cuisine is well and alive. Salute !! Dom

Well, as I've never heard anything about Caribbean Spirit Inc., I thought you might have known this company, but it sounds like you don't, and also my doubts grow bigger. You know this company also exports another Panamanian rum called "La Cruz", I have both 7yo and 12yo, and they also do no meet expectations , especially compared to their cost, and I also have doubts about the aging of both rums. I'd like to hear your opinion about this, do you think a distillery can claim the aging of a rum when it has not been actually aged as long as written on the bottle? Dom

I have bought a bottle of Ron Malecon 21yo, from Panama, produced by Caribbean Spirit inc,as I never tried this rum before , I thougth that a twentyone year old rum should be a shure bet, it wasn't like this, it was a total disappointment, it tasted like a 7yo rum , very pungent and I could not tatse the typical vanilla flavor that rum gets from the casks after so many years. Absolutely not worth the money , about 40$. Has anyone else tried it ? I'd like to hear your coments. Dom

I've been serving the whole range of Havana Club rums for 15 years, and I've experienced during this time that the flavors of all of them changes continuosly, for instance I kept a bottle of HC 3yo that was for sale 10 years ago, and let me tell you it tastes very different than the one on the market today, not to mention that once I've poured an HC 5yo ( not in the market any longer), finished the bottle, opened a new one ,poured another shot, and the color was different, one was darker than the other..... any comments?