I’m going to indulge in a little self-indulgent navel-gazing here, so apologies in advance and turn away as needed.

A couple of weeks ago, on Saturday May 16th, 2015 at Tiki Caliente 7 in Palm Springs, I gave a talk on rum titled “Rum 103: An introduction to 3 elemental styles of rum and how use them.”. The intent was to give attendees an introduction to rum styles (saving the debate on said styles for another class) and how to deploy those various styles. I’ve previously given rum-related talks at the Rum Rhum Club at the Tonga Hut in North Hollywood and I was honored to be doing the first symposium, cocktail or otherwise, at a Tiki Caliente event.

We were lucky to have a historic space to hold the talk: the 51-year old Caliente Tropics hotel in Palm Springs, CA. However, the Tropics is not a convention hotel. Logistics aside, it meant finding an appropriate room for the talk. We ended up in the hotel’s bar that sits adjacent to the restaurant, separated by a sliding wood door. With the diamond-shaped wall decorations, the volcanic rock wall, and large wood bar, I think the space looked the part. And it felt comfortable to me to be in the bar.

Thanks to everyone who attended - I know some listeners to the show were there. Thanks to Mike, Syd, and Marie for being my supporters in the audience and insisting to me ahead of time that I’d be able to pull this off. Thank you to Rory Snyder, who puts on the Tiki Caliente event, for taking a chance on the symposium in the first place. Thank you to Tom and Sherri for the screen, managing the door, and shooting photos. And of course thank you to both my wife and my sister, the two that made sure the rum was poured, the places were set, and the attendees weren’t hungry or thirsty.

Let’s do more of these.

Here’s a few photos.