Old New Orleans Amber Rum at the Great Jones Cafe

I decided to take a little break from my hiatus this past Sunday by going into work early and sitting down and having a drink at one of the other local spots in the neighborhood. I chose to go to the Great Jones Cafe located at 54 Great Jones Street between Lafayette and Bowery. Although I've walked by this place numerous times, I have never stepped foot inside. Before I go into the restaurant, I just want to touch on what I had while I was there.

Since it was Sunday at around 7pm, the place wasn't very busy and was very laid back. I decided to have a pint of the Bar Harbor Real Ale by the Atlantic Brewing Company. According to the Atlantic Brewing Company's website:

When we opened back in 1991 this was our first beer. We created this recipe while brewing with our mentor Pierre in his friend’s garage in Montreal. We wanted to develop a beer that was smooth and easy-drinking, yet still retained an assertive body to set it apart. The result was a beer with nice caramel tones and a balance of the malt and hop profiles. Over time we have refined the ingredients to achieve what we feel is a perfectly balanced session brew.

Indeed the Bar Harbor Real Ale was a balanced beer. Very clean and crisp and without that over powering hop filled taste that so many beers seem to have these days. I highly recommend it if you ever come across it in your travels.

I didn't look at a food menu while I was at the Great Jones Cafe, two things caught my eye. One was the old school vinyl jukebox that stood to my right. I haven't one like this in at least 20 years along with the demise of the old "personal" jukeboxes that sat on the tables in old fashioned diners. The other was a bottle that had the name Old New Orleans Rum on the front.

I decided to do an internet search for the Old New Orleans Rum brand and found that the one Great Jones Cafe carried was the 3-year aged Old New Orleans Amber Rum. It is an 80 Proof/40% ABV rum that is made from Louisiana grown sugar cane molasses. ONOR (as they refer to themselves) has four different rums that they sell: The Crystal (White Rum), Amber (Dark Rum), The Cajun Spice (Spiced Rum) and the 10-Year Blend that can only be found at the Distillery called Celebration Distillation, which is located in New Orleans' 9th Ward. They also sell a product that they call Gingeroo which is Spicy Ginger Ale (20 Proof/10% ABV). This product can also only be found at the distillery  So what did I think about the Amber rum.

I decided to have it with two pieces of ice and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Some rums tend to have an overly sugar taste to them that this one didn't have. It had a subtle sweetness to it and it wasn't overpoweringly strong. I like how the flavor danced on my tongue. This is how they describe their Amber Rum:

Our AMBER colored rum is a blend of 3 rums aged over 3 years. Medium bodied with hints of oak & molasses and deep caramel notes. The smoothness derived from our charred barrells makes it a great sipping rum or a great rum for your favorite dark rum cocktail.  

I personally would prefer to drink this straight or on ice rather than use it as a mixer. But if you should decide to use it in a mixer, you might want to make the following cocktail with a New Orleans taste from the ONOR website:

Wind down your week with this sophisticated concoction made with our aged rum.
Old New Orleans Amber Sazerac
(Small Rocks glass – Chilled)
In Mixing Glass:
2 oz. Old N. O. Amber Rum
7 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Ice

Lace chilled glass with Absinthe. Stir & strain. Garnish with Twist

Now I have to see if I can find some of that Cajun Spice Rum. That really sounds intriguing. How intriguing you ask?:

A blend of rums are combined with the kick of cayenne and cinnamon, hints of nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to create this truly unique, truly New Orleans flavor.

Very intriguing. The hunt is on to find some more of Old New Orleans Rum in New York City. With that, I guess you can say my hiatus is almost over.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
Sisco Vanilla