Follies Fixture – Burke’s Seamaster Rum
For this article I am again sticking to rum. I do not know why, but I in my opinion the rum-market is really buzzing right now. So, today I am presenting to you a blended Caribbean rum from an independent German bottler. The Rum Artesanal brings together rum from Barbados and Jamaica.
Founded on Jamaica in 1878, the Burke’s rum brand now is a part of the Rum Albrecht portfolio. In the case of the Semaster Rum, the blend consists of an eight-year-old rum from Barbados which was tropically aged and an eleven-year-old Jamaican rum aged in Europe. Keeping up with the current trend, the Jamaica rum has a high ester content of 700 g/hlpa. After blending the rum is bottled at an ABV of 50 % without any additives.
Tamed ester notes
While the description might sound like the Burke’s Seamaster is a very ester-heavy rum, in reality it is very pleasant. Of course, you instantly notice that a fair share of the rum comes from Jamaica. Nevertheless, despite its strength the rum just gently brushes your palate with ester and Jamaican rum notes, instead of hitting you in the face with the ester equivalent of a sledgehammer. Additionally, you also find a lot of spices, especially cloves and nutmeg in the taste. I enjoyed the rum very much and guess that it is perfect for cocktails.
Like stars in the sky
To find out, I came up with a few drinks for the #bhcc2021 challenge by Rum Artesanal. For my first drink, a kind-of Air-Mail variation, I combined the Seamaster Rum with hazelnut eau de vie, lime, vanilla and Cidré. The flavour combination was inspired by my “Flavour Bible” and gave me the chance to use the excellent Cidré from Van Nahmen. Of course, it is better to use home-made vanilla syrup in it, but if you must, you can replace it with a high-quality store bought version.
0,75 cl Vallendar Hazelnut Eau de Vie
3 cl Lime Juice
2 cl Vanilla Syrup
Shake first four ingredients – fill chilled Cocktail glass half with Cidré – strain drink in glass;
Garnish: Three Apple Slices;
If you use homemade vanilla syrup, the small black vanilla pieces will flow around in the drink like stars in an inverted night sky. Regardless, the different flavours of the “Follies Fixture” blend together beautifully. The rum, the vanilla and the Cidré form a multiplex sensory experience with hints of nougat shining through every once and a while. All in all, I enjoyed the smooth mouthfeel of the drink with just enough carbonation very much.
Rum Fall Enzoni
Well, when I started planning the drink with the Seamaster Rum for the #bhcc2021, I came up with more than one possible recipe. So, I also want to share the others with you. My second idea was to mix up a Fall Enzoni variation with the rum blend. However, instead of Campari I went for the more mellow and still very complex Del Professore Bitter. The biggest difference compared to the original recipe was that I chose a Merlot grape juice instead of muddled red grapes. On the one hand, the juice is easier to handle and on the other hand the result is more consistent.
2,25 cl Del Professore Bitter
3 cl Grape Juice
3 cl Lime Juice
2 cl Simple Syrup
Garnish: Skeleton Leave;
Song: Bombay Bicycle Club – Dust on the Ground;
Similar to the “Follies Fixture” the “Leaves on the Ground” delivers a very smooth and flavourful drinking experience. The bitter notes of the Del Professore are very well integrated and perfectly work with the Jamaica rum notes. On top of that, grape and lime juice form a great sweet and sour mix together with the sugar. The recipe may not be the fanciest, but the flavour composition works on many levels. In the end, this means that it is likely to be well received.
