Ron Zacapa – Roux at the Pembury

Last week we were kindly invited to a very special event by the lovely people at Ron Zacapa. What made the invite even more interesting was that the event was to take place at Roux at the Pembury.
Roux is a restaurant/bar, located in Westminster and run by none other than Michel Roux Jr.

From this information alone, we knew we were in for a good night of food and drink. The evening consisted of 5 courses of canapés that had been created with Ron Zacapa in mind. For every canapé we had, naturally there was a different Ron Zacapa Cocktail to accompany the food.

We arrived on time and were kindly shown upstairs to the Roux bar. The bar is new to the Pembury and is decorated with chesterfield couches and gives the sense of a private members bar, but without the extraordinary member’s fee. We were told that the bar is open Monday to Friday and is perfect for pre-drinks, post drinks, or just drinks in general.

If you are familiar with Michel Roux Jr, you’d know that he isn’t one to hire a local bar man from Wetherspoons to be in charge of making cocktails. (Not that there is anything wrong with Wetherspoons)

The bar manager for Roux is Abdulai Kpekawa. With over 7 years of bar work under his belt, we knew we were going to be looked after.

The evening began with an introduction from Michel himself welcoming us to his establishment as well as explaining the order of the evening and how the tastings will work.

He explained a bit about the restaurant and the bar as well as giving us some insight into how he decorated the bar and the look he was going for.

Michel even took the time to share his sadness with us that it is such a big shame we are unable to light up a cigar while enjoying a drink (a pain we know all too well)

We also had the pleasure of Daniel Dove, Ron Zacapa’s UK Brand Ambassador who talked to us about the rum and what we could expect from the drinks that evening.

There were 5 courses in total with a drink selected for each course to perfectly complement the canapé.

To kick the evening off, we were given a Zacapa Cerveza as a welcome drink which was amazing. It was a cocktail made of Ron Zacapa, lime, beer and honey syrup with a malt and nutmeg foam. As you can imagine it almost like a dessert but still had the flavours of a great cocktail.

Onto the first course and some ‘Virgin honey’ and beetroot cured Loch Duart salmon. At this point the party in my mouth had already started. The sweet virgin honey really made the dish stand out and created a great sweet after taste.

Paired with a Mayan Martini consisting of Ron Zacapa, Gewürztraminer wine and orange bitters we were off to a good start.

For the Second course we were treated to XO braised shin of beef and root vegetables roasted with ‘virgin honey’ paired up with a Quetzaltenango Fizz. By now the flavours coming through were incredible and the beef was perfectly cooked, and once again the Virgin honey created such a great after taste.

By now we were starting to get full up and then out came the third course, a rum and raisin tiramisu. Not being a big fan of raisins I was reluctant at first to try it, however the dessert was incredible. The raisins were so fresh, it was like I was eating grapes, and I didn’t want the tiramisu to end.

Paired up with an Altocumulus Daiquiri (Ron Zacapa, yuzu juice, Pedro Ximénez and honey) the party was in full effect in my mouth and the flavours I had experiences were like none I had experienced before.

Just when I thought I couldn’t fit in anymore food, out came the Coffee, vanilla and Solera 23 macaroon along with a glass of Land of the Trees (Ron Zacapa, Grand Marnier®, Noilly Pratt and kaffir lime leafs)

Followed but Cheese and pickle served with what was my favourite drink of the night a glass of Ron Zacapa XO served neat!

Topped off with polite conversation and plush surroundings, the night was a perfect evening and a great opportunity to sample the different sides of Ron Zacapa and how this rum is here to stay.
Just from what I sampled, I’m 100% sure I’ll be checking out the restaurant very soon.

Overall, the evening was fantastic and was a great chance for Ron Zacapa so show us the quality of the rum and how the rum can be perfectly matched.

Cut the Cap walked away setting 3 missions that night:

1 – To get a bottle of Ron Zacapa to review with a cigar.

2 – To return to Roux for dinner.

3 – To learn how to cook using rum.

We are pretty sure we can master the first 2 but watch this space.