In Houston’s top restaurants at dinner, you’ll find sommeliers floating from table to table like hummingbirds. By day you’ll find them dining around town. That table of six seated to your right with a dozen bottles isn’t having a party, it just looks that way. They gather with winemakers, importers and distributors. It’s a chance to taste, learn and perhaps find that next great bottle of wine.
Now bartenders are getting into the act, showing a hunger to learn about the diverse world of spirits. The city has even has started a chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild.
Recently, on the Monday afternoon of October 3, you might have had a hard time getting a quality drink in Houston. Bartenders from around the city had gathered at Anvil Bar & Refuge (1424 Westheimer). This wasn’t a simple social hour, but an opportunity to learn. Edward Hamilton, one of the best and most knowledgeable minds on the subject of rum, was in town.
Hamilton is the ultimate fan. He’s spent over 15 years sailing and investigating and drinking his way through the Caribbean. Over the years he’s written several books and created the magnificent Ministry of Rum website. He is respected by the industry and the distillers, but he isn’t part of it, which gives him objectivity.
His visit to Houston was designed to introduce several varieties of rhum agricol, a rum style distilled in the French West Indie Islands. However before beginning, he had the staff at Anvil lay out all their rums on the bar. What occurred over the next hour was an off-the-cuff, free-flowing lecture on more than 40 rums. Around the room eyes were set wide open as pens scribbled furiously to gather every bit of information. The spirits industry is notorious for half-truths, so it was a welcome chance to receive an in-depth history on the backgrounds and techniques of so many distilleries.
Next up was a tasting of six different Martinique rhums agricol. This rum is unique in that it’s the only type produced under A.O.C. guidelines. This is the same “controlled designation of origin” status that is used in French wine, cheese and butter. In addition, rhum agricol can only be made from fresh-squeezed sugar cane juice (rather than molasses). These are far and away some of the most vividly aromatic and intensely flavorful members of the rum family. One look around the room and you could see the wheels spinning in every bartender’s head.
Hamilton’s visit definitely left a mark on Houston, one that will be flow from many a glass in the weeks and months to come. They say knowledge is its own reward, but thirsty Houstonians will certainly get a chance to show their appreciation.