Dining & Nightlife Flavors of the South in North Florida North Florida chefs embrace the wide culinary breadth of the South, including soul food, Lowcountry cuisine and Louisiana cooking. Eat this: Shrimp and grits, jambalaya, shrimp boil, pulled pork, corn mu ns and sweet tea. Dine here: Jacksonville’s Southern Charm has Cracker cookery down to an art. In Tallahassee, Olean’s Cafe glorifi es comfort food. Five Sisters Blues Café in Pensacola leans Louisiana-ways. ð Pulled Pork at Five Sisters Blues Café, Pensacola Florida's Rum Trail By Chelle Koster Walton Search { Distillery } at VISITFLORIDA.com With pirate lore and sugarcane in its DNA, Florida welcomes a new wave of rum distillers. These Florida-based distilleries offer tastings and tours. St. Augustine Distillery This popular attraction distills vodka, gin, whiskey and bourbon plus its pot-stilled golden rum, which ages in bourbon barrels. Free daily tours of the historic ice plant include cocktails made with the distillery’s small-batch liquors, including a rum-pineapple concoction. Drum Circle Distilling, Sarasota Belly up to the cypress bar in the tiki tasting room inside this distillery for a sampling of award-winning Siesta Key Rum. Informative 60-minute tours, including tastings of silver, gold, spiced and toasted-coconut rum, are free. Wicked Dolphin Rum Distillery, Cape Coral Crafted from pure Florida sugar, rather than the molasses by-product some use, Wicked Dolphin earns its “Fresh from Florida” certification by using state-grown citrus and other Florida ingredients when possible. Free 45-minute tours include a rum punch kick-off and a three-rum sampling touchdown. Key West First Legal Rum Distiller Given Key West’s rum smuggling past, the name fits. And, of course, there’s key lime rum in its 12-rum repertoire. Do a guided or self-guided audio/video tour of the old 1903 Coca Cola plant, followed by a tasting of shots or slushy fruit cocktails. Black Coral Rum, Riviera Beach This family-owned distillery started in 2012 with an empty warehouse. Today its white and spiced rums are distributed nationwide and the distillery is receiving recognition across the country, winning the 2016 Seattle International Spirits St. Augustine Distillery Awards as well as an international spirits competition. Tours and tastings don’t run on a regular schedule, but you can call to make a reservation. Alligator Bay Distillers, Punta Gorda Opened to visitors in 2016, this distillery adds a pinch of honey to its handcrafted gold rum; sugar and vanilla to its white rum; and pineapple to its latest creation. Tastings are free to all visitors, and tours run Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. St. Petersburg Distillery Its line of Oak & Palm craft spirits include spiced and coconut rums for mixing; its Old St. Pete Righteous Rum & Spice is a pot-distilled sipping drink. Public tours and tastings are in near-future plans. ð PHOTOS: GREAT SOUTHERN RESTAURANTS; ST. AUGUSTINE DISTILLERY OFFICIAL VISITOR’S GUIDE 4 63
Visit Florida Visit Florida 2017: Page 63
