Okay, for those who may not have seen the previous post about the Miami Renaissance Rum Festival, it is put on by Rob and Robin Burr. The usual date is in May or June as they also have a rum cruise this time of year. COVID changed all that and so they held their 12th annual Festival Sunday, Nov 14th. They’re still not certain of what 2022 will bring; hopefully a return to normal.
Although previous festivals were held in large venues with judged competitions, seminars, and entertainment, that did demand a much higher level of logistics and made it a two-day event. They moved to the Coral Gables Woman’s Club, an historic building with two open rooms for the vendors. There were more than 40 and most had multiple rums to taste. We generally only taste the aged rums and will have one or two drinks of the vendors who do a mixed drink. The small amount you get per rum does add up and no we don’t drive after. There is a hotel close by with a good Greek restaurant. We spent the night and we may Uber next year instead; plenty of time to decide.
The vendors come from different places; the ones you would expect such as Panama, Jamaica, Venezuela, then the surprising ones such as two from Louisiana. As the guy from Wildcat Brothers Distilling said, “We have lots of sugar cane.” This is from their website: “The story of Wildcat Brothers Distilling may be the most unorthodox tale this side of the Bayou. Set in fertile South Louisiana (“Cajun Country” as we like to call it), our story features two unlikely heroes: a former lawyer and Ph.D. behavioral scientist. Together, they embarked on a journey to help their fellow Acadians celebrate the joie de vivre with the very best French style rum. The result was Acadiana’s first distillery. Merging old-world recipes and modern techniques, our flavors harken back to the way the original Acadians would have crafted rum – with their own hands and local ingredients.” https://wildcatbrothers.com They were fun guys to talk to and their “Noir” run was good.
A bit more whimsical though was the lady in the Mardi Gras hat because they were with Roman Candy Rum Company. “In 1915, Sam Cortese began making and selling his hand-pulled molasses taffy from a wooden, mule-drawn wagon on the streets of New Orleans. The famous red and white wagon bearing the name “Roman Chewing Candy” is a true fixture of New Orleans tradition and still can be found in the streets today, clanging its bell and calling all to come to enjoy the hand-pulled chocolate, strawberry and vanilla taffy. Our rum is a tribute to Grandpa Sam and to New Orleans.” http://www.romancandyrum.com
