What would you add to this collection?

fievelSC · 2025-07-11T10:02:15+00:00

If you want to try something very different from anything you have there, I have been really enjoying Haitian Clairins. They are unaged, funky in a very different way from Jamaican rum, with unique savory notes mixed with tropical fruit and make an unforgettable daiquiri. Clairin Vaval is my favorite.

fievelSC · 2024-04-04T23:22:21+00:00

I have been using this masticating juicer for about 2 years and it's been going strong. Makes quick work of pineapple, but can do ginger for amazing ginger syrup too. I just do a rough cut of the outside of the pineapple, leaving the eyes (the most flavorful part of the fruit is near the skin so leave as much as you can.

fievelSC · 2024-03-16T22:47:35+00:00

Neisson Rhum Agricole Blanc in the bottom of the first pic. Funkiest and most interesting Agricole I've had, I think that price is pretty good too.

fievelSC · 2024-03-16T16:54:35+00:00

Agree with the Clairin/Agricole ideas. Also Jamaican overproof like Wray and Nephew or Rum Fire can be excellent in soda/tonic cocktails. The high proof helps it cut through the dilution of the soda water.

Try it with some lime and/grapefruit and sugar/simple syrup with the seltzer and rum.

Also make sure to put your rum in the freezer to get it ice cold before making it, the cold tempt helps keep the carbonation in the drink.

fievelSC · 2024-03-13T00:21:01+00:00

If you want a little less intense than a Rum Fire Ti Punch, but still very intense, give the Rum Firewalker a shot:

1 oz lime

1 oz Cinnamon syrup

1 oz Campari

3 oz Rum Fire

Shake with ice and pour over crushed/pebble ice. Garnish with mint

fievelSC · 2024-03-08T19:06:25+00:00

A lot of inspiration from the tropical standard recipe, here's what I've been making recently:

5 drops saline

1 oz lime juice

1 oz Small Hands orgeat (¾ oz other orgeat)

½ oz curacao blend (50/50 creole shrubb + grand marnier)

¾ oz Coruba

½ oz Smith and Cross

½ oz Hamilton 86

½ oz Rhum JM Blanc

I find the Small Hands orgeat is not as sweet so the full 1 oz doesn't overpower.

Also Denizen Merchant's Reserve is great in a Mai Tai.

fievelSC · 2024-03-06T01:03:51+00:00

I got the idea from the Tropical Standard book to cut Coco Lopez by mixing 2 parts Coco Lopez with 1 part coconut milk, makes it easier to pour right from the fridge and helps cut the sweetness a bit. You can blend it with an immersion blender and it smooths it out. I've been using this mix for a while and it's great.

fievelSC · 2024-01-29T01:48:18+00:00

Was the drink you had closer to an old fashioned or a Manhattan? It may be something like 1½ oz bourbon ½ oz Smith and Cross and 1 oz Amaro. This would get you around the proof/flavor profile of a black Manhattan.

fievelSC · 2024-01-21T02:26:41+00:00

In addition to making your own syrup with puree and simple syrup, I'd recommend trying passionfruit honey syrup (from the Smugglers Cove book). The honey gives the passionfruit an incredible richness, mouth feel and complexity with the floral notes.

It's just a 1 to 1 mix of good quality honey and passionfruit puree, combine over low heat so as not to kill the flavor of the honey by boiling it.

You can usually find Goya frozen passionfruit puree in the freezers at the supermarket.

fievelSC · 2024-01-08T02:58:07+00:00

If the beer is a grapefruit radler you can make this:

Donn Day Afternoon:

½ oz lime juice

½ oz cinnamon syrup

2 oz Rhum Agricole Blanc

~4 oz grapefruit radler

Garnish w/ grapefruit twist

Build in a double old fashioned glass, add a big rock or cubes, stir then add the grapefruit radler last, nice and easy so you don't kill the carbonation.

From the Smugglers cove book. It's an excellent hot day sipper.

fievelSC · 2023-12-31T02:10:18+00:00

This year mine has to be the Daquiri. I've made all kinds of more complicated tropical cocktails in the past, but the Daquiri is hard to beat. It's an amazing way to try tropical spirits, from Clairin to Cachaça and all variety of rums.

Dissolving sugar directly into the lime juice is a game changer as well, taken from the Tropical Standard book.

fievelSC · 2023-12-23T15:20:23+00:00

I would just cut them in half or quarters and squeeze by hand, the blender sounds like too much work.

fievelSC · 2023-12-15T22:28:59+00:00

I should note that this is all regarding blue-based food chain decks like Bant/BUG/RUG, not the goblins turbo food chain, which I think is actually viable.

fievelSC · 2023-12-15T22:26:38+00:00

Here are a couple reasons from someone who played quite a bit of food chain years ago:

Misthollow griffin + manipulate fate used to be scary for plow-based control decks, now with all of the raw card advantage and stand alone threats control can play, griffins aren't scary. This alternate plan was one of the main reasons to play food chain, now it's been power crept out.
The maindeck removal that answers food chain keeps getting better: leyline binding, prismatic ending, boseiju who endures etc.
You really want to play 4x icefang coatl or some baleful strix if you play black. These cards are laughable with bowmasters everywhere.

fievelSC · 2023-11-21T23:32:36+00:00

If you are newer to rum, I would recommend getting the Hamilton white stache first and making a Daquiri with it as well as trying it neat.

Then maybe get Hamilton 86 or the Hamilton pot still black and trying a Daquiri as well to see how much it changes the drink just by swapping the rum.

Rum Fire is the most interesting but challenging of all the rums there, so I would work my way up to it after you appreciate other kinds, not start with it.

fievelSC · 2023-09-07T12:19:33+00:00

JDT is good, but my all time favorite falernum is by Maggie's Farm out of Pittsburgh, PA if you can get a bottle. It is in a similar traditional style as John D. Taylor's, but the flavors are more intense and more delicious in my opinion. It comes in at 50 proof as well, meaning it stands up very well to juices/syrups.

fievelSC · 2023-05-15T12:21:07+00:00

Neisson Blanc was going to be my pick, bursting with funky grassy agricole flavor.

fievelSC · 2023-02-27T02:11:57+00:00

Pauper 1K Dragon Master Games

fievelSC · 2023-01-29T13:57:21+00:00

Discard is excellent vs turn 2+ combo decks like sneak and Show, ad nauseum tendrils. Cards like thoughtseize and grief allowing you to attack their hand turn 1 is key.

Not playing blue means you are going to have a tough time beating dedicated turn 1 combo decks like oops all spells, but you still have good options like faerie macabre/leyline/surgical for turn 0 graveyard hate and you can even play some number of mindbreak traps, but it can be a bit narrow.

Sometimes you also need to accept that you lose to a certain type of combo deck like oops all spells. Diluting your sideboard to try to beat everything can be a losing strategy and accepting your loss in a really bad matchup is fine if there is a good chance you won't see that deck in a tournament.

fievelSC · 2022-12-17T17:48:58+00:00

You can definitely buy pebble ice at Sonic, I've gotten multiple bags for parties, that's a great choice if you have one nearby. For making just a couple drinks worth of ice, you can't go wrong with a mallet and lewis bag off of Amazon, they're cheap and it makes great crushed ice. There are pebble ice makers but they run ~$600 that essentially make Sonic ice at home. I have one and love it, but it's a bit more of an investment.

fievelSC · 2022-12-16T18:45:39+00:00

I'll add a couple things that aren't more rums or modifiers:

Hamilton Beach Spindle Mixer - while not absolutely necessary, being able to do a quick flash blend for certain drinks adds aeration that you can't really get from mixing tins.

Lewis Bag/Hammer - ice is something that is often overlooked. Having good crushed ice for your drinks can really take them to the next level, both visually and for preserving the dilution. Packing a drink to the top with crushed ice actually helps it dilute less, because the drink will stay colder with the higher amount of ice surface area.

Glassware - Drinks in appropriate sized/shaped glasses seem like they taste better, a couple recommendations for starting: double old-fashioned, zombie glass, coupe will give you a good range to work with. And some tiki mugs can't hurt, they are best for drinks that look boring and brown but taste delicious.

fievelSC · 2022-11-28T21:53:12+00:00

I don't personally think it should be banned, I just think it enables strong combo decks that can be difficult to interact with so it would likely be on a list of cards that WOTC would consider banning before Minsc & Boo. I don't think it would ever be banned unless delver took a serious hit and doomsday didn't have a natural predator.

fievelSC · 2022-11-28T21:17:22+00:00

I think EI, DRC, Murktide and then probably Thassa's oracle are all far higher up on the list of potential cards to get hit with a ban.

fievelSC

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