Bill Poster

A friend just brought back a beer from czech for me called Radegast. I have to say it was v. v good. It had every thing you could want really. I think its the same brewery as Urquel

Has anyone mentioned Duvel? 8.5% V. good but has to be poured properly

I think a holiday in the caribbean is overdue Ed! I nearly always drink vodka based cocktails, but when I'm not murdering rum with coke, I like cachaca based cocktails also. As for sipping rum(with a little water), I was given a bottle of DonQ (15yrs?) which I enjoyed before a friend drank the rest of the bottle one night. I have a bottle of Ron Zacapa 23 which i suppose is a kind of benchmark. Next on my list is English Harbour 5yrs. Will email Sharon to find a london stockist Off topic. Was in the bank yesterday and the lady dealing with my transaction had just come back from Grenada. As i was leaving she gave me a sample of Clarkes Court special!

Not offended Ed! I know its sinful, but I am a bit partial to rum and coke even though the coke goes flat in 2 seconds(why?). I confess to enjoying it most with Havana 7 *waits for noose to tighten*

mine has to be Sailor jerry's. A shame because the packaging was lovely. Great for lighting barbeques though

If you can't get recommended, try a type of restaurant known as ryotei which are in a traditional 'house' with geisha if desired. These places do not have a price list!! The food is always excellent(it has to be) and usually tourist friendly

The best places in Tokyo and Kyoto are recommendation only. Do you know influential people there?

Hmm.. this is why I'm interested in 10Cane. Its their idea of a premium 'white' rum. But it won't work in the same way as a premium vodka. Where's the niche?

Am I right in thinking the Morgans spiced alcohol content is below 37.5? Which means, I think, that it SHOULD be classed not as a rum but as a liqueur?

Whilst most cane rums taste rank in a cuba libre, are there any which work such as barbancourt white(confess to not having tried it)? Or is it just better to stick with molasses based rums? Also, are there any blended rums using BOTH molasses and cane?

Wish I had discovered this forum earlier; quite fascinating insight by Ed. About 5 years ago I worked in the UK spirits business, first for a new swedish vodka brand and then in a sales capacity for a belgian beer. But after a rum tasting I got hooked and started researching the potential to develop a rum brand in the UK. My reasoning was that there were a handful of distillers with real history, still operating a traditional production process, but with no idea at all how to market their product in europe. I spent months researching each distiller and then short- listed the names I thought would work as a brand in the UK. I contacted a company in the eastern carribean and luckily they had a rep in London that week! I met at her hotel and discovered just how much work it would take to transform this brand into a marketable product...A truly fiery agricole rum! She then explained their plan to tie up a partnership with four island distillers and produce a portfolio of new products. To cut a long story short, after an initial positive reaction to my ideas and talk of inviting us over nothing came of it. It seemed it was very hard to make these small companies understand what the uk market wants. Too many barriers to break down i feel. It was interesting to see the new brand 10Cane; the marketing is so OTT it made my chuckle. Barbancourt white is made in a similar way (I think). I will be interested to see how 10Cane does in the london on-trade.