Allow me, if you will, to re-visit my recent Caribbean vacation. Aside from having awesome cocktails before dinner, the French side of St. Martin is known for the post meal libations as well, at least in Grand Case anyway. In most (but not all places) you get a nice shot of (typically) home made rums, usually banana flavored. Naturally, they are absolutely delicious and had to bring some back with me. Here is my haul from the trip:
The skull bottle is from Ocean 82. The next two bottles come from a place called Calmos Café. The smaller bottle is from the most recent trip. The larger bottle with the C’est La Vie sticker is from when we went all the way back in 2016. After hurricane Irma, Calmos got hit pretty hard since they were right on the water and had (seemingly) closed up shop permanently. So we drank that rum sparingly. However, much to our delight, they re-opened in October of last year. Same owners and in the same spot. So we had to go there and get another bottle. The blank bottle is a rum from a restaurant in Grand Case that no longer exists. Again, hence the sparing use of it. Though I hope I haven’t fucked it since the bottle is open and there is a banana in there after all these years… . The last bottle, the white rum is one I purchased. I was with my friend and while buying wine and cheese for the day when we got pulled into an impromptu rum tasting, soon joined by a local sommelier who was excited he walked into a tasting at 10:30 in the morning.
So no formal cocktail review this week. I wanted to write about the awesome rums you can get down there and re-visit (at least mentally) a fantastic vacation spot we’re already plotting to go back to. I poured myself a glass of the original Calmos Café rum (the C’est La Vie bottle).
The nose is heavy on the rum but also sweet smelling, with strong banana notes, obviously. The banana flavors hit you up front, and they last the entire sip, and then some. This is a heavy mouth feel rum, and it sticks with your palate after finishing. There is a lot of sweetness with this rum, as it is more than likely molasses based, which contributes to the coating of the palate and delayed flavor dissipation.The rum flavor is present throughout, but it definitely takes a back seat to the sweet banana notes. It’s more of an underlying spiciness/alcohol burn that it brings to the party, but I think it’s a welcome one here. It keeps you from downing this too quickly since this is very, very good. I would compare this to a dark rum soaked banana bread. It’s that good.
The alcohol burn, combined with the sweet banana really make this a good digestif. No wonder differing variations are offered after dinner on the French side of that awesome little island. Every time I want a little taste of the island, I’ll be pouring from my selection of house made banana rums.
(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)
Those rums sound amazing!
Extraordinarily off topic, but something that confuses me: why are sociologists, geographers, economists, etc. all seemingly shocked, confused, and terrified that China’s One-Child Policy has “suddenly” changed the global demographic and economic paradigm? It isn’t like there hasn’t been 35-40 years to prep for this eventuality.
Why are these “experts” shitting their collective pants that China’s population is “suddenly” so strikingly different, especially as this century goes on? This is EXACTLY what the Chinese government wanted to do. It’s like everyone forgot how breeding and population growth operates.
As a species, we’re trying to map the human brain, prove dark matter exists, and who knows what the James Webb Telescope has to show us next. That’s truly remarkable stuff. At the same time, we’re surprised if you cut the supply of something for a while, it could just impact that supply in the long run.
tl;dr Like Libya, China – and humans – are lands of contrasts
I guess the theory is that any country with a declining birth rate will result in an aging population that lacks a support net because there isn’t enough of a working age population to provide the cash for that support. This will result in what advanced economists like to call “higgledy-piggeldy” and, since in this case it’s China, the second biggest economy in the world, that would result in a worldwide and adverse economic effects.
Of course, all of that ignores that if the human population doesn’t decline, or at least stabilize, in the near future we will likely run out of fresh water, in which case the value of the dollar against the renminbi is going to be pretty small fucking potatoes.
I understand this. Hell, that’s exactly what this policy wanted. I guess I’m just bewildered that there hasn’t been any real planning for what to do when this eventually happens.
It seems like the “experts” all woke up about three years ago and went, “Oh shit, that worked. What do we do now?”
This is why nuclear war is so beneficial. It culls populations and also fixes global warming, resulting in a long period of economic growth from the ashes. It really is a win-win for almost everyone.
Sounds like a lobbyist for #BigPlutonium.
I could make an argument we’re currently in a new Gilded Age. That era ended around 1910, and it helped shape a few other historical events you may have heard of.
C’mon, Serbia!
You need to write a post about that.
Big-ass electrical storm here right now. It goes KA-BOOM.
I was not a fan of rum until I went to St. John in January and now I kill for a good rum punch during this hot and humid weather.
“Though I hope I haven’t fucked it since the bottle is open and there is a banana in there after all these years”
“Could be worse.”
Richard Gere, staring at a dead hamster circling the toilet.
Being back from the Caribbean has to be a new level of depressing, though.
Oh 100%. Hence already planning to go back next year.
“I don’t know, I was pretty glad to be out of there.” -Alexander Hamilton
“Same here.” – Gabriel-Marie-Théodore-Joseph, comte d’Hédouville
(will be very impressed by anyone who doesn’t have to look this one up)
I have no idea what you’re talking about or who that is, and I didn’t have to look it up to know that.