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Not too long ago, my old man took a trip down to South America. Guam or something, not sure. He brought me back a bottle of a specialty from there called Takama. It's a strong spirit with a bit of a Brandy-like taste to it, but it's clear and seems a bit stronger. Interesting stuff, but it's rather new to me (and that's saying something.)

Anyone heard of this? More importantly, anyone know what this can be taken with, or better yet, any tips on serving it?

I'm not the type to ask for info on message boards, but spending time with a search engine is not very feeasible at work.

Great stuff, kinda strong. If anyone happens to be in montreal, I'll gladly share.

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

Quote (Silverlance @ 12th February 2007 12:47)

Not too long ago, my old man took a trip down to South America. Guam or something, not sure. He brought me back a bottle of a specialty from there called Takama. It's a strong spirit with a bit of a Brandy-like taste to it, but it's clear and seems a bit stronger. Interesting stuff, but it's rather new to me (and that's saying something.)

Anyone heard of this? More importantly, anyone know what this can be taken with, or better yet, any tips on serving it?

I'm not the type to ask for info on message boards, but spending time with a search engine is not very feeasible at work.

Great stuff, kinda strong. If anyone happens to be in montreal, I'll gladly share.

Ummm... Guam's in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, not South America.

But regarding Takama, I've never heard of it, and Google and Wikipedia both overwhelmingly think that it's a Japanese first name. I do officially reach the legal drinking age in a few weeks, so I might try some if I ever find some.

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END SPOILER

Takama is a town in Guyana, a small country in South America.

The only info I could find on it was that it's in Upper Demerara-Berbice, a region near the center of the country.

Due to no big information found on the place, I'd say that this is a very small town, and you found a very exotic liquor.

Yeaaaaaah, Guyana! That's the place.

Apparently it's their national liquor, or something like that. Due to its similarities with Brandy, I think it'd go well enough as a substitute for the real thing in many brandy-based cocktails (sidecar, anyone?) though I haven't tried yet.

I found a small blurb about it in one of my books saying it's best served with ice in a small glass (not a rocks glass - too big - they seemed to be talking about shooters but no type was specified as such.)

Sadly the entry is only a few lines long and offers no information on it other than it being grape-based (which explains the brandy-like feel) and best served on the rocks with generous amounts of ice.

It certainly seems like it will bump my bottle of asinth down from its spot as rarest liquor on my shelves, at this rate. With the difference that this is legal and absinth is illegal in most countries, but eh.

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

You drink absinth?

Gratz on the aquisition of the rare brandy-esque beverage.

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Ugh, don't drink absinthe. That stuff isn't even alcohol, it's a hallucinogen. I tried some once diluted with ice and some water, and I never want to go back there. Ever.

But hm, Guyana... My grandmother lived there and also in Suriname temporarily (she's from Venezuela); I probably should've guessed that's where you were talking about.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Eh... I don't drink Absinth. Mainly because I only have one bottle and that stuff isn't easy to come by. Though I've had a bit - decent stuff. Great black licorice-like flavor (I don't know why people hate black licorice so much - it's a good flavor.)

Most of the rarer stuff on my shelves is there either to show off (hehe) or for the sake of collecting. I have, for instance, some kind of lime-flavored brandy. That stuff fell out of production and, frankly, tastes somewhat bad. But the bottle is nice and like I said, they don't make it anymore. So... it's a worthwhile acquisition (and no, I have no intentions of letting it gain in value and selling it - I'd make, what, a few thousand bucks? Not worth it, all things considered. I'd rather keep it in case I find someone who likes it so I can serve them some. Catering to someone's tastes in alcohol beats a few thousand buck, IMO.)

Back to Takama though, the brand is "Pisco de Ica" I think. I may have the spelling wrong. Rather plain bottle, kinda boring frankly, and all written in portuguese (or spanish? I don't know either so the differences are lost on me.) I don't think it's all that rare, but I don't think it can be bought around here either so that's kinda cool.

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

Silverlance, there's a great pub just off of Mont Royal named Billy Kun which serves both the Canadian, watered down absinthe which is legal here and is purchasable by the bottle, as well as serving the not-so-legal European version for a much steeper price. The last I checked, it wasn't entirely illegal, so long as the percentage of wormwood derivative stays at or below the legal level, which is a percentage I can't remember right now.

Either way, it's an enjoyable drink.

As for Takama, I've heard of the place but not of the liquor, though it doesn't strike me at all as odd that some place like that would have their own local drink. Generally, I think those sorts of things are better left served on their own in small portions, without added mixes or ice...but I can be pretty boring with my drinks. Still, that's quite an add to the collection.

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