The Last Coffee

by ,

                                      The Last Coffee

There is a common denominator every December when I sit down to prepare the pairing for the magazine: I must think about the climate being experienced by most of our readers, in the Northern hemisphere.  I recently saw images of the stadium where the Buffalo Bills play, it was covered in several meters of snow, while here (in Chile) we are regularly experiencing temperatures of 32C (90F) in the shade.  Having seen those images, I can only think of two things: a warm pairing and one that is also short in duration.

I set my imagination free and, this being the last pairing I’m doing this year, I thought of a freshly brewed coffee.  It can be one made at home using a pod coffee machine, just add the following to the cup first:

  • 1 oz. Coffee Liqueur
  • 1 oz. Rum Cacique 500

Despite the simplicity of the ingredients, the resulting coffee is well balanced with the rum, and it is ideal for cold days.  I simply couldn’t think of a better way to accompany a cigar in the cold.  Keep in mind that if you don’t have access to Cacique 500 from Venezuela, you can substitute it with another light (column-distilled) rum that is younger than 5 years.

It is time now to light up the cigar.  For this pairing I grabbed a Partagas Serie P N°2 (52 x 156mm), which is one of the most famous full-body Cuban pyramid cigars.  This is in one section of my humidor where I’ve been aging cigars for more than 10 years, so the intensity is weaker than normal, making it a true pleasure to enjoy after all this time.

To make the pairing even better, I poured rum into a tulip glass, to drink when smoking the second third of the cigar.  I selected another Venezuelan rum, Santa Teresa 1796, a rum that has been with me since I first started getting into the rum world.  The Solera blend has changed over the years, and I’ve gone through many bottles of it.  If you don’t have access to this rum, you can replace it with another similar-aged rum, just make sure to not chose an overly sweet one.  While it is true that the pairing should reflect your own taste, it is also important to not use products that push the limits in any direction, to avoid masking flavors and aromas.

I really enjoyed the pairing, even though it was warm for me, even in the shade.  All I have to do is imagine the patio covered with snow as I enjoy how the flavors change minute by minute.

I hope you can replicate this pairing and that you can endure the cold with a coffee and a good cigar.  If you don’t have the same cigar I used, you can substitute it with any cigar you’ve been saving for a special occasion.

I wish you all an excellent new year, hopefully you can continue to enjoy my pairings as much as I enjoy putting them together for you.  Even if you don’t have a lot of free time, the few moments you can set aside for pairings will be worth it.  Happy New Year and I’ll see you again in 2023!

Cheers!

Philip Ili Barake

#GRCigarPairing