abenc85

I have bookmarked this on the 1oz of Orgeat alone! Sounds incredible

You are not helping my case of looking hard-done-by with a lack of selection here . I will add a Myer's sample to round out the trial and make it fairer (glad you avoided the copyright lawyers with your addendum there). I am actually currently working my way through the London cocktails bars with a group of friends and I will add this to the list for my next excursion. The only thing that slightly puts me off is they seem to throw Bacardi in almost all their drinks but I'll go in with an open mind!

I don't think I've ever seen more than 1/4 oz called for in a recipe

Do you think, in that case, a ratio of 1:15 might work? What Gosling's be a good base rum, or do you think something else? The menus look lovely, wish I had known on my last trip to NYC!

Today's 1st libation is a badly made rendition of the Smoked Appletini. The recipe calls for a 'Manuka Honey Vodka' so I subbed in Polish Vodka & Old Krupnik Honey Liqueur. It also calls for the drink to be stirred and smoked using apple & pecan and I didn't bother to read, saw citrus & spirit and shook the thing to high heaven. Still really nice though,

I think a planter's punch is an excellent idea and so simple I can't believe I didn't think of it! Thank you! We can indeed get Myer's. Whereas Blackwell has a bit of a marmite feel in the review community (it really is quite divisive), there seems to be a common consensus of no love for Myer's, so I had avoided it. Would you say it's worth considering? As to the final point there, to spin a tragic tale short; I really need to get out more. I haven't yet found my favourite rum bar, in fact I don't think I've visited a rum bar in this country! I would say we don't have many but I just make that assumption and we probably have loads! I think I have my 2 main cocktails decided! I am happy to embrace that learning curve, I just want to make sure I am in the best starting position possible. I'm more than happy to carry 2 or more black rums in my rotation if it makes for some fantastic libations. I think I actually prefer the infusion idea to actually trying out Cruzan Blackstrap. Reading back through the thread I think there's merit to a molasses-laced rum but I am confident I could make something better at home. Have you tried this yourself? I trust it'd be more of a liqueur-making process than an infusion, in that you'd leave the molasses in the rum at the end? Which bar are you based at if you don't mind me asking?

I would say I'm adverse to pestering bloggers but you know that would be a lie . In the meantime I think I'm just not going to get the kind of answer I am after (as people are familiar with one thing or the other depending on which side of the Atlantic they sit) so I might be brave and undertake a taste-off. I will of course share the results in case there's anyone else sad enough out there to obsessively agonise over such a 1st world problem! I will trawl the books for ideas but if you or anyone else has suggestions for some good mixed drinks calling for dark rum/dark jamaican that would serve a comparison, I'd love to hear them. I'm going to make a day of it and look at demerara as well (and a bit of crossover). Based on what I've read elsewhere I'm going to try: In the dark category: Gosling's Black Seal Blackwell Jamaican Rum A 4:1 mix of Appleton Extra : Smith & Cross A 3:1 mix of Wood's 100 Old Navy Rum : Smith & Cross OR Wray & Nephew Overproof OR try both combos (The last 2 are based on a reddit thread asking about a sub for Coruba dark, one person suggested that the Appleton/S&C blend is the closest they've got, another person suggested Wood's on it's own but I think it needs a bit of Jamaican funk from the S&C or W&N) I'm totally aware Gosling's is the odd one out but according to Martin Cate it fits and I think it'll be the closest sub to Cruzan Blackstrap I have if I top it up with some molasses syrup. In Demerara: El Dorado 8 yr Lemon Hart 80 El Dorado 12 yr and/or 15 yr Wood's 100 Skipper I think the obvious choice for Demerara is a Queen's park swizzle? According to Martin Cate, again, LH 80 is supposedly more in keeping with a dark, so I may pit it into both taste-offs. Does this sound ridiculous and overblown?? Does anyone fancy a trip over from the States to provide a reference for the comparison Side note: cocktails + mild autism is a great combo

I will drop you a message

Did he change his mind somewhere along the way? As in the episode he clearly states this isn't interchangeable with Jamaican Dark rums like Coruba!

Sadly the Hamilton one is another I've looked up and not available to us over here (well actually I asked Ed Hamilton himself and got a none-too-helpful reply). I have one friend who just moved over to California I could potentially ask, however I thought customs were hot on that sort of thing so had avoided it. If it makes any difference, I can get Blackwell Black Gold and Plantation Original Dark (Trinidad and Jamaica) over here at about £20 each if they compare to the black Jamaican. On the Gosling's, it certainly has what is widely described as a 'root beer note'; this might be similar to an anise note? If not, molasses itself I think has an anise flavour to it, if I'm adding that to Gosling's to up the punch?

I am aware the only black rums I've referenced by definition are Goslings, Skippers and Wood's. Unfortunately I don't know what I don't know and that is how they compare 2 major black rums used in the states that I've not had the opportunity to try nor am likely to. I am basing the sub of Appleton 12 for Coruba on a recommendation put forward by Jeff Berry, and I'm basing the idea of Smith & Cross possibly forming part of a 'home blend black rum' on the idea put forward by Dead Rabbit. What would you suggest?

Having learnt a lesson from my recent posts I thought I'd opt for thread revival instead of starting a whole new topic, so apologies if it seems a bit odd to quote a post from 2014! I am based in the UK and find myself in something of a predicament. On the one hand we have a great selection of rums available to us, but on the other, we don't have the same selection of rums available as the major cocktail writers and bars that push out materials based in the US. As such I often see adages wrapped around niche products like Cruzan Blackstrap and Coruba Dark suggesting 'only this will do' and offering no insight into how I might be able to substitute it with a product available to me in the UK. I have had this discussion with others including your own @FrogPrincesse on the subject of dark rums; in particular Coruba Dark, and I'm reasonably happy that I am not missing too much as I am quite happy to use Appleton 12 in its place. I then heard about Cruzan Blackstrap, which again, gets a mixed bag of praise and condemnation from various aficionados of the trade. I'm currently building a staple rum collection working with 3 main books; Beachbum Berry Remixed, Smugger's Cove and Death & Co. There's a common list of rums here either available or with viable substitutions but there is still the odd recipe calling for these 2 specific rums mentioned above and having recently stumbled across this idea from Dead Rabbit I wonder if there is merit to developing a couple of clever 'blends' to work in place of these rums to create comparable, or possibly even superior options to use in these drinks. I'm trying to be as Draconian as I can be about my cabinet real-estate and so I've tried to nail down as narrow a list as possible of rums to own to achieve this. I thought I'd put to you what I have and what modifiers I've considered and see if I can use the collective mixology genius here to come up with some good options for blends. Definite bottles will be: Appleton Extra (12), Smith & Cross, Appleton Signature or Reserve (haven't decided which and can't justify both), Bacardi 8, Gosling's Black Seal, Flor de Cana dry, El Dorado 12 +/or 3/5/8 (haven't decided what combination again), JM Blanc/La Favorite, Scarlet Ibis. Potential modifiers I've considered are: Clement VSOP, Barbancourt 8 (though struggling to find many recipes using it), Banks 7 Island, Skippers Demerara, Wood's 100 Demerara, Old Salt English rum (pure pot still molasses). My other consideration has been the Molasses syrup as per the Smuggler's cove recipe; from what I've read the Cruzan Blackstrap is more or less a liqueur of sorts as it's got molasses added back in; surely there's scope here to use the syrup to create my own Blackstrap molasses rum? I'm loathed to add in modifiers unless they can bring a lot of utility to the table, but I am open to it! So my (rather long-winded) question is: How can I best utilise what is available to me to recreate what isn't available to me, as highlighted above?

That might bode well then, as I've noticed of their recipes with Rhum Agricole, a good number of the drinks call for only a small amount as part of a wider mix of rums and modifiers. They have a couple of recipes that are concentric to the spirit, and one of these specifically calls for JM Blanc, so this could work in my favour!

Thank you for the suggestions. I think the combined ideas of starting on 'taming' cocktails and opting for a mellower, more approachable rye; Sazerac, are a solid starting point. Sazerac particularly appeals as it comes from one my favourite Bourbon distillers. I think I will give this a try and work my way into the spirit with softer cocktails.

LDI Ryes? Be interested to see your top 5 when you're done!