Bundaberg dark rum

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Caribbean Volcano

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Caribbean Volcano

1  1/2 oz.            Jose Cuervo Especial gold tequila
1  1/2 oz.            Myers (Jamaican) dark rum
3 pinches            cayenne peppers
3 dashes             horseradish
3 dashes             Tabasco sauce 

Pour the rum and the tequila into a tall shot glass. Add the horseradish, pepper, and then the tabasco sauce. Serve. Enjoy !

After a final weekend of decadence celebrating my 40th birthday before I start making some serious changes for my health, I admit that I need a good wake-up call for today’s shot. Much like a bunch of New Year’s resolutions, I’ve set a handful of goals to start pursuing now that I reached the big 4-0. For instance, I’d like to lose 15-20 lbs. And a real quick way to doing that (almost cheating I’d lose it so fast) would be to seriously cut back on my drinking outside of ShareMyShot and maybe eliminate…………pizza. With a little bit of exercise.

I’d probably lose 20 lbs in 30 days.

But after celebrating Thursday thru Saturday and then losing an hour’s sleep due to turning the clocks back for Daylight Savings time on Sunday morning, I need a shot that qualifies as a hangover remedy. A shot that will slap my ass awake. Get me going with some gusto on a lunchtime walk with the apple I brought in.

Say hello to the Caribbean Volcano.

A couple of the panel members, including myself, were slightly tricked when one of the other panelists announced the Caribbean Volcano as today’s shot. Often a Caribbean themed shooter has some fruit juices in there and some sweeter ingredients to make a refreshing tropical shot. But this one is different. This shot is meant to heat you up. Thus, the volcano in the name.

The shot’s liquor ingredients aren’t too weak. You have a mix of Jose Cuervo tequila and Jamaican dark rum. An interesting combination.

And then you spice it up for the lava-hot element of the volcano. You toss in some horseradish, some cayenne pepper, and Tabasco sauce. That’s some serious hot seasoning!

I and many people have had tequila with a few drops of tabasco sauce in there. And I’ve added pepper to many drinks. I like my Bloody Marys pretty spicy and have used cayenne pepper in those before. But here we have the triple threat. All three ingredients that are commonly used to add a little spice “kick” to mixed drinks and shots.

The panel unanimously agreed that the triple threat provided all the kick we needed out of this shooter. It was freakin’ spicy ! A couple of the female members and one guy stopped after two rounds. I did three in pursuit of that pick-me-up I was after.

And I got my pick-me-up.

Nobody did more than three rounds of the Caribbean Volcano. While the taste wasn’t exactly bad, it is (almost obviously) not a shot meant to massage your tastebuds. It’s meant to assault them. And it does. The tequila, the Tabasco, and the cayenne were the three flavors identified most prominently by the panel.

ShareMyShot gives the Caribbean Volcano a 2 on a scale of 5. While somewhat creative, the spices used in the shot are pretty much the traditional options. The taste is pretty suspect—-although we acknowledge it is a shot meant to torture more than tickle. And while you might catch a pretty good buzz if you drank 5 or 6 of these, we don’t see too many people wanting 5 or 6 of these.

This volcanic shooter spits out just a bit too much lava for our tastes.

Cheers !!

Posted in 2 Star Shots, Bacardi dark rum, Bundaberg dark rum, Caribbean, Jamaican rum, Jose Cuervo gold, Myers dark rum, Patron, Patron Silver tequila, Sauza tequila, Tabasco sauce, Tequila 1800, cayenne pepper, flavored rum, hangover remedies, horseradish, hot sauce, peppers, rum, tequila | No Responses »

Ray Charles

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Ray Charles

1/2 oz.       Skyy vodka
1/2 oz.      Jameson Irish whiskey
1/2 oz.      Bundaberg dark rum
1/2 oz.      Chartreuse herbal liqueur
1 dash       tabasco sauce 

Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail mixer—–no ice. Strain into a large shot glass.  Add the dash of tabasco sauce last.

Here’s a nice, new recipe someone brought into the office the other day. Actually, it’s a new hire working in the mail room. This is the first recipe he has brought in to share with the staff….so he doesn’t have much of a track record yet. He disseminates the mail pretty good, I guess. But the “taste team” didn’t really know what to expect as far as his shot knowledge.

When you first hear the name of the shot, you’re not exactly sure what’s going to be in it. But you have a sneaking suspicion that it’s a “hair-on-your-chest” ass-kicker that’ll just about make you go blind. You know….like Ray Charles.

Then when he gave us the ingredients, the team was pleasantly surprised. We still didn’t know how it would taste, but at least this newbie didn’t suggest something with milk or butter or some shit. Then of course we had to send the office lackey out to the liquor store again because we didn’t have a couple of the ingredients in-house. Profits from the last few quarters have been down and we can’t always have all of the bottles in stock that we’d like. We didn’t have the Bundaberg dark rum nor the Chartreuse herbal liqueur.

We did have the Jameson in the corporate cabinet. Profits weren’t down that much.

Although now owned by a British company, Bundaberg is a dark rum produced in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as “Bundy”. The brand has actually come under some scrutiny in recent years. There have been claims that drinkers of Bundaberg tend to demonstrate more aggressive behavior than other drinkers at the pubs and sports stadiums. Imagine that……it kind of suggests that this element will be packing a bit of a punch in the Ray Charles shot.

Chartreuse is an herbal liqueur produced by Carthusian monks in the French Alps with almost 400 years of history. It used to be made at the monastery in the mountains, but is now produced in a nearby factory with the process still completely overseen by the monks. The French liqueur is composed of distilled alcohol flavored with 130 herbal extracts. Chartreuse has a very strong characteristic flavor. It is very sweet, but turns both spicy and pungent. Often, only a small amount is used in cocktails or mixed drinks; only three or four drops at times.

After learning about these ingredients and enduring the wait for the bottles to arrive, we were all rather excited about trying this greenhorn’s shot suggestion.

We can unanimously tell you this: this shot does pack a punch. Especially if you have 4 or 5 of them. Every ingredient contributes to the unique taste. The tabasco sauce at the end gives it one last jolt of flavor. We liked it very much. Every member of the team had at least four shots trying to identify which ”tang” was due to which liquor. After 90 minutes, the Ray Charles affect started kicking in. A little stumbling. Huge, toothy grins.

ShareMyShot gives this soulful shooter a 5 on a scale of 5. And we have a feeling this kid won’t be stuck in the mail room very long.

Cheers !!

Posted in 5 Star Shots, Absolut, Bundaberg dark rum, Chartreuse herbal liqueur, Grey Goose Vodka, Jameson Irish whiskey, Skyy vodka, Smirnoff's vodka, Stolichnaya vodka, Tabasco sauce, flavored liqueurs, herbal liqueurs, liqueurs, rum, vodka, whiskey | No Responses »