Made in Mauritius

We made it, the Green Island. Why the name? One of the largest industries here in Mauritius is sugar, so naturally a large portion of the island is reserved for sugar cane. When viewed from above Mauritius looks like one, big, Green Island. Which is why I was so surprised to find an Orange welcome getting off the flight from Reunion. Immigration at the airport has not only changed in the seven years since we last set foot here, but is apparently now sponsored by Coca Cola and Orange (a local Telco). The walls were shamelessly plastered with Orange and Coke ads (we were officially welcomed into the country by an Orange billboard, before we got to immigration), even the rope dividers keeping the lines separate seemed to be put there by Orange. It was like walking into a pop-up ad.

Getting through immigration was no easy task either, among all the other official bits of info they asked, they demanded an incredibly accurate address of where we were staying and a contact phone number (no doubt wanting to send us the latest catalogues or give us a deal on the Ab Master Pro). We knew where we were staying, our accommodation had been organised by a relative who had also generously offered to give us a lift there from the airport, but we didn’t have an exact address. Needless to say, this roundabout explanation was not enough. One frantic phone call later and we were on our way again - on with the holiday! And I had some serious rum fever.

Thick, black and aromatic molasses is the waste product of the sugar refining process, but its sugar content makes it a perfect candidate for fermentation, distillation and hey! Rum is made! This little Green Island boasts some of the best and fairest rums around and over the coming weeks it’s going to be my extreme pleasure to try. Of course this is not an easy task, every day I find a new shop with a dozen different rums to try, but I’ll do my best! That will probably mean a lot of posts containing rum-based plots, but I will get to the other stuff! Just as soon as I get my rum fever under control…