The Rum Club is back!!!
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Messrs Van Tiel, Nemec and Linford |
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After a short Christmas break, The Sydney Rum Club once again proved that this Bundy drinking nation has come along way in the last few years. Held at Café Pacifico on Monday the 5th of Feb the first meeting of 07 was kindly sponsored by Angostura Rum. Tiki Culture was the theme for the evening & most guests wearing the funkiest shirts this side of the Caribbean.
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| The First Sydney Tiki God | |
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There were an abundance of umbrella’s, naked ladies on the side of glasses and even a few palm tree garnishes Yes you know the ones, you discovered them in your parents drinking cabinets when you were about 7 years old.
To get things started the infamous Manuel Terron took us on a tropical journey to when Don the beachcomber & Trader Vic started the whole Tiki culture movement. He explained, that after prohibition had ended in the mid 1930’s Americans were seeking escapism from their subdued lifestyles & in creating an atmosphere that was reminiscent of Polynesian Culture both Don & Trader Vic successfully opened restaurants that offered tropical rum based fruit drinks & exotic South Pacific Island style food in an environment filled with bamboo umbrella’s & grass skirts. This formula proved so success that both men built multi million dollar empires over the last next 50 years.
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Love the rum but don't LOVE the rum... |
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Next up; in the absence of the any of the Angostura chaps (they were away sponsoring a golf tournament) I held my hand up & delivered a some what rough history of the Famous Angostura Company. You see without the bitters there would be no rum. So thanks to Johann Seigert who in 1824 created the recipe for his world renowned bitters in Venezuela we now have 2 world class Rums from Trinidad (Thanks for the bottles of 1919 & 1824, much appreciated!)
To finish the night off in true Tiki style we (dis)organised a quick cocktail comp, each of the 10 competitors (if you can call them that) were given a list of 15 ingredients & had 5 minutes to make the most exotic rum based cocktail possible & assign a Tiki name. (No copies of classics allowed). The judges were Manuel & Wally & the coveted winner would take home a bottle of Angostura 1919. Phil pulled out the most eccentric garnish of the evening which resembled a giant fruit kebab & Ken from Barmania mixed (what would be if we knew the recipe) a modern day classic. So
after much shaking, a hell of a lot of mess & some really dodgy names Ray Carter, Phil Bayly & Jacqueline Anderson from Blu Horizons all tied for first place. So to find a winner a around of shots was called for by the now rowdy mob & after much debating, screaming & shouting Ray Carter (he’s not a bartender folks) piped Jacqueline to become the inaugural ‘Tiki Cocktail Master’
So here’s hoping we all recover in time for this months meeting. Held at the Bligh Bar (sadly to be the farewell meeting held at this slick city venue) on Monday the 26th of Feb. And what a meeting we have in store, our first product launch. Yes that’s right folks. This will be your first chance of tasting the highly acclaimed English Harbour 5yo Rum from Antigua. See you there!!!
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| The october meeting of the Sydney Rum Club at the Victoria Rooms |
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