Cigar and Rum Pairing
Summer Coffee
Better weather is coming our way, patios are becoming more attractive places to quietly and comfortably enjoy a cigar.
For my special moment, I decided to put together a simple pairing, with the idea to have a second cocktail while smoking the cigar. I selected a Joya de Nicaragua Robusto (5 x 50), from the Clásica Original lineup, from the Estelí Valley, a precious land recognized as the world’s tobacco capital. This tobacco, from all the ones available under this brand, is one of the most enjoyable and most representative of Nicaraguan tobacco. The cigar is made with Nicaraguan leaves inside and a Connecticut wrapper outside. It is a tribute to its name, a true jewel (“joya” is Spanish for jewel).
Joya de Nicaragua Robusto
The cocktail I selected for this pairing is a Rum Espresso Martini, which I prepared using Ron Cacique 500 from Venezuela. This is a rum with just the right amount of oak and caramel that can combine very well with the coffee to produce a well-balanced cocktail.
Rum Martini Coffee
To make the cocktail, you need to keep two things in mind: 1) The volume of the ingredients for this drink depend on the size of the Martini glass you’ll be using. The proportions of the ingredients are the same. In other words, use equal volumes of the Coffee Liqueur and of the Ron Cacique 500. 2) Remember to pre-chill the glass: this will help keep your cocktail cold as you do the pairing.
It is time now to light up the cigar, here at the Red Frog terrace (my bar). It is the ideal place and time so that no one bothers me. It is time now to light up the cigar, here at the Red Frog terrace (my bar). It is the ideal place and time so that no one bothers me. I like doing my pairings before we open the doors to the public, ensuring that I’ll be relaxed and can enjoy the experience. I too hope you can find a similar time and place to conduct your pairing, when it’s just you and your cigar, your own time.
During the first third, the cigar is smooth and delicate, with notes of white wood that burns slowly, un-intrusively and with subtle tobacco notes. Experience tells me that these notes will increase in intensity as I continue to smoke the cigar; it is also likely that as I bring the cocktail into the pairing, that new notes will also form.
When I prepared the cocktail, I diluted it a bit more than normal. I did it this way so that it would be cooler, to better enjoy it on the terrace with the warm weather. How did I achieve this? The key is to agitate it in the cocktail shaker longer than normal, such that more ice can melt, thus making the cocktail cooler.The cooler cocktail also has the benefit of having a lower alcohol strength, which helps it match the smoothness of the Nicaraguan tobacco. The coffee notes are not overpowering thanks to this over-dilution.
During the second third of the cigar, I perceive some of the tobacco notes a bit more aggressively, but only a bit, overall the pairing is still very well-rounded and the cigar is exceedingly easy to smoke.
I hope you can enjoy a good cigar now that the weather is warming up, I’m sure there will be many opportunities for pairings and to experiment with new rum cocktails!
Cheers!
Philip Ili Barake
#GR CigarPairing
