Ted meets a sailor

... yes a real one this time (don't ask ok ...) and his name is Jerry. I used to think that I didn’t really like anything in the alcohol spirit line that was brown unless it was made from grapes. Then visiting friends from a faraway island nation who shall remain nameless (Paul and Chrissie) arrived with “Sailor Jerry” a "spiced" Caribbean rum in their duty free. So I looked this Jerry dude up … and unlike other marketing gimmicks that simply make people up (sorry to tell you that Betty Crocker never existed) there is a real Sailor Jerry and his name is Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins. Not only was he a sailor, but he went on to become the “father of old school tattooing” in the originally very rough district of Hotel Street in Honolulu, Hawaii, where sailors and soldiers alike gathered for a last big blow out before literally being shipped off to war … many of them never to return.

Rum is made from sugar cane and hence no doubt why I like it. It has an adult sweet character to it, especially the spiced rum – it’s like a Caribbean version of Christmas mulled wine, as it has lovely spices in the blend. I know that rum and butterflies are inextricably interlinked in the Caribbean. The butterflies can smell the ripeness in the sugar cane so when they begin to arrive the farmers start the harvest of the cane and they leave the butterflies a “share” … which is great as butterflies are essentially blind and smell is their thing .. but they really should find out about the "angels' share" of Cognac and get themselves a better deal ...

Apparently (because I am just learning about all of this) you do not necessarily use the same mixers for spiced rum as you would for other rum or whisky or whiskey even. I have to tell you that the best mixers are Fever-Tree hands down … we can get booze anywhere but we can’t yet get Fever-Tree everywhere we travel ... and once you taste it trust me like us you'll be packing it in your luggage too. It's refreshing in more ways than one, as not only does it taste great, but these guys are serious about their ethical sourcing policy and community support - they really put their money where their mouth is ...