As we’ve mentioned in our previous post “Sundowners: Our Favourite Cocktail Haunts“, Takamaka Rum is a staple here in the Seychelles and is now making waves across the globe.

 

 

Made locally at the Trois Freres Distillery in Au Cap (just a short drive from Anse Royale – how dangerously convenient), you can literally soak it all up during their distillery tour where you can sample their entire range.

Our favourite picks are the Coco Rum and Takamaka Dark, both equally tasty either on the rocks or with a mixer. There are also the aged rums, Takamaka Extra Dark and the premium La Plaine St Andre white and dark, plus the cocktail go-to Takamaka White Rum.

 

 

In this week’s post we wanted to share with you one of Takamaka Rum’s favourite and most popular cocktails, the Plantation Julep;

 

You will need:

• one tall glass
• one long teaspoon
• one egg-cup for measuring
• one wooden rolling pin
• one clean tea towel
• two handfuls of cubed ice
•one chopping board
•one sharp knife

Ingredients:

• two tots of dark rum
• a handful of fresh mint leaves
• two tots of fresh mango puree
• one tot of fresh pineapple juice
• sugar syrup to taste
• a stick of lemongrass for garish

Method:

1. Place your freshly picked handful of mint leaves into your tall glass and measure around half a tot of sugar syrup, two tots of fresh pureed mango and one tot of dark rum.

2. Gently press the mint leaves against the side of the glass with the back of a long handled spoon and smear the ingredients around the inside of the glass to mix the rum, mango & sugar together and spread the flavours.

3. Take a good long sniff & have a little slurp of the drink from your spoon, the leaves should have released their minty aroma and the flavour should be mixed perfectly with the mango & rum. Add more sugar if you’d like.

4. Pour in the last tot of rum and fill up the glass with ‘cracked’ ice. Crack the ice by wrapping some cubes in a clean tea towel and smashing them with a rolling pin – if you’ve had a bad day at work, use this to unwind.

5. Churn the ingredients through the ice with your spoon until they are well mixed and the mint is spread evenly through the glass. Top the glass with more cracked ice and pour in just a splash of pineapple juice to top it off with a little extra taste of the tropics.

6. Add two straws for sipping, a sprig of mint for garnish and a stick of lemongrass for extra churning as you savour the harvest of plantation flavours. Use the stiff white base of the lemongrass and crush the end with your rolling pin. The lemongrass will then add a little extra island flavour to your Plantation Julep.

 

**Recipe taken from Takamaka Rum’s website – www.takamakarum.com