Photo: Zacapa Rum

Tomorrow August 16th, is National Rum Day so it’s time to take a break from the searing summer heat and cool down with a perfect summer cocktail.

Although it’s been a favorite alcoholic drink for many years, the rum category enjoying a revival among most tiki enthusiasts and spirits connoisseurs who love rum’s versatility and depth.

Enjoy National Rum Day and celebrate this spirited holiday with the finest that rum has to offer: the ultra-premium Zacapa Rum.

Hailing from Guatemala, Zacapa Rum is aged in the “House Above the Clouds” at 7,500 feet above sea level. Zacapa Rum is crafted through a dynamic and artisanal process that results in a distinguished spirit with notes of caramel, vanilla, and almond.

You can enjoy your glass of Zacapa Rum either neat, on the rocks, or mixed in a summer cocktail such as the Las Fresas with fresh fruit for the season.  Here’s a delicious rum cocktail recipe to try on National Rum Day!

Las Fresas
Created by Zacapa Brand Ambasador Tekla Israelson

Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces Zacapa Rum 23
3/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce fresh strawberry puree

Preparation:
1. Combine Zacapa Rum 23, lime juice, simple syrup, and strawberry puree into a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Shake well and strain into a highball glass.

Ideal Serving Glass:
Highball glass

Yield:
1 drink

Partida Tequila

If you are looking for a great tasting tequila, then consider Partida Tequila for a delicious cocktail.

Summer is in full swing, as are both indoor and outdoor parties. A Partida Tequila cocktail could be the perfect addition that your guests will love.

Partida Tequila is an authentic, all-natural, ultra-premium tequila made from 100 percent blue agave in the Tequila Valley, the heart of Mexico’s historic Tequila Valley Region.

The Partida family has long been known for growing some of the best agave in all of Mexico.

Due to the fact Partida only uses blue agave from their own, this business model permits the company to control the entire process …. from soil, through processing and to the bottle.

Partida Tequila was an award winning tequila and recently was rated higher than any other tequila brand in a recent taste test conducted by The Academy of Tequila. The Academy of Tequila is the official tequila tasting board of Mexico.

Also a favorite of mega-celebrity Oprah Winfrey, two bottles of Partida Tequila was served by Oprah when she hosted a “taco party” during her “Ultimate Australian Adventure.” You can view the photos courtesy of TMZ here:
http://www.tmz.com/2010/12/18/oprah-winfrey-australia-parton-tequila-cake-trip-taco-night/2/

Partida produces four unique, premium tequilas that offers something for everybody’s taste preference:

* Blanco ($50), an un-aged tequila that is clean and crisp with a floral aroma blended with notes of citrus, fresh herbs and tropical fruit.
* Reposado ($58) is aged for six months in Jack Daniel’s barrels creating a light amber color. It is smooth and rich with a touch of sweetness. On the nose it has hints of chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut and almonds.
* Anejo ($67) is aged for 18 months and tastes of soft honey fruit with flavors of spices and dried fruits.
* Elegante Extra Anejo ($350) is aged 36-40 months in selected Jack Daniel’s American Oak barrels. The aging process creates notes of dark chocolate and dried fruit with a hint of vanilla.

Ruby Partida Tequila cocktail (recipe below)

Here are two refreshing cocktails created exclusively for Partida Teqiuila – Enjoy!

Ruby Partida
1 ½ oz Partida Reposado Tequila
1 ½ oz Fresh Ruby Red Grapefruit juice
½ oz Cointreau
½ oz Fresh squeezed lemon juice
½ oz French Cassis

Shake the first 4 ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Pour the ½ oz French Cassis down the inside of the glass so it will settle at the bottom.
Recipe by King Cocktail — Dale De Groff

Southern Heat
1 ½ oz Partida Blanco Tequila
¾ oz Cointreau
1oz Fresh squeezed lime juice
6 Slices of cucumber skinned
2 to 3 Slices of jalapeno
¼ oz of simple syrup

In a mixing glass muddle the cucumber, jalapeno, lime juice and simple syrup. Add the ice, Partida Blanco Tequila and Cointreau. Shake and strain into an Old-fashioned glass and garnish with cucumber slices fanned out.

To learn more about this great tasting tequila or to purchase Partida Tequila, please visit the company’s official site at www.partidatequila.com

Pure Inventions

Pure Inventions recently introduced a new Vitamin-D water enhancer at World Tea Expo.

Although here are too many different flavor-enhancers available, Pure Inventions is unique. Pure Inventions offers a water enhancer that is unlike any other, plus it’s 100% safe, healthy, and delicious tasting.

For those who drink a lot of water, it can get boring drinking ounces of tasteless H2O. Pure Inventions possibly could be all you will ever need, by adding taste to your water.

By most professional standards, pure is not “generally recognized as safe.” Pure Inventions breaks that mold by offering a water enhancer that’s includes no artificial ingredients, colorings, or sweeteners.

Pure Inventions was carefully developed by nutritionists with a goal of helping people with nutrition.

Simply add a few drops of Pure Inventions extract into any 8oz glass of water, and the delightful taste will be refreshing.

Pure Inventions also claims that its water enhancer provides multiple health benefits such as a healthy liver, derived from high dosages of antioxidants.

You can find Pure available on-line as well as at over 1,500 high-end destination resorts and spas, including the luxury Mandarin Oriental and Doral Resort.

Moët Ice Impérial

Sure, drinking your favorite champagne at night or indoors is a delight but what if you want to try that during the day and under the sun?  Not so good.

Moët Ice Impérial has just announced a major innovation in champagne, just in time for the hot summer months.

As a new, cutting edge way of drinking champagne, Moët Ice Impérial allows you to enjoy your glass of champagne over ice while delivering a crisp, fresh, fruity and thirst-quenching flavor that rivals even the best summer cocktails.

The white & blue colored goblets from Moët Ice Impérial also includes Moët’s trademark black tie and gold medallion detailing.

Made specifically to be enjoyed in the daytime, Moët Ice Impérial exemplifies cool, summer sophistication.

The Moët Ice Impérial “Ice Pack” contains three bottles of Ice Impérial, 6 white Moët branded goblets and an ice bucket.

Moët Ice Impérial will be available now for the first time at nationwide retail stores and available online at www.sherry-lehmann.com for $189.99 and at other locations across the country.

Ruinart Interpretation Giftbox

Ruinart has introduced an intriguing new gift idea – Ruinart Interpretation Giftbox. This creative new gift box is ideal for wine lovers, connoisseurs or beginners alike.

The Ruinart Interpretation Giftbox is a creative and exciting way to taste and discover wine, specifically Ruinart Blanc de Blancs.

The Ruinart Interpretation Giftbox contains a bottle of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, inaddition to eight vials. Each of the vials contains one of the principal aromas that make up its bouquet (jasmine, lemon, citron, pineapple, peach, pink peppercorn, ginger and cardamom).

Neatly stored in a small drawer are thin strips of unscented paper that assist participants play the Interpretation game. The goal is to properly guess the various smells found in the individual vials.

Included is a card containing 18 possible aromas. As you smell each of the 8 unidentified aromas, try to match the smell with the correct aroma on the card.

We love the concept of the Interpretation Gift box by Ruinart. It’s definitely a fun and dynamic way to discover the bouquet of a fine, cuvee wine.

Ruinart Interpretation Gift box can be purchased for £85. at the following retail outlets – Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges for £85.

Vod-K Caramel & Truffe – Luxury Vodka

There’s a new addition to the luxury Vodka market. Fryd Food & Drink has collaborated with QSLD Paris and created its own brand new vodka – Vod-k Caramel & Truffe.

QSLD was founded by Denis Boudard & his associates in 1993, and has been at the center of the French Luxury scene for more than 15 years and is strengthened on the U.S. market by his U.S. branchs QSLD New World (2003) and QLSD NYC (2010).

Vod-k Caramel & Truffe is made from exceptional products. Of course, choosing the proper ingredients is a crucial factor in any alcoholic beverage. The choice of the the high quality ingredients in Vod-k Caramel & Truffe also inspired QSLD Paris, who specializes in truffle based fine food, for the creation of the designer bottle.

The bottle evokes both tradition and purity. To highlight Vod-k’s extreme purity, QSLD Paris has decided to design a bottle reminding us of a distillery sample bottle.

Denis Boudard was quote, “I wanted to reconsider, premiumize and modernize the distillery sample bottle. The bottle of Vod-k is cylinder-shaped heavy and weighted to underline its premium character. This character is highlightened by the mat finishing of its Brown anodized metal cap. The bottom of the bottle is truffle shaped. The concept of Vod-k has been thought from the beginning to the end to create a consistent universe. Vod-k is a modern interpretation of the « demijohn ». Unique by its shape and its graphic design, Vod-k is also a decorative object. Thought to be exhibited, no detail has been left to chance.”

The clever name VOD-K is of course, derived from the common, universal name – vodka. The new brand, VOD-K should therefore be easy to remember and to understand.

Martin Miller has a strong passion for living and has lived a very successful and elegant lifestyle.

As a multi-millionaire, Martin Miller seems to have that magical, midas touch and it seems everything he touches … turns to gold.

Mr. Miller’s entrepreneurial drive is very evident from his mail-order dating and antique guide books, to opening boutique hotels and of course, his famous Martin Miller’s gin.

We had the proud opportunity to interview Martin Miller and appreciate him taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk.

• Q: First of all Mr. Miller, how would you describe yourself ?
• A: Oh, start with an easy one. It’s not something I give a lot of thought to. Although, one recent description of me as ‘a cross between Oscar Wilde and Willy Wonka’ very much amused my close friends. If you were to ask me to come up with a single word I’d say, iconoclastic. That’s most certainly true of me in the ‘mould breaking’ sense of the word. If I see a mould I can’t help but want to break it.

• Q: Your entrepreneurial spirit is quite obvious. Where do you think it comes from ?
• A: Well, a lot of it comes from the restless spirit I have, and a constant desire to swim against the current. Never follow the herd I say. Back in 1998 when I started the Martin Millers Gin project, everyone thought I was mad. Everyone told me I should be doing vodka. My was belief was then, as it is now; does the world need another vodka? The answer then, same as now, most definitely not. Gin on the other hand was in a parlous condition, it needed saving. Of course now, there are more weird and wonderful gins out there than there are vodkas. Maybe its time to save vodka!

• Q: How did you initially get involved in the antique industry ?
• A: Making four posters beds for resale at auctions. I saw a need for impartial advice on valuation – one based on the actual price typical antiques could be expected to fetch at auctions. Up until then people relied on the opinion of less than partial ‘experts’. I wanted to shake things up a bit.

• Q: What was your inspiration to open your boutique hotels ?
• A: I am an inveterate collector. I guess I got too close to the trade and got hooked. I’m an antiques junkie. I have an employee full time to keep up with my auction addiction. Basically, I needed somewhere to put my antiques and the idea of creating a small chain of boutique hotels that were an antidote to those ‘Zen like’ minimalist hotels sprang to mind.

• Q: After transitioning from antiques and hotels to your own Martin Miller’s Gin, what’s the story behind how that happened ?
• A: I’ve sort of touched on that already, but it was while sharing a gin and tonic with two of my friends. Basically, we had been served the typical G&T available at the time; an inferior gin, gun tonic, a slice of preserved lemon, and this being England, one cube of ice. It was just sad. At that time the G&T was for the gin; no-one was using it for cocktails. There was a plague of faux martinis made with vodka, and terrible fruit based concoctions with vodka at their heart – if you can call it a heart. Something had to be done. I guess I’m the self styled, gin Renaissance man!

• Q: What short-term and long-term goals and objectives have you established for yourself?
• A: Right now the gin is my priority, and its keeping me very busy. Martin Miller’s is pretty much available world wide, we are particularly strong in Spain, who are the world’s great gin connoisseurs, and in the luxury markets of Asia. The US is still very much a work in progress for us. Short term, I really want to get the brand more widely known in the US. It’s strange to us, but here we’re seen as newcomers, when in fact we were the very first of the so called ‘super premium’ gins, and have been in the States since 2003. Long term? Quality and integrity will count, and I see the brand growing strongly here in the next couple of years.

• Q: Looking at your career, what do you believe are the three keys to your business success?
• A: I don’t know about keys, but certainly some of my colleagues often feel I’ve lost the combination! If there was a key I’d say it was ‘always question pre-conceived ideas and beliefs’ – in short, when they zig, I zag.

• Q: With so many successes, what has been your most rewarding accomplishment?
• A: By far my gin. For no other reason than that at all levels it was the most challenging. We started very naively – lone voices and produced the best possible gin we could with no regard to the costs or commercial considerations. That alone required orchestrating many different skills and disciplines. Then when it took off and starting winning all the gold medals and prizes we had to realize this was no longer a vanity project – it was serious. That was when the real hard work started, I can tell you.

• Q: Regarding your various businesses, what challenges are you most concerned with for the future ?
• A: The future. Always difficult to call. I guess, in truth, it’s here already. Managing the growth of a brand whose roots lie in a personal passion and ensuring that, as it grows, no compromises to the original concept in taste or integrity are compromised. That’s going to be enough to keep anyone busy.

• Q: Lastly, for anybody who wants to become a successful entrepreneur, what advice can you offer ?
• A: Don’t follow the herd. If you see a bandwagon, don’t get on it. It’s passed already.

Lesont Group initiated a goal in 2007, to revitalize the wine, champagne, & spirits industry in Asia.

Located in Singapore, Lesont set out to obtain hidden, luxurious elixirs of pure decadence around the world, and successfully achieved their goal by locating quintessential concoctions fit for royalties.

The selection of wines & spirits available from Lesont Group’s portfolio, truly represents a class of pure lavishness.

Lesont has a dedicated staff worldwide constantly looking for the best wines, champagne and spirits.

As Lesont Group desires only the rarest treasures of this world, you will cherish the mark of quality and uniqueness goes into every bottle that leaves the company’s vast cellars.

As the company’s pursuit of the best wines, champagne and spirits continues, we want to introduce you to some of the finest choices available:

– GOLD Chardonnay and GOLD Rose – World’s 1st Chardonnay and Rose respectively peppered with a healthy dosage of 24k gold flakes
– Louis Royale XIV Champagne – World’s 1st Champagne with 24 gold flakes that dance amidst the bubbles
– Diadema Rosso 2007 IGT – Award-winning SuperTuscan in a stunning Swarovski studded bottle
– Caldirola La Cacciatora Collezione – A cornerstone House in Italian wine-making tradition that is a pioneer in Eco-friendly harvesting and wine-tours

For additional information about Lesont Group, please go to: http://www.lesont.com/

Another world record has been set. This time for a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne.

The bottle of Veuve Clicquot was discovered in a 19th century shipwreck in the Baltic Sea.

At an auction in Mariehamn, Aland’s capital, the Veuve Clicquot champagne was sold for $43,630 or 30,000 Euros.
There were 145 total bottles found in the shipwrecked two-masted schooner. Aland is an archipelago in the Baltic Sea.

Another bottle of Juglar champagne was also sold at the same auction and brought in $35,000 or 24,000 Euros.

Prior to the this record price for a bottle of champagne, a bottle of Champagne sold for $42,000. It was a bottle of 1959 Dom Perignon Rose and was sold back in 2008.

Moon Mountain Vodka

As summer is nears, the makers of Moon Mountain Vodka have introduced two additional flavors to their vodka line-up – Coastal Citrus and Wild Raspberry.

Both Moon Mountain Wild Raspberry and Moon Mountain Coastal Citrus were carefully crafted in small batches, utilizing only premium ingredients.

These delicious new vodkas from Moon Mountain Vodka are made from hand-picked fresh lemons and Yuzu fruit, which delivers a bold and zesty character.

Moon Mountain Coastal Citrus is the perfect addition to a refreshing, fruit-forward cocktail like The Tropical Moon.

Made with juicy raspberries and ripe pomegranates, Moon Mountain Wild Raspberry is the perfect spirit for a refreshing cocktail like the Wild Raspberry Cooler.

You will be able to purchase both new flavors from Moon Mountain Vodka nationwide, where your favorite spirits are sold.

The Tropical Moon
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces Moon Mountain Coastal Citrus Vodka
3/4 ounces Lime Juice
1/2 ounce Simple Syrup
3 Lime Wedges
2 Orange Slices
Lemon Lime Soda
Procedure:
1. Muddle 2 lime wedges and 2 orange slices in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.
2. Fill cocktail shaker with ice and add Moon Mountain Vodka Coastal Citrus, fresh lime juice and simple syrup.
3. Strain ingredients into a rocks glass and top off with lemon lime soda.
4. Stir gently.
5. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Wild Raspberry Cooler
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces Moon Mountain Wild Raspberry Vodka
3 ounces Lemon Lime Soda
Splash Lime Juice
Slice of Lime
Procedure:
1. Fill highball glass with ice and add Moon Mountain Vodka Wild Raspberry, lemon lime soda and lime juice.
2. Stir gently.

Pisco Porton spirit

With Father’s Day nearing, a perfect gift may be a bottle of the Pisco Portón.

Pisco Portón is a new and unique spirit that’s made by the hand of Peru’s most famous pisco authority, Johnny Schuler.

After a thirty year love affair with Peru’s native spirit, pisco, Pisco Portón will surely become a drink high on everybody’s wish list.

Every single drop of Pisco Portón comes from inside a grape. No water is ever used to dilute or adulterate this wonderful new spirit from Peru.

Pisco Portón is created at Hacienda la Caravedo, which dates back from 1684. Hacienda la Caravedo is the oldest working distillery in the Americas and uses gravity powered design.

Derived from the springs of centuries-old grandeur where glacial fed rivers wind from the Andes Mountains to irrigate vineyards along the Pacific Coast in Ica, Peru – the result is the delicious and velvety taste of Pisco Portón

So for this Father’s Day, consider making a bottle of new Pisco Portón the perfect gift for the discerning man in your life. Offer him a true taste for adventure.

Pisco Portón Capitan
Ingredients:

• 1 ½ oz Pisco Portón
• 1 ½ oz vermouth
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• maraschino cherry garnish

Directions:
– Pour vermouth and Pisco Portón into a shaker with ice then add the dash of bitters.
– Stir ingredients together until cool.
– Strain into a martini glass with a maraschino cherry resting at the bottom.
– If you’d prefer a sweeter taste, add 1/2 ounce of vermouth.
– For a drier drink, add 1/2 oz of Pisco Portón.