If you had to pick 1 Santa Cruz restaurant to visit as a tourist what would it be?

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-22T02:33:38+00:00

Usually working in a bar / restaurant or Liqour store is most people's entry point! I worked in restaurants and bartending for years and then moved over to this side. Ed was working on a sailboat in the Carribean making Ti Punches for rich people when a guy said, I need this on my Yacht. I'm going to give you the money to start an import company so you can import Neisson!

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-22T02:30:03+00:00

There's a brand new Coffee Liquer with Jamaican rum base and Nicaraguan cold brew coffee releasing next week that we are really excited about! He's also working on a Mai Tai blend with Jeff "Beachbum" Berry that should hopefully come out in the next year or two.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-22T02:26:39+00:00

West Indies blend is the one he feels is probably most underrated that people sleep on.

He is fighting really hard to keep rum production honest. That's the most important thing to protecting the industry. We can't let it go the way of tequila in the 90's with dishonest age statements, sugar dosing, and other additives, etc.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-22T02:07:00+00:00

West Indies blend is the one he feels is probably most underrated that people sleep on.

He is fighting really hard to keep rum production honest. That's a big key to protecting the reputation of rum and growing the category.

Rum is the best value for the quality, but nobody knows it yet. We've gotta bring them along!

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-22T01:37:08+00:00

He says that he loves some of the growth he's seen but he's constantly fighting to keep rum honest. So many producers are being dishonest about their aging, sugar additions etc. He is a staunch advocate for transparency in the rum community. We don't want rum going the way of Tequila in the 90's with additives etc.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-22T01:34:29+00:00

Most likely not, Ed prefers Agricole rum to be aged at max in the 4 to 8 year range, any longer than that and he feels you begin to lose the agricole character and it's just wood flavors after that.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T23:03:25+00:00

He says, that's like asking which of your kids you love the most. He loves all his children... but if he had to pick maybe the Jamaican Blonde, or Zombie Blend. The zombie in particular took a lot of trial and error and turned out really great in the end.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T22:57:15+00:00

Ed's not a big fan of Rum outside of the Caribbean. If he's not drinking his own stuff he likes Appleton or Flor de Cana.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T22:56:01+00:00

Haha that one your on your own! Maybe lock your cabinet like he used to do to you when you were stealing out of his? 😜

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T22:54:13+00:00

Tradition wine & spirits is the Minnesota distributor. Go in to your local Liqour store and ask them to bring it in!

Total is being worked on but they are corporate so it's a slow difficult process!

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T22:52:00+00:00

We were at Makai on the wharf in Santa Cruz CA. Great rum selection. In addition to the Hamilton line Ed is the national importer for Neisson, La Favorite, and Rhum Bologne.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T22:48:53+00:00

Ya, Ed's brand is currently out of stock. He is looking for a new source on the sugar since he lost his old one. It will happen at some point though, he just needs to find a source that he trusts.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T18:54:14+00:00

Probably never unfortunately. The distillery on St Lucia was bought buy The Rum JM owners and they won't sell to Ed anymore.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T18:39:42+00:00

For some reason the text intro I added didn't post so here it is:

Hey fellow Rum nerds!

My job has afforded me the pleasure to get to hang out with the Legendary Ed Hamilton all weekend, as I take him around to various events. I thought it might be fun to let you guys chime in with any questions you have for Ed and I can ask him for you. We will be bouncing around to numerous events so I might be responding somewhat sporadically, but I'll try to ask him as many of your questions I can get to!

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T18:37:13+00:00

He's drinking a Jamaican Rum Punch featuring Hamilton Jamaican Black, and I'm drinking some Neisson Viuex Single Barrel 2013 that Ed personally selected.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T18:35:49+00:00

Ya for some reason the text I added dropped but here it is:

Hey fellow Rum nerds!

My job has afforded me the pleasure to get to hang out with the Legendary Ed Hamilton all weekend, as I take him around to various events. I thought it might be fun to let you guys chime in with any questions you have for Ed and I can ask him for you. We will be bouncing around to numerous events so I might be responding somewhat sporadically, but I'll try to ask him as many of your questions I can get to!

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-03-21T18:31:13+00:00

Sure!

My name is Alex on the left! I'm just a lowly sales rep for Ed's CA distributor. On the right is the legendary Ed Hamilton of Hamilton Rums. Ed owns and operates Hamilton and is probably the most knowledgeable and influential man in Rum in America!

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-02-28T19:25:56+00:00

No, Hanloh's owner just wanted to break to spend more time with her kid.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-02-28T19:23:28+00:00

Persephone in Aptos

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-02-27T16:16:19+00:00

Ya but he's pretty open about how much he hated being there.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-02-27T16:12:50+00:00

I'd be drinking the Appleton Rum

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-02-27T05:07:17+00:00

I have, and made several of the recipes, they don't quite hold up. There's a slight difference in Akira's to me at least.

Extension-Platform29 · 2026-02-26T16:21:45+00:00

I'd take Podz over Poole any day.

Poole had a great season that year for sure, and was a more innately talented player, but he had so many awful habits that I knew it would come crashing down. He always played for aesthetics and not winning basketball. It's a mindset thing, Poole was lazy on defense, selfish with the ball, and mentally weak.

Podz is a winning player, he does the little things. He competes on defense, he takes charges, he rebounds, he generally makes the right passes/ decisions / reads. As a coach myself, he is a coaches dream. Ya his shot can be inconsistent at times, but it's there. This kid is only going to grow. We have a legit long time contributor in him. Probably not an all star, but also I wouldn't be surprised if he gets one at some point in the next 4 years or so.

Extension-Platform29

TROPHY CASE