Rating
Somehow Even Less Exciting Than A Night In Drinking Tea
Sights: Rickey is big time not impressed. The drink sports a pretty red color, and the glass is nice and heavy… Otherwise, the lime wheel garnish is a snooze and there’s not much else to it.
Smells: Occasionally Rickey gets on a health kick for about an hour or so and likes to sub tea for liquor. This drink smells just like the Celestial Seasons Wild Berry Zinger that is currently aging in his cupboard.
Tastes: Rickey was looking forward to the possibility that he might be able to merge the health benefits of tea with, ya know, rum. But this cocktail just kind of tasted like a watered down berry tea with very little complexity. Rickey wishes that the Batavia Arrack van Oosten worked here, but it doesn’t seem to. It’s a liqueur made from sugar cane and fermented red rice that tastes a bit fruity and vegetal on its own. In the Dalang Delight it lended a fake sugar, sweet n’ low type essence (and no one wants that when they are drinking actual sugar). Anyway, the cocktail’s not exactly offensive, but it doesn’t do much to make the ingredients stand out or work together.
Feels: Light bodied. And strangely warm, actually. So that’s weird.
Rick’s Tricks: Squeeze the lime to give this slightly more depth. That said, it’s a bit confusing why they chose a lime when the drink has lemon juice in it. Yet another Nomad Lounge citrus mystery (see Tempting Tigress)…
Overall: It might be Dalang’s delight, but it’s not Rickey’s. He wishes that all of the ingredients were more prominent. In particular, he’d like to get more sweetness from the Van der Hum and some extra citrus to up the pizazz quotient. But, alas, the drink tasted a bit sad, flat and dull (so kind of like a solo night in drinking non-caffeinated tea).
More Info:
Location: Nomad Lounge, Discovery Island, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Ingredients: Starr African Rum, Batavia-Arrack van Oosten, Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur, Mountain Berry Tea, Simple Syrup, Lemon Juice
Cost: $15
Is Rickey being too hard on this cocktail? Let him know what you think in the comments!