Bumbu Rum

     Being the pirate I am, I have been exploring more rums as of late.  Recently I was attracted to this beautiful bottled rum.

     A little about Bumbu rum before I review it.  This rum is made on the island of Barbados, one of the Caribbean islands and an island that boasts to have been making rum for about 400 years.  This naturally sparked my interest so I went and bought myself a bottle to try.

     The water used in this rum is naturally purified as it is forced through the limestone that makes up the island, so they do not have to further purify or distill the water in order to use it like some rum makers need to do.  Even their sugarcane is specific to the area as they only select what they view as the best amongst the islands of the West Indies.

     This rum is a 70 proof rum that is a good dual-purpose rum, meaning you can mix it or enjoy it by itself, although I like my rums on the rocks in most cases.  The flavor is a well-blended mix of local spices, with one outstanding difference from other spiced rums.  It has the distinct hint of banana!  This is not to be confused with the Pirate Piss soda I reviewed previously, which tasted like banana runts.  Bumbu rum has a strong note of natural banana flavor, but not so strong that it overpowers the spices used in it.  This makes it a pleasant change of pace from the traditional spiced rums that can kind of blend together after a while.

     The bottle is a nice, heavy glass bottle that's sporting a beautiful tarnished X on it, surrounded by raised glass print.  The back of the bottle tells us a little about the rum and has a map of the Caribbean just above the description. Even the cork in the bottle is unique as it sports an X on the top and every time you open the bottle, it gives you a nice 'POP' sound.

     I think this rum will be added to my regular supply as it's reasonably priced at about $30-35 a bottle for 750 ml and for me, it will last a while.  I do believe that I'll even be keeping this bottle just because of how it looks.

Rocket Fizz Soda - Gross Gus's Pirate Piss Soda

     During my trip to Charlotte, NC; I also paid a visit to a local Rocket Fizz store to see what kinds of soda and candy they have in stock.  They have quite a selection of both!  While some of the candies are out there, they pale in comparison to the selection of sodas they have.

     Not only do they carry some of the lesser known sodas and classics, such as Grape Nehi and Doc Brown's Cel-Ray, they also have some really off the wall sodas too.  Some of them were a little too off the wall for me, such as dirt soda and buffalo wing soda.

     I did settle on trying Gross Gus's Pirate Piss soda, and yes, I grabbed it because it said pirate, lol!  Thankfully, it did not taste like urine.  It is actually a banana-flavored soda and is colored to look like someone urinated in the bottle.

     Once you get past the name and color, it is actually a pretty good soda.  When you open the bottle, you get a whiff of banana candy or popsicles.  The first swig is that sweet artificial flavor of banana Runts from one of those candy vending machines from my childhood.  It even has that funky banana aftertaste from eating those little guys.

     So if you want to be taken back to your childhood, and want to giggle like a kid again, give Pirate Piss a try.  It's available at Rocket Fizz shops, and they are all over place so look to see if there's one near you.