September 9, 2016
Sometimes, writing about drinks takes its toll (well, not really, but it’s giving me a convenient out, and also reducing the grumbling about how awesome writing about drinks is). Recently, for example, I somehow forgot that I’d already had Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva rum, before a bottle showed in the mail. See, my memory is failing! And I even wrote about it here on Spiked Punch. But seriously, the very distinctive bottle reminded that of course I’ve had it – it was, for gosh sakes, probably my favorite rum in a long time.
It’s a molasses-based rum distilled in copper pot stills and aged for 12 years, and boasting an array of awards. If you haven’t had it, get it (if you’re in Venezuela, where it’s from, should be a snap – though it’s widely available, so no-one should have any problems). You’ll catch the complexity from the first smell, with caramel, nuts, orange peel, vanilla, nutmeg, and allspice all hanging together, and the taste, where they all come back together with a little more spice forwardness and just a hint of sweetness. Tasty.
Tasty enough that if you’re not going to have it by itself, you should have it in a cocktail that really lets the rum shine. I went back to one of my old favorite books, Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion, to re-discover a cocktail that has both a great name, and which lets rum take center stage: My Heart Stood Still. If you want to quibble (which is sorta sad for you), this is a rum Manhattan with a little heavier pour of vermouth, or perhaps some other things, none of which are named as lovely as the current name. And the drink itself is so lovely, too. The Diplomatico brings so much, but the vermouth here – Martini Gran Lusso Italian vermouth, the 150th anniversary edition – also delivers a nice layered flavor to our heart-y party. Try it. Love it. Thank me later.
My Heart Stood Still
Cracked ice
2 ounces Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva rum
1 ounce Martini Gran Lusso Italian vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Savor and sip. Sip and savor.
Tags: Angostura bitters, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion, Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva rum, Friday Night Cocktail, Martini Gran Lusso Italian vermouth, My Heart Stood Still, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: bitters, Cocktail Recipes, Recipes, Rum, vermouth, What I'm Drinking
August 5, 2016
It’s August, which means even way up here in Seattle we have some warmer weather happening (and in some spots, I know it’s even moreso), which also then means that refreshing drinks are on the menu (though, admittedly, sometimes I like to play devil’s advocate and have what seems like not-as-refreshing-drinks when it’s hot. Today is not that day!). Luckily, I recently received some Hard Frescos (yeah, I’m lucky), which are very refreshing numbers, and lend themselves to refreshing drinks.
Brewed right in Washington State (in Stevenson), and based out of a love of Mexican fresh-pressed juices, if you don’t know them, Hard Frescos are a malt beverage, but one made with real fruits and botanicals, cane sugar, and yeast. Like a fruit beer, though they also use Mexican Fruit Cider as a name, which to me works a little better, because it points to their very unique nature – fruity, flavorful, but also with a slight underlying beer-y/cider-y-ness, with an end result that’s really different, in a good way.
There are four versions currently available: Tangy Tamarindo, Citrico, Juicy Jamaica, and Cola Buena. In this summer drink, I used the latter to delicious (if I can say that and sound humble) results. I don’t drink much, if any, cola-of-the-soda sort, so playing around with Cola Buena, which use Kola Seed, and has a bit of that cola taste, but a bit more bitter and fullness was good stuff. And as you might expect, goes well with rum! As it does here, but I’ve also added another local ingredient, broVo’s Lucky Falernum, which is higher-proof than most falernums, and which has a swell subtle spice and citrus taste. You could sub in another falernum, but it wouldn’t be nearly as good. And who wants that?
Wide Horizons
Ice cubes
2 ounces dark rum
1 ounce Lucky Falernum
4 ounces Cola Buena Hard Fresco
Lime wedge, for garnish
1: Fill a cocktail shaker just under half way with ice cubes. Add the rum and falernum. Stir well.
2. Pour everything into a highball or comparable glass (a green goblet works nice, if you have one). Top with the Cola Buena. Stir carefully.
3. Top with the lime wedge.
Tags: cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Cola Buena Hard Fresco, dark rum, Friday Night Cocktail, Hard Fresco, Lucky Falernum, summer cocktail, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Liqueurs, Recipes, Rum, What I'm Drinking
April 1, 2016
I’m pretty blessed to live in a state full of swell distilleries: big-ish ones, little-ish ones, medium-ish ones. And so many of them are doing their own, interesting bottled thing – it’s awesome! And during the course of one recent evening, I wanted to celebrate this particular WA-blessing by making myself a drink using all local booze. It wasn’t hard really (due to the many choices intimated at above), outside of narrowing it down – cause I like so many of them! Another night, it’d be completely different. This particular evening I was feeling rummy, though, and went with Skip Rock’s Belle Rose rum, the light-ish rum version, which was aged in white wine barrels, and has a nice vanilla-oaky-ness. I introduced it (hopefully not for the first time in history) to broVo spirits’ wonderful new-ish Lucky Falernum liqueur (especially good today). A lot of falernums available are a little cloying to me, but Lucky is higher-proof and more mighty than cloying, without losing its underlying ginger, lime, pineapple, star anise profile. Those two locals together is a good start, but I wanted a wild card, something to bring one more zing – I went with Salish Sea’s Hibiscus liqueur, made from Egyptian red hibiscus flowers, and carrying a lovely tangy tartness. Together, they made for a wonderful Washington evening indeed. No fooling!
The Course of the Evening
The Course of the Evening
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces Skip Rock Belle Rose light rum
1 ounce broVo spirits Lucky Falernum
1/2 ounce Salish Sea Hibiscus liqueur
Orange wedge, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the trio of Washington-state delights. Stir well (I really wanted to say “just right” there).
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze the wedge over the glass, then drop it in.
Tags: broVo spirits Lucky Falernum, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Falernum, Friday Night Cocktail, Rum, Salish Sea Hibiscus liqueur, Skip Rock Belle Rose light rum, The Course of the Evening, Washington distillery, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Liqueurs, Recipes, Rum, What I'm Drinking
March 4, 2016
Created at some point in the 1940s (as the story goes) by Pat O’Brien (whose bar when first opened during Prohibition had the code phrase “storm’s brewin’” if you wanted in) to get rid of the cheaper rum his distributors forced him to buy in order to get the more desirable whiskey and Scotch, by mixing said rum with fruit juice and such and then giving it all away to sailors, the Hurricane is now thought of as a drink for drunken-and-wanna-be-drunker collegians. It’s usually made with a pre-mix-y thing that would make Pat turn over in his grave, and usually has all the taste of off-brand Kool-Aid. Hopefully whoever gets the $$ from this travesty is happy. But! And however! Even if he was originally making it as a give-a-way, a Hurricane made more closely to the original idea, and with homemade ingredients (at least the grenadine), and decent rum (which is plentiful), is actually darn good, refreshing, fruity, and a treat. A treat! So, don’t believe the hype. Believe the Hurricane. Oh, the below recipe can easily be doubled, as the below is a lighter wind than my usual recipe, which is only for sailors. For gosh sakes though, if drinking that doubled version, don’t go sailing or driving, and do use a fancy Hurricane-style glass.
The Hurricane, recipe from Good Spirits
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces white rum
1/2 ounce dark rum
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 ounce homemade grenadine
1/2 ounce passion fruit syrup
1/2 ounces pineapple juice
Orange slice for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the rums, lime juice, grenadine, passion fruit syrup, and pineapple. Shake really well.
2. Fill an old fashioned or comparable glass halfway with ice cubes. Strain the mix through a fine strainer into the glass.
3. Garnish with an orange slice.
A Note: Passion fruit syrup can be hard to find – check Asian grocery stores and online. But if you absolutely can’t track it down, substitute 1 ounce simple syrup. Not quite the same, but not quite awful, either.
January 29, 2016
It’s hard being the conquered. Stinks, even. Whether you’re Gaius Flaminius at the battle of Lago Trasimeno, or at the less-happy end after a re-org in a big company, or destroyed by a hated rival during the NFL playoffs on national TV, being in that position doesn’t tend to lead to happy days. However! The nights at least can be better when you drink the below, instead of feeling the literal whips. Maybe not much better, but a little better.
The Whip of the Conqueror, from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz
Ice cubes
1 -1/2 ounces dark rum
1 ounce Fernet Branca
1/2 ounce apricot liqueur
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
Lime twist, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the rum, Fernet Branca, apricot liqueur, and lime juice. Shake while longing to be the conqueror.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with the twist.
Tags: apricot liqueur, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, dark rum, Fernet Branca, Friday Night Cocktail, lime juice, The Whip of the Conqueror, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz, Liqueurs, Recipes, Rum, What I'm Drinking
November 6, 2015
I’m not sure why this sort-of Manhattan-on-a-island cousin (which I first saw in Here’s How: A Round-the-World Bar Guide, Signet, 1957–not the Here’s How cocktail book with wooden covers) isn’t better known. Made with the right rum and right vermouth, it’s a should-be classic. And delicious.
In my case recently (and in what should be your case, if you can make it happen), the right rum was the memorable Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva rum. Holy cow, this is a rum! From Venezuela, distilled from molasses in a copper pot still, and aged for 12 years, really, it’s a sipper in most cases. However! If you are bold, and let it shine as the main player in a cocktail like this (not overwhelmed by too many ingredient), well, feel darn special cause that’ll be a great cocktail (speaking of special, this rum arrived to me via the mail. Don’t be mad). It’s won like 20 awards, and has a serious aroma: caramels, nutmeg, nuts, allspice, hints of orange, vanilla, and more. And all of those aromas come out smooth into the slightly sweet, but nowhere near sickly, taste, with even more spices. Yummy.
Picking the sweet vermouth for the below recipe was tough, due to wanting to really find something that went with that fantastic rum. I decided on La Quintinye Vermouth Royal rouge, made with 28 spices, plants, and magical items (like all vermouths), on a base of white wines, interestingly enough, and Pineau des Charentes Rouge, and it was an ideal decision. The vermouth’s flavor also has some vanilla notes, and fruit and spice, which is why it mingles so well with the rum. Try it – you can thank me later.
The Sir Henry Morgan, recipe from Dark Spirits
Cracked ice
2 ounces Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva rum
1 ounce picked La Quintinye Vermouth Royal rouge
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with cracked ice. Add the rum, vermouth, and bitters, and stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Get your thanks ready.
Tags: Angostura bitters, bitters, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Dark Spirits, Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva rum, Friday Night Cocktail, La Quintinye Vermouth Royal rouge, Rum, The Sir Henry Morgan, vermouth, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: bitters, Cocktail Recipes, Recipes, Rum, vermouth, What I'm Drinking
September 22, 2015
I know, it’s September. That doesn’t mean it’s cold yet. But, but, but, I can feel the cold in the mornings when I walk the best dogs in the world around one of the best blocks in the world, feel that cold behind my ears, people! Which means I want to warm up a bit, and one of the good ways is with some rums from Washington State! Don’t believe me? Read this rummy piece I wrote for the sweet Seattle magazine, called 6 Washington Rums that Bring the Beach to You. Really, you should drink some rum while reading. Though you haven’t read it yet, so you may not know which rums to drink? Hmm, this is a conundrum. I may have to have more rum to think it over.
August 14, 2015
This is a very Washington state drink (cause I love my local producers – you should love ‘em, too, and your local producers, no matter what your locale). It uses three Washington-state boozes, at least in its original form. However! If you’re not in Washington state (first, sorry – come visit!), you could conceivably make this subbing in non-WA rum, and sweet vermouth, instead of the Skip Rock Belle Rose rum and broVo Jammy vermouth. It’s a little trickier with the Sidetrack Blackberry liqueur. But I think subbing in Chambord (made from French black raspberries and more widely available at this moment) would still make a dandy drink. But heck, really, come on out here and do some shopping at our local distilleries. I mean, why not?
The Orchard Sea
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces Skip Rock Distillery Belle Rose rum
1 ounce Sidetrack Blackberry liqueur
1/2 ounce broVo Spirits Jammy red vermouth
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with ice cubes. Add the rum, blackberry liqueur, vermouth, and lime juice. Shake well.
2. Strain through a fine strainer into a cocktail glass.
Tags: broVo Spirits Jammy Red Vermouth, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, Rum, Sidetrack Blackberry liqueur, Skip Rock Distillery Belle Rose Rum, The Orchard Sea, Washington distillery, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Liqueurs, Recipes, Rum, vermouth, What I'm Drinking
