The Art of Jamaican Rum: Observing, Serving and Tasting

Part 1: Introducing the Topic:

A. When you think of Jamaica, what sounds and images come to mind?

B. What kind of famous beach-side cocktails use rum? Which are your favorites?

Part 2: Understanding specific sounds of the Jamaican accent:

“Th” becomes “D” sound

Dropped “R” ending

Dropped“ing” ending

Vowels “Dipthongs”

Jamaicans pronounce the English “th” (e.g “this”) and sometimes the “t” (e.g. “tree”) more like a soft “d” sound (e.g. “dog). This means phrases like “this tree” sounds like “dis dree.”

Jamaicans do not pronounce the “r” sound in words that end in a vowel +“r” sound (e.g. “answer” becomes ans-a”)

The “Ing” ending used in continuous verbs is shortened to “in” (singing singin”)

General: vowels are similar to English and Irish pronunciation. Sounds are longer and not as flat as American English.

A dipthong is a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable. (e.g.”take” and “there”). Jamaicans often don’t pronounce the 2nd sound of the dipthong!

T/Th “D” creative “creadive”

entire ”endire” south “soudh”

Ar/er/or –> “ah” Color

“coh-lah” Water

“wa-dah”

Ing “in” Penetrating

“penedratin”

A “Ahh” Appleton

“Ahh-ppleton” Answer

“Ahns-ah”

o “uohh” go “guohh” gonna

“guohh-nah” known

“knuoohn”

Dipthongs shortened! Take

(tay-eek) ”tek”

Stage(stay-ee-ge) “steh-ge”

How would you pronounce…? Thirty _________ The __________

Over _______ Reflecting _________

Old ________ Glass ________

Taste _________

Part 3: Practicing specific sounds of the Jamaican accent:

“I’m now gonna take you through the stages of appreciating a lovely rum.”

“You’re gonna take your glass of Appleton Estate Twenty-One...”

“You’re gonna hold the glass to the light and examine the rum for its clarity, it’s nice golden color.”

“You should see reflections of light penetrating the glass.”

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Part 4: Vocabulary

Match the vocabulary terms in the first column to the correct definition in the second column. Write the number of the definition next to each vocab term.

The vocab. The definitions.Bar and Beverage Terminology

clarity (n) 1 A small taste of a drinktannins (n) 2 The process of allowing an alcoholic drink to “mature”aging (n) 3 To add alcohol to another non-alcoholic drinkfermentation (n) 4 a distinctive, pleasant smell

oak (n) 5 To eat or drink something neutrally flavored to erase the flavor of something you tasted before (so you can appreciate what you are about to consume next!)

legs (n) 6 A kind of wood usually used to store beverages during the fermentation or aging process.

full-bodied (adj) 7 The subtle presence of a flavoraroma (n) 8 The level of how clear the liquid isbarrel (n) 9 a reddish acid that comes from plants and occurs in various

foods and drinks (such as wine)

Hint or “note” (n) 10 To move a liquid around in a circular motion in a glasssip (n) 11 streaks of liquid that form on the side of the glass as you

move an alcoholic beverage around in the glass

one-off (n) 12

snifter (n) 13 the chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts,

or other microorganisms

to spike (v) 14 A special edition of a product that is only made one timeto clear the palate (v) 15 rich and satisfying in flavorto swirl (v) 16

American “Slang” (Lunfardo)

“What’s up?” 18 A casual way to say “Hi, how are you”“Check it out!” 19 A verb expression usually used in reference to the service

industry, when a service worker (bar tender, hostess, etc) gives you something special or extra

to “hook it up” 20 Great, cool!“Right on!” 21 A friendly way to say “pay attention” or “let’s investigate!”

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Part 5: Sentence Completion

Complete the sentences based on what you hear:

(0:48) Next we are going to look for what is known as _________________________________________________If you look right on the surface of the liquid

_________________________________________________ ...right? The ring! That’s actually the tannins that have been extracted from the oak during aging reflecting the light to produce this beautiful green ring.

(1:07) And so you can use that to determine, to judge _________________________________________________.

(1:29) So you’re going to lean your glass, bring it back to an upright position and wait a while…and you’re going to _______________________________________________. See? Oh god! Look at your legs.

Part 6: Listening Comprehension Questions

SECTION ONE – Experiencing the aromas

1. What are the two types of aromas that Joyce explains?

2. What “hint” does Joyce observe as they examine the natural aroma?

3. Where does she say the complex aromas come from? How do she and The Rhyming chef activate the complex aromas?

4. On a rainy day, Joyce says the only way to really appreciate the rum is to do what?

SECTION TWO – Appleton 30, the Strawberry Hill Hotel and Spa

5. Why is Appleton 30 so special?

6. What two reasons does Henry the bartender say make the snifter good for serving rum?

7. How does Henry describe the water that he pours into the French press to make the coffee?

8. The Rhyming Chef adds the rum to the coffee to do what?

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9. Why are the coffee and rum accompanied by the caramelized bananas?

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