2.26 Zacapa

Having finished off the last bubble of the Moët & Chandon, Jean ordered a glass of rum and invited me to try it.

“I’m never been a big rum drinker,” I replied, declining.

“This is no ordinary rum, my friend,” Jean said. “This is Ron Zacapa Centenario. From Guatemala.”

“Guatemala? Huh.”

I had never heard of the Zacapa, nor had I even known that rum was produced in that small Central American country. I was willing to trust Jean’s judgment all the same; he hadn’t been wrong about much of anything yet.

The liquor was much darker than other rums, and had a surprisingly pleasant nose. Giving the rum a tentative sip, I was overwhelmed by its rich, full-bodied flavor as the liquor washed over my tongue.

My eyes must have lit up like a pachinko machine because Jean turned to Shôhei and said, “Now that my friend here has slobbered all over my glass, how about a fresh one for myself.”

Shôhei laughed as he took another glass off of a glass shelf bathed with warm light. Placing the glass on the counter, he switched on a light embedded in the counter that illuminated the glass, a low tumbler of stylishly etched crystal.

“Bacarat,” Jean informed. “They know how to do things right.”

Shôhei then pulled out a block of ice from behind the counter and started chipping away at it with an ice pick. He’d rotate the ice in his left hand, chip at the rough edge, flip it around and give it a few dexterous jabs with the pick, until it was a perfect icy globe, which he set into the tumbler.

Shôhei then took the bottle of Zacapa Centenario which was covered in petate, a hand-woven mat made from palm leaves, uncorked the bottle and poured a generous amount into the glass. With a flourish he gave the ice a spin and slid the drink over to Jean.

Jean and I clinked our glasses then savored the moment.

“Are you a rum drinker now?” Jean asked after a while.

“I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to drink anything else from now on,” I replied. “The scales have fallen from my eyes.”

“Better late than never.”

© Aonghas Crowe, 2010. All rights reserved. No unauthorized duplication of any kind.

注意：この作品はフィクションです。登場人物、団体等、実在のモノとは一切関係ありません。

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

No. 6 is now available on Kindle.

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