Yo Ho Ho, NABOR: August 2012

Welcome to Yo Ho Ho, NABOR!

My Scale for Rating Rum Keep in mind as you read my reviews and ratings that I'm giving you my opinions from a unique perspective. So here's that view of rum that impacts my ratings.

1. I really, really don't like spiced or flavored rum.

2. I've discovered a preference for aging that transcends price.

3. Too much alcohol or too much of a burn straight up hides the quality of rum.

4. I'm surprisingly unswayed by others' opinions of rums, but I am driven to try rums about which others rave.

5. I gave up trying and rating cheaper rums with the exception of some novelty rums.

6. A typical tasting is both straight up and with Diet Coke.

7. I'm not much of a drinker. I don't have more than two drinks in an evening. So I really savor my rum and Diet Cokes.

My Rating Scale 1 to 10, Worst to Best No quibbling over decimal points; although, I have gone back and changed ratings--and reserve the authority to do so again.

The lowest three ratings are just rather poor rums that I don't like.
1 = Pour it out. 2 = Rub it on. 3 = Give it away.

The next three ratings mix with my Diet Coke, and I can be polite about them in company.
4 = Mix it very well. 5 = Mix it. 6 = Accept the gift, but don't regift.

The 7's are a conundrum. They knocked on the door, but the knock on them is typically too much alcohol bite.
7 = Don't turn it down.

These are the rums I hope to get when dining out or in a bar.
8 = Put it on the Top Shelf. 9 = Write it at the Top of the List.

These rums are so far above the others that everyone who tastes them instantly realizes they are special.
10 = Mark it as the Ultimate Rum.

Value Ratings The value ratings are calculated by squaring a rum's rating and dividing by the price for a 750 ml bottle. The very expensive ones don't compete on value. The really bad ones can't overcome their 1 or 2 ratings. This helps find the 8's and 9s that deliver the best taste for the money.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Are You Ready to Rum Bell?

My son in law and daughter gave me an amazing machine for Father's Day. Apparently, as advertised, it cools a drink to 15 degrees F. So this inspired me to finally create my own rum drink. Here 'tis.

The easiest ingredient to settle upon was Blue Bell ice cream. The only intense moment will be finding out if the melted ice cream will flow through the dispenser. If not, then there is an alternative recipe for dispensing at parties (and on the bar for hot weekends).

Then the notion of another alternative hit me. I love real hot chocolate--fudge. So when the dispenser is not being used, the chocolate can be fudge rather than chocolate syrup.

The Recipes

The Rum Bell

1 Cup of Blue Bell Ice Cream
2 Tablespoons of Smucker's Hot Fudge Topping (Unheated)
1 Jigger Bacardi Ron 8 Anos (or Equivalent)

The Bar Belle

1 Cup Heavy Cream
2 Tablespoons of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
1 Jigger Bacardi Ron 8 Anos (or Equivalent)

So this weekend, I'm going to try these out.