RUM, THE preferred tipple of mariners of old, is a true lifestyle spirit that always guarantees a good time. So says Paul Monahan, global brand ambassador for Sailor Jerry Spiced.
“Rum is amazing because we don’t normally know much about it,” the cheerful American told XP over a glass at Renaissance Bangkok Ratchapra-song Hotel’s R Bar.
“We know quite a bit about whisky and vodka but rum is rarely mentioned. It’s often hidden at the back of the bar, waiting for someone to order a sugary tiki drink. In fact, rum is very versatile and it suits anyone from rum aficionados to those who generally like brown spirits and cocktails drinkers. Rum is a drink associated with celebration and escape. Take a sip, decompress and find yourself in a more fun, exciting place.”
Sailor Jerry Spiced rum was created in honour of the America’s notorious tattoo artist, Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins (1911-1973) who moved to Hawaii in the 1930s and inked sailors and soldiers during WWII. Ironically, Collins was deeply influenced by the culture that drew the Americans into the war – Japan. The most proficient and sophisticated tattoo artists of the times were the Japanese masters known as Horis. He became the first Westerner to enter in regular correspondence with these masters, sharing techniques and tattoo tracings.
By fusing American and Asian sensibilities, Collins created his own style of tattooing that is iconic and artistic, radical and beautiful with symbols and motifs such as bottles of booze, snakes, swallows, motor heads, guns, anchors and pin-up girls.
Even today, the Sailor Jerry Festival is organised annually on Oahu in honour of Collins’s legacy. The locally and independently produced event includes live music, DJs, cabaret performances, movie screenings, a pin-up fashion show – where models wear outfits designed from Sailor Jerry fashions, neighbourhood tours, and tattoos are available at two area shops, including Sailor Jerry’s last location at 1033 Smith Street in Honolulu’s Chinatown.
His friends started a clothing line 16 years ago selling T-shirts printed with Collins’ original designs and then a rum brand a year after that. Rums from various Caribbean distilleries are blended by experienced hands in Scotland with their own recipe of natural spices and flavours to yield fragrant and subdued sweet spirit with tropical hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, rich vanilla and American flair.
“It’s made with the same sense of craft that Norman Collins applied to his own work. Sailor Jerry Spiced is a straight-up, no-nonsense, old-school rum, blended the way it should be, bold and smooth.” Monahan says.
Because Sailor Jerry Spiced is slightly sweeter and not too alcohol-forward, it can be enjoyed in various different ways, from neat with an orange twist, on the rocks to a long drink with ice cubes and ginger beer. Its caramel and vanilla note and subtle hint of spices also makes it a nice base for many brown spirit-based cocktails like Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Mai Tai, Pina Colada as well as an array of tiki drinks.
Monahan demonstrated some simple signature cocktails by Sailor Jerry using basic ingredients.
A light and refreshing drink, The Boys are Back in Town mixes Sailor Jerry Spiced, cold brew coffee, unsweetened almond milk, home-made pineapple basil syrup and grated Himalayan sea salt. You build it as you would a Mojito with the rum, coffee and syrup stirred to blend, then layer on some ice cubes and top it with almond milk.
Why almond milk? Monahan says that while fresh cow milk would quickly disperse and make the whole drink opaque, almond milk is thicker and its consistency makes it float on the surface longer, allowing you to enjoy the flavours of the ingredients. To enhance the caramel nuance in the rum, dust the top of the drink with salt and garnish with basil leaf.
Basil seems like an ingredient that would stick out in this recipe, but it blends in surprisingly well with the earthiness of the coffee and the spiced tone of the rum. To make your own home-made pineapple basil syrup, steep bunches of basil in basic simple syrup then strain the liquid over pineapple puree to get the aroma.
Another easy drink is Route 66, which is a bit more alcohol-forward. Just Mix Sailor Jerry Spiced, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth and Drambuie in a short glass filled with ice and garnish with orange peel.