Cigar & Rum Pairing
French Coffee
The past few days have been rough, a combination of bar-related issues and the cold temperatures. It became very difficult to do the pairing as I had planned it, so I ended up having to improvise a bit, but I was very impressed with the result, nonetheless.
Longtime readers of this column know by now that one of the simple pairings I like to of fer for people to replicate at home, is one with a Rum Espresso Martini. For this occasion, I’ll make one but with a French Rhum and I’ll use a bit of Cointreau also, to reinforce the play with words.
The recipe for the French Coffee is as follows:
FRENCH COFFEE
Ingredients:
• 2 oz. Rhum Isautier 10 ans D’âge from Reunión
• 1.5 oz. Coffee Liqueur
• 1 oz. Espresso Coffee
• 1 oz. Cointreau
Directions:
The cocktail’s preparation is very simple: pre-chill a Martini glass. Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice and stir for about 10 seconds, enough for all ingredients to combine well. Strain into the Martini glass, making sure no ice ends up in the glass.
Cigar and Rum Pairing May 2023
For the cigar, I selected a Churchill (7 x 50) Montecristo from the Dominican Republic, Platinum series, Selection I. It is a cigar with a wrapper from San Andrés and the filler is a combination from Dominican Republic, Peru and Nicaragua. Based on this composition, the cigar should have a medium-high intensity/body, let’s see if this is the case.
As I light up the cigar, the draw seems appropriate, the intensity is on the medium range, more than likely because this is the first third of the cigar.
Cigar and Rum Pairing May 2023
The cocktail, on the other hand, is coming across marvelously, the orange touch makes it the ideal cocktail for a pairing with a cigar that is not very aggressive, otherwise the flavors would fight with each other on the palate, pulling in different directions, something that would not be enjoyable.
I know that, for some, it may be difficult to buy this exact rhum, but it can be replaced with another Agricole Rhum, around 7 years old, as long as it does not have a very intense oak or sweet character. Also, some people will oppose the idea of buying a bottle of Cointreau just to make this pairing, I suggest making a simple syrup flavored with orange oil, which you can easily obtain by squeezing the orange peel over the syrup.
I hope you can enjoy this pairing. In my case, due to the size of the cigar, I was able to make two of these cocktails during the hour-long smoking time.
Cheers!
Philip Ili Barake
#GRCigarPairing