rum

It's A Giraffe!

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Hey look, it's a giraffe sailing a boat while partaking in a beverage or two. What glory! This beautiful Love & Rum piece was dreamt up by my wife, Katy, created by Jesse Robinson Williams and apparently inspired by... me. I'm going to go ahead and take that as a positive, regardless of whether it is or isn't.

We're going to be getting them made into some shirts real soon, so keep your ear to the ground and a drink in your hand.

Interested in more stuff from Jesse? We featured him a little while back in our Seven Deadly Questions series. Check out his site here for more work and follow him on Instagram.

Drink Up: 50 / 49 / Lime

​Drink recipe for the 50/49/Lime

As a man who enjoys his drink from time to time, I've had a share. I've been through the marathons and I've done the ground work. Specialty, blended, traditional, simple mix. With that, I've prepared this recipe for you, to be used in times when you don't know what to pour and in times when you do.

As a rum drinker, if you're not sipping neatly on one of the finer breeds, you're likely to want to mix it, depending on how numb you are at the time.

What This Post Isn't Suggesting...

Rum and coke or any sugary soda drink is years behind you. Not because you're too sophisticated. God no, I'd never suppose something like that. More so, you just can't take the damned sugar anymore. It's too much. You don't remember exactly when it happened, but you're sure you can remember polishing off a 2L Coke through the night, mixing it with whatever bottle that had a spout. Those days are gone.

Blended drinks, who needs that noise?

Specialty mixes, okay. You can get behind some of the finer rum cocktails from time to time. When you prepare them on your own, it takes a spark of motivation to get everything prepped, but mostly you ask yourself, "Who has the time or the inclination?" Out at the bar, at $10-13 for an ounce of liquor mixed in with some citrus rind you wonder, "Who can do that in good conscience? "

So what then?

The 50 / 49 / Lime. Now we're talking. It's easy to make, refreshing and as thick as you can pour one without getting your eyes wet. What is the 50/49/Lime, you ask? Traditionally, I've always made it with a mid level rum like Matusalem Classico, Cruzan, Havan Club Añejo or some of the aged Flor de Caña varieties.

I wouldn't attempt this with that Bacardi swill or well booze, unless you're so far gone you won't notice the sharp taste of ethanol. And good god, man, never white rum.

How to make the 50 / 49 / Lime

  1. Throw some rocks in a glass. The cubes pictured below were prepped with mint leaves which is something the lady likes to do. I approve. Mint is delicious.
  2. Pour it to the best of your ability, filling 50% of the glass with your rum of choice. This will become trickier as the evening (afternoon?) progresses.
  3. Top it up 49% with S. Pellegrino sparkling water. Or, as pictured below, for a little extra magic is my favourite non-alcoholic drink around: Aranciata. I also would stock up on Pellegrino's Pompelmo flavour if I were you.
  4. For the final 1%, squeeze in your lime and toss that wedge over your right shoulder, drink up and don't look back.

Now enjoy, and let me know if you have your own combo of the 50 / 49 / Lime that you favour.

Drink up, me hearties!

​The 50/49/Lime

An Island for Saturday: Sunsets, Sailing & Rum

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The weekends have been good around these parts. The sun is almost a guarantee, the rum is a sure bet and the ocean is only a few steps away. This weekend we went for a sail off the coast of Cozumel with a few good friends.

A trip off the coast has its predictable stages

There is always excitement when departing the marina and the following calmness when the idea has settled as you coast into deeper waters. Then there's acclimatization, which is founded by rum punch and cold beer while you keep your eyes on the horizon. Bet on a cigar.

With good visitors and the right amount of drink, the dependable few will hang from the bow over the sea below. Then the diving begins. Swimming as deep as you can, eyes open, seeing as far as you can under the clear water with the reef all around. The salt burns your eyes, but not in such a bad way. Afterward you float on your back, staring at the sky, forgetting for a short while that there is land nearby with its weekdays and its work.

On the return to Puerto Abrigo is the sunset where the calmness begins again and everyone winds down after the sun has done its job.

We should all thank the ocean, our friends and most importantly, the rum.