I had come off of what was a rather crazy weekend, with less than four hours of sleep a night, and not even because I was partying! It was SF Chefs. Food. Wine. that kept me awake at night. The numerous tastings, classes, parties, etc. that I ran but did not necessarily get the chance to enjoy had run me ragged, so I sludged off to a rum dinner after a long long nap in the fog (needless to say I had just managed to move 30 plus cases of wine around before noon! So I feel I deserved the nap!)
Nothing could have been more soothing than the lilting voice of Master Distiller Joy Spence and her similarly lyrical rums. We met at Spruce on Sacramento where we enjoyed not one but two celebratory cocktails made by expert H. Ehrmann, also fresh off the SF Chefs Cocktail Trail. The Royal Aperitif with Honey Syrup and Fresh Lemon and Sparkling Wine and the Appleton-Ting with Lime, Agave Nectar and Ting, what is Ting? I have no clue and didn’t really care. It was GOOD.
Dinner was of course delicious and I was surprised at how easy it was to pair rum and rum cocktails with food! The Appleton Estate Reserve Old Jamaican with fresh lime, Angostura bitters and Champagne paired effortlessly with a summer vegetable salad with avocado Green Goddess dressing and Ricotta Dura.
Roasted Halibut and Moroccan Chicken (thankfully rum guru Martin Cate shared a bite of his chicken with me, I was so envious…) was delicious with the Daiquiri crafted with Demerara Syrup, Lime and Pomm Wonderful Juice, Maraschino Liqueur and Fresh Blackberries. Finally a decadent dessert was overshadowed by the amazing 12 Year Old Appleton Estate Rum served neat. Ahh, what a way to finally relax.
A wonderful toast to a great weekend.
RebeccaChapa.com 
Hi Becca,
Just came across your blog–don’t know how I haven’t seen it before. It’s incredible, and you are incredible! I’m proud to be related to you!
This post was particularly pertinent to my life here in Jamaica, as I am becoming quite an afficiando of the various Appleton products we enjoy down here! And I just thought I’d add that Ting is a grapefruit soda. Beats the pants off of Fresca and is most commonly paried with Appletons overproof white rum. I don’t know if they sell Ting in the states, but it’s fabulous!
Take Care!
-Liza
Thanks Liza! That is great information! So who is going to import this TING for us… or anyone know where to get it? A reasonable alternative would be Squirt, only if you had to of course, but Squirt is a really great substitute for use in a Paloma (Tequila and grapefruit). Irie!
Another intriguing post. TY 🙂