Photo of
November 4, 2010
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Angostura's John Georges: pictured with enough rum barrels to get the party started

Now that the nights have well and truly drawn in, it’s time to think about winter warmers. This being the 5pm blog, winter warmers around these parts would normally mean rib-sticking stews, hotpots and chunky soups.

However, on Tuesday, John Georges, master distiller for Trinidad’s Angostura, was at the Corinthian in Glasgow to tell Scotland’s top cocktail bods about the glories of both Angostura Bitters and its rums.

Now, rib-sticking stews have their place but your correspondent is also partial to a little rum when the cockles need warming.

I liked the sound of the White Caribbean which could easily double as a liquid dessert. This is how you make it:

White Caribbean

You need:

25ml Angostura 7 year old

12.5ml Coffee Liqueur

12.5ml Chocolate liqueur (white or brown)

25ml Double cream (layer)

How to do it:

Stir the ingredients apart from the cream in an ice-filled mixing glass until chilled.  Strain into a martini glass then add a fine layer of cream. Easy.

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The White Caribbean: the antidote to Scottish winters

The blog is also fond of the classic Champagne Cocktail which mixes a sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters along with cognac and champagne. One is good. Two is better but three will pretty much guarantee that you have difficulty remembering what time of year it is.

About two dozen of Glasgow’s cocktail meisters were on the guest list at the Corinthian and a sizable portion of them were 5pm members. I can’t guarantee that they can all whip up the perfect White Caribbean but the following might be good places to start investigating Angostura Rums. Naturally, they are all running cracking 5pm offers on their food as well as being dab hands with a Boston shaker.

Bo Bar; Metropolitan; the Hillhead Book Club, MacSorley’s, Urban Bar and Brasserie, The Living Room and Ingram Wynd will bear further investigation.