There is apparently a huge debate going on in the Falernum world, not unlike what you might find on a speaker forum about "speakers with a flat frequency response" vs "speakers with a frequency response which matches the somewhat un-flat behaviour of the monitors used for the original recording and mix).

There are two commonly available brands of Falernum available : J D Taylor's Velvet Falernum (a light, rum-based liqueur) and Fees Brothers Falernum (a thick, sweet syrup). Where it gets interesting is that Velvet Falernum (VF) is generally accepted to be much more true to "the original", while Fees Bros Falernum (FBF) is felt to be more like the brand (Sazerac) that was common when most of the drink recipes were being created.

Falernum is sufficiently difficult to find outside of the islands that most discussion was moot, but (a) a number of folks are starting to blend their own, and (b) availability seems to have improved recently. I found both brands available in Austin TX last week.

So, John.....
Is your obsession with this stuff the reason we don't see much of you anymore?

Actually no. Haven't even had a chance to taste it yet.

Went off deer hunting a couple of weeks ago, all came down with bad salmonella poisoning from an undercooked ham. Couldn't get consensus to go home so lay rotting in a tent for most of a week tossing & turning on canvas cots, punctuated by frequent sprints to the latrine (or as far as we could make it anyways). After 5 days we finally got consensus to head home.

Tossing & turning on abrasive canvas cots led to big raw sores on back & shoulders, which promptly got badly infected with infection spreading under the skin and creating new really painful rash (like a very bad sunburn; much worse than the original scrapes & resultant scabbing). Had to travel down to Austin last week so no time to really diagnose properly. Got back to doctor on Monday, now on high doses of antibiotics and things seem to be improving, at least fever is going down and starting to be able to think clearly. Yesterday I got the first real sleep in almost 3 weeks. Anyways, that's why you haven't seen much of me.

Falernum came up because I was supposed to go up north to a friends birthday party last weekend and was volunteered as the official tiki drink mixer. Wasn't hard to find most of the recipes and ingredients but this one (Falernum) totally stumped me. Apparently not available in Canada at all. I thought I would see if anyone else had heard of this stuff...

Must have sucked weaving your way through the leavings of the others on your way to the latrine.

Mmm, great mental imagery, just in time for lunch.

Holy crap...ummm....Gee Whillickers!

That's a horrible story. I feel bad that I commented on the Falernu, stuff....

I feel like a tool now. I'm in a training class this week so I don't have much time to read posts. I didn't even catch the last part of John's post. Sorry to hear about your ordeal. Glad you're on the mend, though.

Man, that's a horrible story... nothing worse than getting sick and not being at home. Glad you're feeling better.

Getting home involved a 25km 4x4 run down a rocky trail to get back to the (dirt) road (followed by a 4 hour drive from there), and nobody felt like they would survive that part of the trip.

The absolute worst part was having to go back up last weekend to get the rest of our gear. I had to beg out at the last minute so Rob and Mark went up.

We left the "ham of death" up there and were surprised to find it completely untouched after almost two weeks. Animals must be smarter than us.

Wow, that last comment is interesting about the animals leaving it alone.

Jason