Tampa Bound
Tuesday morning we were Tampa-bound, hurtling down the highway part Mickey Mouse-shaped electric standards and billboards declaring mattress stores to be greedy. I burned a Warped Flor de Valle Sky Flower…and I have to say I’m officially over the “Warped” thing at this point. So many people have spoken so highly of this cigar and I just found it to be a complete disappointment. Not a horrible cigar, but nothing special. Sorry, fanboys…
Ybor City
We made our first stop at Tampa Sweethearts, the home of Arturo Fuente Cigars in Ybor City. We purchased a few things and made our way into the heart of Ybor, including a couple of hand-roll shops, some Cuban coffee, and a beer at Tampa Bay Brewing Company. I got a pic of the world-famous Ybor City 7-Eleven and picked up some coffee beans at King Corona Cigars. Sadly, they were more disappointment…I was told the Ybor blend was what they make their espresso from, but the beans are a mid-level city roast at best. Good, but not nearly as rich as I had expected.
We headed to the Davidoff of Geneva store, owned by the same person who owns Corona Cigar Company in Orlando. The selection was excellent and included the new Discovery Culebra, a twisted trio of cigars including a Nicaragua, an Escurio, and a Yamasa. I bought the pack and the three of us split it…fantastic.
We followed up that with a late lunch, searching for another amazing Cuban sandwich. La Teresita was highly rated and seemed like an “authentic local” place…but who puts lettuce and tomato on a Cuban sandwich? After I took them off, the flavor was pretty decent, but paled next to Zaza’s from the day before. The plantain chips were pretty great, though.
Dip My Feet
I grew up near the Pacific Ocean and swam many times at Huntington Beach when I was a kid. But I had never been at the Gulf of Mexico. While we were so near, I said I wanted to get my feet wet (no bathing suit in the car at that point), so we headed to St. Pete Beach on the other side of Tampa Bay.
The day was gray and windy, the sand was fine as powder, the water was warm. It really was something beautiful and different. And it was very difficult to smoke a cigar because it was so very windy.
Back to Tampa and a stop in to Cigar City Brewing where I got another flight…Jai Alai is one of their most popular beers and it was decent. “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Humidor” was as odd as it’s name, but something I’d do again. Snicker Doodle was not as good as it sounded. Margarita Gose was much better than I had expected and definitely something I’d drink a whole pint of.
Night Cap
We got back to Orlando after dark and went back to the main Corona Cigar shop. I burned a Cromagnon Anthropology with some Flor de Caña 12 year. Last cigar in Orlando was probably as good as the first one.
Each night when we got back to the room, KJ would produce a bomber bottle of beer that he split three ways so we could all have some. The first two nights he came up with some very sour beers that I just didn’t care for that much. The final night, he brought out Frucht: Boysenberry by Bruery Terreux. I’d never heard of them, but he said they were from SoCal.
Turns out they are less than a mile from one of my old work places and very near when I hang out when I’m in SoCal every year. The boysenberry beer wasn’t nearly as sour as some of the other things KJ had brought…it was actually very good and I wanted more. I’ll definitely be visiting Terreux this fall when I’m out there.
Back To Life
When it was time to get back to reality, we set out early and barreled our way through thunderstorms in north Florida, listening to classic hip-hop…laid back…
Of course, it was over too soon…aren’t vacations always? After getting back we heard back from Jeff, the owner of Corona. He was sorry he missed us and was going to take us on a tour of his tobacco farm…so I guess we’ll have to plan to go back sometime.
