Oh, That Unforgettable Rum Experience..

Fellow blogger RumDood is hosting a contest to win a Mai Tai kit and to win you need to post about your favorite rum, rum cocktail, or your best rum experience.

I don't know if this will disqualify me, but I decided to write not-exactly-my-BEST-rum-experience. (In a way it was AWESOME).
It's definitely my most unforgettable rum experience, though. Would that be good enough?

It was quite some time ago that we all went to RumDood's house for his first ever rum tasting event.
It was the first time that we tried so many different types of rum, might've been the first I really sipped an aged rum, also.

It was a great experience, indeed, and his liquor collection filling his kitchen shelf and half of his dining room floor was mighty impressive.

(Photo courtesy of DestinationEats)

But those are not what made it an unforgettable experience.

What made it unforgettable? Well, simple.

It's because every time I look at my left hand I remember that night:

Battle Scar

The night I cut myself and got five stitches in the emergency room of an Orange County community hospital.
How did it happen?

It started with a rum cocktail we were greeted with when we arrived. A daiquiri for me. Dark & Stormy and other rum drinks went around the room.

Then the tastin began. If you've been drinking Bacardi all this time, throw all your notion about rum away.

There was the award winning Ron Zacapa Centenario rum, a Guatemalan dark aged rum made with sugar cane juice so smooth and sweet it eased me into the rest of the night.

That includes the Pusser's British Navy Rum. Being the official rum of the British Navy (and distilled in wooden pot-stills), this should be closer to "the way rum was", "way back when" and since rum might have originated from my home country, Indonesia, and that this might be the closest thing to that, I tried to keep drinking although I found it harsh and "herbal."

Then there was the comparison of aged rum with Appleton's V/X (5/10), 12, and 21 year old rum. The 21 y.o. obviously the smoothest of all, but I liked the 12 better as it retained more flavor.

Sipping rum like we were sipping whiskey was to most of us then a new experience.

There were a couple more rums to be tasted, but in the end it was the absinthe that did me in. No, not drinking it. Opening it.
Because all the aged rum in me gave me the brilliant idea of trying to break open the wax seal on the Obsello bottle with a kitchen knife, I ended up at Chapman Medical Center. At least it was a clean cut and I had barely missed my nerves.

It didn't really hurt until the doctor poured alcohol over it and stitched it up. I could've used some rum then.

On the positive side, Obsello felt so bad they sent me a bottle of absinthe!
I had someone else open that for me.

Not the best rum experience, I suppose, but I dare you to beat my story.

Read DestinationEats' more sober account here. Luckily I had him and his gf to drive me home.

Four Barrel Coffee, SF: The Cappuccino and Dynamo Donut Routine

When there's great coffee 4 blocks away from a BART stop, you STOP.
When the free UCSF shuttle goes from campus to that BART stop, well .. you take an extended coffee break every day around 4 and get a cappuccino and maybe one of the Dynamo donuts they also happen to be selling there.
Ever since Sam Kim from LAist told me about this place, that's pretty much what I've been doing ...

Four Barrel was started by the co-founder and co-owner of Ritual Coffee, Jeremy Tooker.
I had a hard time deciding between the free wi-fi at Ritual (there's no wi-fi at Four Barrel) or the dynamo donuts at Four Barrel, but Four Barrel's proximity to the 16th/Mission BART stop won after all.

The seats and tables are arranged like desks and you can see people working on their laptops but don't be fooled, like I said, no wi-fi, so just get your coffee and enjoy it.
Freshly roasted beans are always available for purchase, of course, from Sumatra beans to Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Burundi.
A strong and dark cappuccino that's smooth and without the bitterness.

The apricot cardamom donut from Dynamo was moist and held the fruit inside. Nicely spiced and the glaze wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. I was very happy with this.
The passionfruit donut was covered in chocolate chunks. A nice tartness and passionfruit flavor here. My friend passed on my invite to get donuts at Four Barrel but I brought her this anyway and she changed her mind and went to get her hubby a dozen Dynamo donuts the week after.

(On another note, the chocolate spice one in the first picture didn't fare as well with me. It had nice flavors but the donut itself wasn't as moist as these other two).

I'm not enough of a coffee connoisseur to tell you if the coffee here is better Intelligentsia, Ritual, or Blue Bottle (well I do think it's better than Blue Bottle ... ). All I know is that the coffee here is darn good and they sell Dynamo donuts. 'Nuff for me.

Four Barrel Coffee
375 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 252-0800
www.fourbarrelcoffee.com


Dynamo Donuts
2760 24th St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 920-1978
www.dynamodonut.com

Recipe: Torta Xocolata (Chef John Sedlar, Rivera)

Here's another recipe from chef John Sedlar (Rivera Restaurant)! This was the dessert he made for the LA Mag's latest culinary event at Snyder Diamond. Rich and smooth, this was so good. Definitely worth a try. Enjoy.

Chocolate Torte with Caramel Lime Sauce
by Chef John Sedlar, Rivera Restaurant

Chocolate Torte

3/4 cup heavy cream
10 oz dark, semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-inch pieces (Rivera uses 61% Valrhona w/ cream added)

1 1/2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Line an 8-inch circular cake pan with a large circular coffee filter or a circle of waxed paper large enough to come halfway up to the pan's side.

In the top of a double boiler, place the cream and chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate has melted completely and is fully blended with the cream.

Pour the mixture into the lined cake pan and chill it in the refrigerator until solid, at least 2 hours. To unmold the torte, place a circle of cardboard or a flat plate over the pan. Dunk the bottom of the pan in warm water, then invert it turning it out onto the cardboard or plate. Lift off the pan and peel off the paper.

Place a decorative stencil on top of the torte. Hold a small, fine sieve over the torte's surface and spoon the cocoa poder into the sieve. Gently tap the sieve as you move it around above the torte to dust its surface evenly. Carefully lift off the stencil. Store the torte in the refrigerator until serving time.

Caramel Lime Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Put the sugar and water in a heavy medium-sized skillet. Heat the mixture over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar melts and turns a medium caramel color, 10 to 15 minutes.

Immediately add the cream and stir until it is fully incorporated. Remove the pan from the heat. Then, stir in the lime juice and let the sauce cool to room temperature.

To serve the torte, spoon some of the sauce into the middle of each chilled dessert plate. Cut a wedge of the torte and place it on top of the sauce.