Xmas Gifts Parade 2021 - Les Canailles Rhum Punch

Another intriguing bottle in this years’ Xmas Gifts Parade: Les Canailles Punch au Rhum Marseillais – Café Vanille. Not a rum, not a spiced rum, but a rum-punch that’s still being infused with coffee and vanilla. 

Say that again? Yes, it’s still being infused. When we hold up the bottle against the light we can see coffee beans and a nice big vanilla pod inside the bottle. It’s one of many flavours in the special series of Rhum punches at 32° alcohol.

When I pour myself a glass of punch, I experience mixed feelings. In the nose, I get mostly the typical “rubber and oil” aroma of the Rhum Agricole from Martinique. The coffee and vanilla are very subtle, almost hard to detect. But when I taste the punch, it’s an explosion of rum and vanilla in my mouth. I immediately know I want to mix a basic sour with this weird spirit. 

Coffee Canaille Sour

Ingredients
50 ml Les Canailles Rhum Punch Café Vanille
30 ml Fresh lemon juice
10 ml Simple syrup

Method
Add everything to a shaker with lots of ice. Give it a good shake, but not too long. When the shaker feels cold enough, fine strain into a tumbler with fresh ice. No garnish, serve with Christmas cookies.

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Rum-Punch for the Best Neighbours in the world

We probably have the best neighbours in the world. Really, I mean it. That’s why my wife and I nominated Danny and Christel as “best neighbours” for #neighboursday.
Just one example? Last time we went on a summer vacation in Italy, we asked them if they could water our tomato-plants in the greenhouse while we were gone. But when we looked at our smartphones, we saw pictures of the neighbours mowing our lawn, removing weeds and fixing our entire garden. They don’t even own a lawnmower, they had to borrow one to do this since our garden shed was locked. Since I have hayfever and my wife has MS, this was a very big help for us. 

My wife and I both nominated them and they were selected as one of the 3 winners. Last weekend officials from the local government came to their house with gifts and flowers to thank them. My neighbours are fans of Double Strainger and joked that we probably needed a neighbours-cocktail to celebrate. 

Two days ago I saw a delicious rum-punch mixed by @delightfuldrinks and thought “That’s just perfect”. I mixed up two bottles of rum-punch and brought one to the neighbours. Very tasty, very boozy… and really simple to serve over ice. 

Big ‘Thank you’ to @delightfuldrinks. Visit their Instagram page for a video recipe.

The recipe is not in ounces or ml but in “parts”, easily scalable for your visitors or party. A part can be as little as 10 ml if you want a very small L.A. drink, it can also be a barrel or a truckload for large parties or festivals. If you use 40 ml as a part, the recipe below will already cover two to three servings (It’s what I used for the pictures). 

It’s a punch, so you really never drink this alone 😉 

Rum-Punch for the Best Neighbours in the world

Ingredients
2 parts Angostura Rum 1824 (Aged Rum)
2 parts Casa Magdalena Ron Blanco (White Rum)
2 parts Pineapple juice
1 part Lime juice
1 part Grapefruit juice
½ part Grenadine syrup
2 dashes Angostura aromatical bitters

Method
Add all ingredients into a bottle. Close and shake hard. Serve over ice. Garnish with a slice of dehydrated orange. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Xmas Gifts Parade 2020 : Bombay Sapphire B-75 Bubble Punch

Due to the COVID19-situation, this will probably be the weirdest Christmas of our lifetime. Normal Christmas parties are not allowed, the best we get in Belgium are small gatherings outside in the garden, with a maximum of four adults. Let’s do have these moments and make them count !!! 

For these small gatherings, why not make a delicious ‘old school’ Christmas punch? It will get the tastebuds going and always looks good. For one of these moments I threw together this B-75 bowl. 

No special moments planned? Why not make the bowl anyway… fill up a carafe with half of it and go surprise your neighbours. That’s what I did while making the photos for this article 😉 

Keep it safe this Christmas, but do raise your glass to long lasting friendships and good health. 

B-75 Bubble Punch
(Serves a bubble of 4 people… or even more !!!)

Ingredients
40 cl Bombay Sapphire Gin
15 cl Meli Honey
15 cl Lemon juice
1 bottle of Martini Brut (sparkling wine)
40 cl Chaudfontaine Water

Method
Start by filling your bowl or carafe with ice cubes. Add the gin, honey, lemon, sparkling wine and water. Give it a few stirs and garnish with lemon- and orange wheels. 

Tip
I dissolved the honey in the lemon juice and then added it to the bowl… works a bit smoother 😉 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Thanks to Bacardi-Martini Belgium and Pravda Pressroom for the support !!!

Stijlvolle Geschenktips : Perlino en Karumba

 

De eindejaarsfeesten smeken om een lekker glaasje bubbels. Ik heb best al heel wat smaakvolle Champagnes gedronken, maar toch blijf ik een zwak hebben voor lekkere Italiaanse Prosecco. Deze Perlino wordt ingevoerd door Bruggeman en is een ‘Extra Dry’. Een typische prosecco met een natuurlijke frisheid en een zachte hint van abrikoos en honing.

Een glaasje bubbels is altijd lekker, maar je kan er natuurlijk nog veel meer mee doen. Denk maar aan mega-populaire cocktails zoals de Aperol Spritz of Hugo. Dus gingen we op zoek naar een leuke nieuwe borrel die we met een portie bubbels heel eenvoudig kunnen optillen naar een hoger niveau.

Karumba Rum-Punch is gemaakt met een donkere rum uit Martinique die gedurende 6 jaar mocht rijpen in Franse cognacvaten. In de fles zit dus niet louter de rum, maar een Rum-Punch cocktail, gemaakt door de gerijpte rum te mixen met citrusmarmelade en een kruidenmix. Wij ontdekten deze nieuwe fles op de beursstand van X-Gin op Horeca Expo.

De Rum Punch ontstond in de 17e eeuw toen scheepvaarders van de British East India Company in opdracht van de Queen de wereldzeeën ontdekten. Via de handelsroute tussen India en de Caraïben kwamen ze in contact met rum en met heel wat specerijen. 
 

Deze cocktail moet bij voorkeur lekker koud zijn, dus zowel de prosecco als de punch gaan we vooraf koelen in de koelkast. Je zou de punch ook kunnen afkoelen door te stirren met ijs, maar eigenlijk wil ik in dit geval geen verdere verwatering.

Kies een mooi Champagneglas en voeg 3 of 4 cl punch toe (deze hoeveelheid is uiteraard afhankelijk van de grootte van het glas) en vul aan met de prosecco. Eventueel afwerken met een sliertje citroenschil.

Perlino en Karumba zijn verkrijgbaar bij de betere drankenhandel en bij sommige supermarkten.

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. The Xmas themeweek recommendations are entirely personal and all chosen by me. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations that were chosen for me instead of by me.