You're The One With The Accent
A roundup of some of the best things I drank in Amsterdam and Edinburgh
I just got back from a couple weeks overseas (thus no entry last week) but I figured the least I could do is catch up up a bit. Traveling is restorative and I definitely got a few ideas seeing all the great things the bartenders of those cities were up to. Without further adieu, here are some of the better things I had
Amsterdam
You don’t normally think “rum” when you think Amsterdam, but I assure you if you know the places to look you can find it. Specifically, two places come up when you do this. Rum Barrel and a brown bar called Café 't Spui-tje. The latter turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. While they indeed have a huge selection of bottles, despite their menu saying they have an even longer list with all of the spirits, when I asked, the bartenders seemed confused. I sipped on a nice Havana Club while I was there, but for a place that literally probably has 400 bottles of rum, it would have been nice to see a bit more. With bottles stacked 3 deep, it was impossible to tell what was lurking and the bartenders themselves didn’t seem all that rum knowledgeable.
I also wasn’t feeling that great that night, so maybe some of it was them and some of it was me.
But if you want yourself a true tropical adventure, may I recommend Rum Barrel? They have two locations (I went to the one in the west) and are slinging tiki drinks you know and love as well as some of their own twists on stuff. I settled in on a beautiful Monday night and made my way through the menu. They proudly make most of their stuff in house (including orgeat which….I’m fine not making lol) and I had a few good drinks as well as some rum from their ample collection. It was a highlight of the trip, not just because the fun experience but because somehow one guy was holding it down on a busy summer evening. Respect to Balthazar for that.
Other great things I had:
I didn’t get a photo of it, but I had an incredible Mai Tai at Bar Mokum in De Pijp. Clairin cut with this beautiful Union coconut rum (which I really should have brought back. I will be chasing this dragon for a while
Fresh Heineken. Cliché but true
Everything at JD William’s Whisky Bar. Had a cocktail, some beers, and sipped my way through some SMWS tastings, nice Irish whisky, and more. Just a righteously fun night with the bar staff there
Genever, of course, from Wynand Fockink!
Surprisingly strong local beer game as well, with my favorites coming from Oedipus which has a beautiful taproom in Amsterdam-Noord
Basically anything at any brown bar. Sometimes timing is everything and sitting along a canal on a beautiful summer day sipping on a light beer is pretty great
Edinburgh
The first night I got into Edinburgh, some bartenders at a local place around the corner from my Airbnb, Woodland Creatures, got me truly drunker than I intended. Scottish hospitality shining through. I started with a nice bold IPA and the week just kept going from there. Leith is really lovely, and so is the rest of the city.
What was the best thing I had? Hard to say. Truly some bars operating on another level there. I started the week at Panda & Sons, hit all the major stops along the way (Nightcap, Bramble, The Lucky Liquor Co.) and got a few more things to add to other folks lists (Dragonfly took care of me, and pointed me to the Mother Superior, a great local whisky bar in Leith), but the one place that every bartender told me to go to? Hey Palu.
First off, bar seating is not really a thing as much in Edinburgh. Which pains me as a bar sitter, but Hey Palu does have a nice bar you can sit right at and watch the magic happen. The whole concept is that it’s focused on Italian aperitivi and they do that quite well if I do say so myself. No surprise, their Negroni was on point as was this pretty wild Smoked Banana Old Fashioned featuring a rum blend, banana, tonka bean, Fernet Branca, and smoke. Also excellent martinis. Really I get why everyone told me to go there, it was a fantastic stop and one I enjoyed just as much as all the other ones
Other great things I had:
Another city with a surprising good local beer scene. Moonwake and Campervan were great and the Pilot beers, particularly the Peach Melba, were all enjoyable. The brewery is down on the border, but Tempest also had lots of good stuff.
The Birdcage at Panda & Sons is worth ordering for the experience of watching them make it alone. It’s also delicious. And between this and the Old Fashioned I am now inspired to get a smoker for home use. Had a great Bamboo there too (get it?)
Argyll’s Rising at Nightcap: Bowmore 15yo Scotch Whisky, Peach, Punt é Mes Vermouth, Absinth
a Bramble at Bramble. It’s not just a clever name and they do a hell of a job with it
Atlas Sprintzed at Dragonlyfly: oloroso sherry, vermouth, genepi, prosecco…it was perfect for the hot days
Superbia at The Lucky Liquor Co.: Dark rum, pasionfruit, mustard, white grape & apricot soda (as an aside the drinks at The Lucky Liquor Co are WILD, and the whole concept is worth a visit alone)
Because it would be incomplete without a lil Scotch, the Kilchoman UK Small Batch finished in bourbon, oloroso sherry, and STR. Islay, man
Oh, and one other thing. It would have been improper to not stop by the Cadenhead’s shop while I was there. And while there are multi-hundred pound Caroni bottlings that, well, maybe someday, there were definitely plenty of things in my price range. Including the Cadenhead’s off-sale shop’s own Navy Strength Rum. Gonna have to make it over to Campbelltown next time…
Anyway, lots of other notes from a lovely trip…if you want a detailed round-up of vegan food or which museums I thought were good, well, that’s not really the remit of this Substack now is it? Back next week with a proper drink. Perhaps involving the very bottle of rum pictured above…
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something every couple of weeks (if we are being honest), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
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