LunaSea

For those of you who like mixed rum drinks, try this: Take 1 glass and fill it 1/3 with Meyer's Dark Rum, 1/3 with fresh squeezed orange juice, 1/3 with sparkling water, and a squeeze of lime. Add ice, shake, and enjoy! I was at a bar in the Florida Keys many years ago and I kept ordering those, and finally the bartender asked if there was a name for the drink. It just happened that across the street was a Dive Shop with a sign out front that said "Night Dives" so I looked the bartender square in the eyes and said, "Yes, it's called a Night Dive!!!" A few weeks later I drove up to the same bar and there was a sign out front that said "Try our new Night Dives!" Hey, I'm a trend setter!!! DERF...try a Night Dive...you'll like it!

LunaSea's Rum And Coke Recipe: 2 shots (or more) of high quality rum 1 bottle of coke Pour coke into a glass. Wash coke bottle thoroughly. Pour rum into empty coke bottle. Enjoy!!

Nassau is one of the more touristy islands of the Bahamas, but it's still the Bahamas! Make sure you drink plenty of ice cold Kalik beers while you're there.

Hey Sadistick, send me a PM with your mailing address and I'll send you a bottle of Ron Zacapa Centenario for costs. BTW, Pyrat Planter's Gold XO isn't bad but the Pyrat Cask 23 (40 year old) is the best rum that has ever touched my lips...and it should be for what it costs! $239/bottle here in my area, and $180/bottle direct from the factory in Anguilla when my wife visits there. Thank you honey!!!

If you buy Ron Zacapa Centenario make sure you get the 23 year old (not the 15 year old). Both are good but the 23 y/o is superb as a sipping rum. It seems it would be a sacrilege to mix it with anything except maybe an ice cube. Here in South Florida it sells anywhere from $40-$45 a bottle.

Pour your favorite good rum in a glass and pour the coke down the drain! A friend of mine likes Captain Morgan mixed with Dr. Pepper...how hidious does that sound?

Oh man, my head's still fuzzy!!! Last night a friend of mine and I drank 3 bottles of Chimay Grand Reserve (blue) Belgium Trappist ale...you know, the 25 oz. bottles...did I mention the 9% alcohol? Can't wait to do it again!!!

Bill, I've tried the Flor de Cana 7 y/o and the 12 y/o but didn't care much for either one of them. Sadistick, too bad about your Pina Coladas. Try again! If you can possibly get your hands on a bottle of Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 y/o, then try it. We here in Florida can buy it for about $40 a bottle. Here's a website where you can learn more about it: http://www.ronzacapacentenario.com/ By the way, is it legal for someone to mail rum from the U.S. to Canada? If so then I'd be glad to send you a bottle Sadistick, for the cost of the rum and shipping.

Hey elixirofthetropics...I was at a party last year and there was a guy drinking Captain Morgan spiced rum mixed with Dr. Pepper!!! Do you want to put him out of his misery or should I???!!!!!

JediNord....ME TOO on the Pyrat XO Reserve!!! But I just got my fifth bottle of Pyrat Cask 23 rum yesterday from a local liquor store in Miami...$239 and worth every luscious drop of it!!!

I mentioned 90 proof Jamaican Sea Wynde rum earlier on this thread but neglected to mention that it costs $90 here in Florida, so not only is it a cheap imitation of good rum, it's a rather expensive cheap imitation as well! Indeed, it's double the price of rums that I would refer to as very good quality sipping rums, like Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 y/o, Planters Gold OX, and Diplomatico.

I'd keep the Pyrat Cask 23 on the list (he DID say under $400!). I found a Miami distributor who can order it for $239 a bottle (it's $180 at the factory in Anguilla). I bought a bottle to welcome 2006, and boy did it turn some heads at the liquor store on New Years Eve when the guy rang up the total! But Jason, you're right about Pyrat XO...a very good rum for under $40 a bottle, as is Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 year old. But I would also add Diplomatico from Venezuela, which is in the same price range.

For the price, I don't think you'll find too many rums better than 23 year old Ron Zacapa Centenario from Guatemala, although I'm very partial to Diplomatico from Venezuela too. But, give me that expensive and superb Pyrat Cask 23 from Anguilla any day!!! By the way, I found a distributor in Miami that can get Pyrat Cask 23 for $239 a bottle (it's $180 at the factory in Anguilla).

Susan...I am a firm believer that beer improves the brain! Let me explain by using nature as an example: When a pride of lions follow, say, a herd of wildebeest, they pick off the weak and the lame ones, thereby improving the rest of the herd. When you drink beer, the alcohol kills off the weak and lame brain cells, thereby improving the rest of your brain!!! I'd like to chat more but I have to go improve my brain some more!!!

SAVE THE ALES!!!!

Podolski...I continue to try different rums from various parts of the world, but the 23-year old Ron Zacapa Centenario remains my favorite rum of those that I can purchase locally. It's about $40 a bottle here in Florida. Of course, when my wife travels to the Caribbean island of Anguilla and buys me a bottle of Pyrat Cask 23 direct from the factory for $185, I put all of my other rums aside until I've sipped every last luscious drop from the bottle...which usually takes a couple of weekends!!! My local liquor store started carrying the 15-year old Zacapa Centenario so I'll have to give that one a try.

Dori...check this out... http://www.maria-brazil.org/caipirinha.htm ...especially the part that mentions that Senac has published an informative book about Cachaca.

Okay everyone, you're supposed to read the set of instructions that come with the set of kitchen knives!!!

Good ol' Florida black mangrove honey is one of my favorites! Key lime honey too!

Those were my sentiments exactly!

I'd like to try a Pilsener Urquell direct from the brewery in the Czech Republic. It's regarded as the best beer in the world by some beer aficionados, but it's distinctly hoppy. It was featured once on the TV program, The Thirsty Traveler. The best beer that I've ever tasted was Sunday River, brewed in some guy's garage in Portland, Maine. I would've stayed longer but I drank it all!

David, My wife just returned from Jamaica with a bottle of 21 y/o Appleton. I didn't find it to my liking but, then again, I like Pyrat Planters Gold Reserve XO and you don't. If you're in Puerto Rico, skip on over to Anguilla and you can get Pyrat Cask 23 direct from the factory there for $185 a bottle. Or go to the restaurant at Cap Jaluca and you can buy it by the 1 oz. shot. They also have an 1880s rum there for $185 A SHOT!!! And a liqueur of some sort for $400 a shot. Bring your Visa AND your MasterCard!!!

There are lots of rums that are perfectly fine for mixed drinks, but when it comes to sipping them straight, or with a couple of ice cubes, that's when most of them drop off the radar screen for me. I quit making mixed drinks many years ago after refining my tastes and going on a quest to learn more about sipping rums. Therefore, I would classify Mount Gay as a mixed-drink rum. My wife recently returned from Jamaica with a bottle of 21 y/o Appleton which, for my tastes anyway, was disappointing. I'll save it for my friends who are mixers. Now, where's that bottle of Pyrat Cask 23?

I attended a conference at a plush motel at Disney World once and, at the end of the first day I sauntered on out to the poolside bar to partake in some libations. All they had were the usual culprits...Bud, Coors, Busch...and Corona. I ended up indulging in 4 Coronas, plus bought 2 for a fellow conference attendee, and when my bill came, that's when I found out they were $7.50 a bottle! That's right folks...$45 for a 6-pack of Corona!!!! But it still beat the other alternatives.

Foodie Craze, I've sat on Pigeon Key and got stupid drunk on a number of occasions back when the old bridges were still operational. I mean, what else is there to do there? Have you ever been to Woody's Bar on Islamorada and listened to that rude blues band, Big Dick & The Extenders? What fun!