RumFest 2011 in pictures
RumFest 2011 opened at 12 noon on Saturday, and by 1pm it was packed tight. All of the pictures below were taken before 1pm.
The Havana Club ‘box in a bar’: it’s quiet in the picture, but this was very quickly eighteen people deep. Passionate barmen, some of whom had spent time in Cuba learning about the product they were serving, plied crowds with cocktails as they queued for more cocktails. They were also giving away free straw hats, which resulted in muggings and a near riot when stocks ran out.
On the opposite side of the venue, the Captain Morgan stand, also giving out free pirate hats and branded bandanas. As the day wore on, and the venue grew hotter and busier, people mobbed those bars that could quickly dispense tall, refreshing cocktails.
Don’t drink and drive.
The man. The face. The rum. The legend. Yes, Ron Jeremy has released a rum, and he was there on the day signing bottles and having his picture taken with hundreds of rum lovers. The spiced rum isn’t available yet, and may well be an entirely different breed if and when it reaches the UK.
One end of the hall hosted a tiki bartender competition. Someone won. No cement mixers were used this year.
Pink Pigeon, from Mauritius, is named after a native bird of the same name. It is so tasty there are only eight or so of the feathered rats left. The distillery donate some of the proceeds of each bottle to the charity which conserves the pink pigeons. The bottle is matte black, which the French seem to love (Arcana, another French inspired product from Mauritius, also comes in a black bottle), and the pink ring around the neck is again inspired by the tags put on the birds. The rum ambassador denied the drink was aimed at women, but that’s certainly going to be the result, particularly as it will be aimed at the nightclub market and is the only rum to be sold commercially in magnums.
Yet another rum from Mauritius. Due to recent changes in export laws, Mauritius is now able to sell to the UK. This range has chunks in it, and is a wholly different take on the spiced rum angle.
The Pusser’s Rum stand; note the stack of branded enamel mugs. If you knocked them all down with a lime you won a mug. Few managed it, though.
