There was an excursion to the distillery offered through Disney while on the boat, but it was sold out before I even booked my cruise.\u00a0 That was a tour for those that are a little better at planning than I am I guess.<\/p>\n
Don’t let a lack of official tour discourage you.\u00a0 I was there with my family and we made our way to the distillery on our own.\u00a0 Cabbing it from the port was terribly expensive, but if you’re feeling adventurous, you can catch a ferry from terminal 2 (very near the cruise port) for only $.50 per person and from there it’s just a $3\/person cab ride to the distillery, or about 45 minute walk if the heat doesn’t bother you.<\/p>\n
Once there, the distillery is quite affordable.\u00a0 There are a few options to tour Casa Bacardi, the basic tour is $12, or you can add on a rum tasting or mixology class for an extra $23 in addition to the basic tour.\u00a0 All packages come with a tour, a souvenir glass, and a welcome drink from their amazing bar; either a cuba libre, rum punch, pina colada, or “drink of the day”, which in our case a “jolly rancher”.<\/p>\n We opted for the mixology class add on, which was certainly worth the $35\/person.\u00a0 It started off with an extended tour of the distillery.<\/p>\n The first section housed a statue of the famous Bacardi bat, surrounded by murals depicting the history of the Bacardi Company as well as the history of rum itself and the processes used to make it into a drinkable substance.<\/p>\n Next we moved into a theatre to watch a short film about the evolution of Bacardi rum.\u00a0 Here there is an amazing star-lit ceiling that portrays all of the stars and constellations as they would have appeared when the company was founded Feb. 4 1862.\u00a0 That was pretty cool to see on their birthday.<\/p>\n Next we went to the actual building where the magic happens and got a look at the distillation process past and present.<\/p>\n The best part was the view from the top, though.<\/p>\n We also learned some surprising facts about how environmentally conscious the Bacardi Company is.\u00a0 You’ll notice in the above photo that they are harnessing wind power.\u00a0 The also have a unique anaerobic treatment system, meant to harness and use all of the byproducts and waste from the rum making process.<\/p>\n After touring the distillation building, we moved on to a replica of the art deco bar that was in the original building in Old San Juan. Including a sampling of some of their higher end rums and an introduction to the cocktails we would be learning to make later.<\/p>\n Then on to the fun part; Mixology class!\u00a0 Here the amazing Bacardi bartender Thomas,\u00a0 guided us through the making of 3 classic rum cocktails, as well as a history lesson about the origin of the drinks.<\/p>\n We started with the easiest of cocktails, the Cuba Libre<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Cuba Libre is basically a rum (we used Bacardi Gold) and coke with lime.\u00a0 This popular cocktail is said to have originated in Havana during the Spanish-American War when U.S. soldiers ordered the cocktail and toasted to a free Cuba (Cuba Libre).<\/p>\n Next up was the Daiquiri<\/strong>, which is not what a lot of us think of as a daiquiri.\u00a0 There were no frozen blended sugary-sweet strawberry concoctions to be found.\u00a0 This version of the original daiquiri was much better, in my opinion.\u00a0 Here we mixed rum (Bacardi Superior), a lemon juice (though traditionally it’s made with lime), and sugar.\u00a0 This cocktail was also invented in Cuba around the same time as the Cuba Libre.\u00a0 It was named for the people who supposedly first ordered it, who were miners from the near-by Daiquiri iron mines.<\/p>\n The third and most involved cocktail we made was one of my favorites, the Mojito<\/strong>.\u00a0 Here we muddled limes, fine white sugar, and rum (Bacardi Superior) in the bottom of a glass.\u00a0 Don’t muddle the mint!\u00a0 This is a common mistake that leads to those annoying tiny bits of mint that get sucked up in your straw and turn a lot of people off of the mojito.\u00a0 Instead, give the whole mint leaves a good smack in your hand to express the oils.\u00a0 Then, add the mint leaves to the muddled concoction, fill the glass with ice, add soda water and mix together.\u00a0 Voila, perfect mojito.\u00a0 Plus, every bartender may disagree, but muddling is fun!<\/p>\n The history of the mojito is a long and interesting one, though widely disputed.\u00a0 A version of the cocktail was likely invented in the golden age of piracy when rum used for it’s (debatable) medicinal qualities.\u00a0 However, at the time rum didn’t taste quite as refined as Bacardi and was much higher alcohol content, so they used mint and other herbs to conceal the taste of the liquor.<\/p>\n The finished products were all pretty great, I’m still partial to the Mojito though.<\/p>\n I’m not a bad bartender if I do say so myself.\u00a0 In fact, we were all pretty proud!<\/p>\n We all made a bit of a mess and perhaps don’t follow instructions all that well, but I like to think Thomas was proud of us as well.<\/p>\n If my time living near Disney World has taught me anything, it’s that every good attraction ends in a gift shop and Casa Bacardi is no exception.\u00a0 It’s a pretty good gift shop too!\u00a0 Here you can sample various flavors of Bacardi Rum, but I’m still partial to the original.<\/p>\n There are literally walls of rum at the gift shop,<\/p>\n but the main attraction is the Bacardi Reserva Limitada.\u00a0 Bacardi’s finest (and most expensive) rum.\u00a0 This rum has been aged in barrels for 10-16 years and tastes amazing!\u00a0 It’s export to the U.S. is very limited and much more costly than buying it at Casa Bacardi.\u00a0 Here they sell bottles for $85 and include a certificate of authenticity and a free engraving, which makes for a pretty cool souvenir.<\/p>\n This is where the tour ended, but we got pretty caught up at the bar… again.<\/p>\n We had to try the free drink included in the tour, and then some.\u00a0 Like I said before, the tour includes a Pina Colado, Rum Punch, Cuba Libre, or “Drink of the Day”.\u00a0 All well and good, but I needed another Mojito… when in Rome right?<\/p>\n I also found out they they had quite a deal here.\u00a0 Their luxury spirits (Bacardi 8 and the Reserva Limitada) cost $15, or $17.50 for two.\u00a0 How do you pass up a deal like that?\u00a0 It also comes with a free snifter.\u00a0 So I left nicely tipsy and with all new glassware.<\/p>\n It made for a pretty interesting cab ride back into town.<\/p>\n It also lead to a few broken ordinances at the ferry port.<\/p>\n![\"Ferry](\"https:\/\/magsonthemove.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/image185-510x382.jpg\")
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