Rolf Devinci

I know I usually focus upon middle shelf rums that make decent working class sippers but circumstances of late have given me the opportunity to try some rums above my weight class. Thanks to the Bills and Browns I managed to win the football pool this past week so figured a specialty/top shelf rum was in my future. While browsing the NSLC specialty rum table it just happened that the product specialist was doing some stock rotation and asked if I had tried the Bumbu. I had not so I was told to stay put while a sample was retrieved from the office. The nose radiating from the plastic sampling cup was sweet.....something familiar but tantalizing elusive. "Caramelized banana" was the response to my hesitancy and was the a-ha moment. Take a ripe banana and saute with a generous scoop of real butter. Add a little bit of cinnamon and you have Bumbu. It was familiar as the tasting notes remind me of a sweeter version of Plantation's Original Dark, itself a blend of ...

A few years ago I had purchased a medieval chaperon hood with an extended liripipe. Made from 100% wool it was well constructed but didn't quite fit me comfortably or the way I would have preferred it to wear. What is a Liripipe? A Liripipe was an early Middle Ages chaperon hood and cloak combination that included a long tail off the back of the hood. The length of the tail varied and there is some debate as to the purpose; simply a fashion statement or, as I am inclined to believe, a built in scarf depending upon the length of material. Seems logical and when the cloak across the upper torso needs to be snugged tighter in cold or wet conditions using the tail to wrap around one's neck is effective at keeping out the weather. Any period show or movie worth it's salt usually has characters in some type of hood and is usually one of the few things they get right in terms of historical accuracy. One of the benefits of being between jobs is having time on my ha...

Finally got around to purchasing an archer specific helmet to add to my medieval kit. I prefer the bascinet which better fits the historical time frame of my gear but opted to purchase the celesta simply due to availability and price. Known as the archer's helmet it was a simpler variant of the sallet that was preva!ent in the15th century and used through out Europe. Archer's were typically the poor cousins of the medieval battlefield in terms of pay and armor but their lot had improved by the 1400's. By the 15th century veteran archers and crossbowmen often had basic armor usually a mix of gambesons, mailes, coats of plate, jacks, brigadines, helmets and some plate. It could be a mixed bag of protection either inherited, scrounged from the battlefield, purchased or granted by the Lord's armouries. It was always a matter of balance between protection and mobility. Archers and crossbowmen were expected to join in melees during a battle but also needed to be ...