Hello, from Buffalo
My first spirit was Rum. Straight up rum from the bottle. I started drinking rum underage in college after we (dorm room mate) asked a friend to get us some Bacardi. How Naive I was, I meant these wine cooler type of Bacardish drink at like 5% ABV. We each handed him some cash and he returned to us shortly with 2 huge bottle of Bacardi superior. We both unscrewed our bottles me thinking this does not seem like the right thing here but never the less with both took our first swig. We both were like what is this?!? Either way we downed that nectar straight up from the bottle most of the night. Rum became a college drink for me downed countless bottles of cheap Rums. Then I stopped drinking spirits very often after college; until last fall.
College being over a decade behind me at this point, I found myself traveling to the Dominican Republic to a resort for a week or so. There my room was stocked with top shelf spirits. Barcelo rum was opened right away and I had a few shots, then a few Mexican coke and rums in the room. I then moved to the bar area where they had vast amounts of rum to offer, Brugal, Bermudez, Barcelo, Tremols, the list goes on. I don't recall how many of the rums I tried (I was plastered) but it was most of them (mostly mixed).
Finally, a bartender I befriended (Kennedy) at one of the nicest bars on the resort called the (stars bar), Introduced me to several of his favorites, he even made several of his own rum like concoctions that he brought out after hours. All were quite excellent, there was one he said he made himself in a gigantic jug which was a gallon sized or larger. It tasted of nothing I ever had in my life it was to be taken straight and it was amazing. This he said was his home made mamajuana a mixture of rum, wine, roots/barks/woods/herbs..the list goes on. It was a light gold mamajuana and it was full of various ingredients; the most noticeable being large green palm like fully intact leaves coming out from the bottle of other parts of the mixture. It was not only a great drink but the inside of the bottle was art the way he had it arranged to look like sugar cane growing up from the ground. The taste is difficult to describe with it was very refreshing no alcohol bite at all it was almost like a Spearmint taste almost menthol but completely natural.
After the mamajuana experience I did much research into it and found it it actually considered to do many beneficial things potentially, and used as a cure for many ailments, many still swear by it today. I asked the bartender before I left to procure me a bottle of mamajuana, he did so. I still have it unopened, its a local filtered bottle for drinking only nothing inside it. When I arrived back in the country I was gifted a month later from a fellow traveler a make your own mamajuana kit from the DR. It was then I started buy rum again to make it. Now fast forward 6 months and I am making mamajuana by the gallon from the highest quality DR materials and ancient recipies. I have several batches going at any time.
All the mamajuana drinking opened me up to straight sipping of rum. I now have over 50 high quality bottles in my collection. I have many rums from Dominican Rep, PR, Venezuelan, Barbados,Guatemala, Panama, Costa rica, many nice plantation rums, Trinidad, and of course Guyana. My favorite rums hail from Plantation currently and have 3 single casks on the way I just found.
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