Yummmmmm Rummmmmm – RumChata that is!

Even in a foreign bar, I generally stick to what I know and love: beer, whiskey (and Irish Carbombs of course). But having recently discovered this delightfully sweet and a little spicy liquor I had to stray for an evening. For some reason I haven’t seen this in any of my local NYC spots yet, but during a visit to Baltimore last weekend I found it all over the place. So being the ever curious epicurean I had ask what this was all about. In a nutshell I was told “It kind of tastes like rum and cinnamon toast crunch.” Sold.

 

It’s milky appearance reminded me of Coquito, the rum-based Puerto Rican answer to Egg Nog at Christmas time (I always looked forward to getting my annual homemade batch from an especially friendly regular – I assure you that never lasted very long). RumChata is based on an ancient Egyptian drink, Horchata, still popular in Spain, which essentially is made of rice, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and milk.  Already sounds delicious. Well the lovely people at RumChata said – “hey this would be great with rum.” Duh. And apparently this is when this delicious concoction was born. And it although the dairy based aspect might make you think of something like Bailey’s Irish Cream, it is extremely light in texture with a smooth finish.

So chilled RumChata – delicious on its own but I also sampled it mixed with the suddenly everywhere Fireball Whiskey (equal parts of both, chilled and served in a shot glass). And that WAS Cinnamon Toast Crunch in a glass. (I suspect Goldschlager would work as well), as well as RumChata mixed with Three Olives Loopy Vodka, which was another version of cereal milk – more delicious than the other variations of this I have tried.

 

A few things to keep in mind, RumChata is a liquor so it is less alcoholic (27.5 proof) and being dairy based it is 140 calories for 1.5oz (akin to Jager but not nearly as bad as the Irish Carbomb) so if you are looking to get hammered for less calories maybe don’t order 10 in a sitting. Otherwise if you see this pop up somewhere definitely give it a try. For more RumChata recipes check out their website: http://rumchata.com

Reason #1 Why I Miss Bartending Full Time:

Mondays in an office….

When your day goes to shit in the time it takes to read just one email, a common theme on a Monday, when you are tending bar you can simply turn around and that oh so welcoming bottle of Jameson is beautiful sight. The little green label can be such a soothing sight.  (As I write this I realize how incredibly alcoholic it sounds of me, but sometimes a shot or two really does the trick.)

 For instance, as I sit starting at my computer screen, fists clenched because how it is that clients can be so hopelessly callous when you are working so incredibly hard at a thankless job, is beyond my realm of comprehension. In the bar world I would say “enter Jameson,” my old friend to save the day – or at least an hour or so. Just a shot or two and I have a tiny enough buzz to care that much less that my computer screen is not running the risk of meeting my angrily clenched fist. Since I do not have a bottle of Jameson in front of me I am simply going to have to try and breath for 1.5 more hours until I can get out of here.

 

And that its one of the joys of bar tending…

Just Another New Year’s Eve

This bartender has never been much for New Year’s Eve.  Forced celebrations on a freezing cold night in Manhattan when I would usually choose anything other than fighting for cabs to go to over crowded bars with people I generally have no interest in celebrating in.  After my 23rd New Years in Manhattan cost my over $100 in cabs (which at 23 might as well have been $1,000), who knows how much in drinks and to cap it all off a puddle of vomit (not mine) in my shoe, I said “absolutely no more.”

The following years I happily volunteered to bar tend a night when it seemed everyone else wanted off to party themselves.  Inviting all my friends, it was as if I was hosting my own party and getting paid to do so.  It was perfect.  Festively pouring out champagne and leading the count down I decided this was officially my new New Year’s tradition – and it got me out of working the absolutely dreadful New Year’s Day shift…

The past two years I have foregone my favorite NYE tradition and headed south to the impossibly sunny Miami.  To complain about this seems like blasphemy – I know, and I have zero interest in being that girl – for more than a minute. Two years ago everything was pretty perfect; the daytime never dipped below 80 degrees, hole in the wall bars and restaurants provided financial relief and relaxing fun to the crazed South Beach ball-drop bonanza.  An outdoor dinner, followed by a champagne toast with Mark Cuban with fireworks over the beach, capped off by a night of bar-hopping served as my first really memorable – if not a bit swiss-cheesy- NYE. So when it came to the end of 2012, why not try again?

Financially drained, I thought, maybe just stay in town, tend the bar and sleep through the first day of 2013.  But I was coaxed into another trip to South Beach.  After spending my first day curled up under a towel fighting my first cold of the season I sucked it up – but quickly realized that – aside from the warmth – the ills of a Manhattan New Year were just as apparent this go around. Kind of like returning to Disney World as a young adult and finding out the childhood magic had been replaced by screaming children, overcrowding and long lines to decrepit lines. Better to keep idealized memories.

Although no one threw up in my shoe, I found an incredible amount on bathroom floors and street corners.  If drinking makes you vomit, please drink less, please.  Capping off my evening, I was coaxed into buying the “larger” version of a $4.95 happy hour drink at a completely unmemorable establishment on the over priced Ocean Drive, which somehow led to a $150 tab for two people – for two drinks and about 4 bites of guacamole  My partner in crime refused to pay (rightfully so – this was a bartender-foul at its worse. As a service industry vet I rarely complain, but SERIOUSLY????) Refusal to pay (I reluctantly tried but my drinking pal would not have it) lead to the police being called and extreme embarrassment on my part. I lit a cigarette and sipped on my $50 32 oz. sugary nonsensical beverage and watched the show go down.  Although the 5-0 sympathized citing the douchebagery of the Ocean “restaurants” and their “special” New Year’s pricing, the bill was paid and the credit card was reported stolen.  Alas, not the best start to an evening that ended by 1:30 am after I completely missed the countdown and drank one two many Irish carbombs, I decided I preferred cheap champagne in my hotel room and quit for the night.

I did get a slight tan and a lot of sleep on the beach but unless I can find an all inclusive on an island next year, I will be requesting the New Year’s Eve bar shift.  Happy 2013!

What This Blog Is About…

Please note I am not in this photo – I just find it that awesome!

I spent years in New York City as a full time bartender.  Longer than the world said I should with a masters degree in my hand and some form of “potential” that makes one career seem more legitimate in some people’s eyes than another – and here, I reiterate SOME people.  But the truth of the matter is, I liked it more than any other job I’ve had. Simply put.   In fact, I liked it  so much that I put off leaving the world of slinging booze and- the often delightful-in-their-own-way-boozers that fill it for as long as possible.  Fortunately the charming, if not some what delinquent, establishment I worked at for the longest time in my tenure as a bartender lets me show up a night or two a week and pour drinks for the regulars that have come to be a very deranged family for me.  I realize spending the majority of waking (and should be sleeping) hours of the formative years in my twenties in bars has given me life long bar-goggles.  I see the world through the eyes of a bartender – sometimes wise, sometimes hazy, often satiric but always be amused.  And that will be the focus of this blog that will cover a bit of everything – bar life and beyond -through the cynical eyes of an aging bartender.  Thank you for reading!