Angostura Rum @ The Angostura Butterfly House
Angostura 1
Trinidadian legend has it that when the butterflies dance, the sugar cane is ready to harvest. So when an invite came through to visit a tropical pop-up bar with its own live butterfly plantation to sample Angostura rum cocktails, I really didn’t need to think twice. I strapped on my best butterfly dancing boots and flew down to New Inn Yard in trendy Shoreditch.
The decor of this three day only cocktail pop-up was charming and the event itself was handily coinciding with London Cocktail Week.
I was familiar with the Angostura brand because of their bitters which lie at the heart of many a great cocktail, adding a sting in the tail. I also like the bitters in a long glass of tonic; an Italian barman friend of mine recommended it as the perfect drink for those days when you really shouldn’t be drinking but would like to pretend that you are–just a few drops in the tonic mind you! But it turns out that Angostura is really about rum and this was what we were here to taste.
Before hitting the cocktails I had to press and taste some sugar cane syrup to get in the tropical mood. it tasted like sugar water although it wasn’t overly sweet. I can see how it would go down well in the tropics.
I tried an Angostura Daiquiri made with rum, lime, bitters and sugar cane syrup, that was tropical and sophisticated, and a delicious cocktail called the Owl Butterfly with rum, passionfruit and mint.
I needed to finish my visit with a look at the butterflies; they were gorging themselves on the fruit laid out for them in the butterfly house.
The rum from the House of Angostura is winning a lot of prizes at the moment and is well worth a try for that authentic Trinidadian flavour.
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