Category Archives: Rum

Curaçao, French Vermouth, Ron No comments

Presidente Cocktail

Recently, I have been taking a look at the Presidente Cocktail and have been amazed by it and it has since become one of my new favourites. It appeared in the 1920s in Cuba and the following recipe was taken from page 14 of the “Manual de Cantinero, Habana 1924, Cuba”:

½ [part] Ron bacardi
Bacardi rum
½ [part] Chambery [vermouth]
Poquita granadina, o curacao mejor
A little grenadine or better curaçao

Sírvase en copa de cocktail, con cascara de naranja y una guinda.
Serve in a cocktail glass, with orange peel and a cherry.

As most people are aware the Barcardi rum from the 1920s has nothing to do with the rum of the same name today. Using a premium aged light Cuban style rum instead of Ron bacardi really makes this cocktail special. Being half rum to half dry vermouth, you could hint at calling it a Rum Martini and it does have similar qualities to that most famous cocktail. The vermouth plays off the a good premium light aged rum well and the curaçao plays off both the rum and vermouth extremely well.

Puerto Rican and U.S. Virgin Island rums, such as Cruzan® Single Barrel Rum, would be an alternative to Cuban rums, although the Mixelero has not yet tried the Presidente Cocktail with these rums (update to follow). Using such premium rums does make the cocktail quite pricey, but Mixelero believes that the results speak for themselves and you won’t regret it. To achieve a great cocktail use great ingredients.

The following recipe is Mixelero’s currently recommended expression of this classic cocktail. I have chosen to omit using grenadine, because the cocktail is simply perfect without it.

1 oz 30 ml Havana Club Seleccíon de Maestros, 45% ABV
1 oz 30 ml Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Blanc, 16% ABV
¼ oz 7.5 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec, 40% ABV
Orange peel

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and twist orange peel and drop into glass. Stir for at least 30 seconds to chill. Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora or small cocktail glass. Optionally garnish with a Luxardo maraschino cherry.

 

 

Lime Juice, Rum, Simple Syrup No comments

Bajan Rum Punch

One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak. Well that’s the general formula for rum punch and this applies on Barbados as well. For Bajun Rum Punch, which is ubiquitous on Barbados, you use Barbados rum, of course. In addition, fresh nutmeg is grated on the finished punch as garnish. Sometimes nutmeg is also mixed in with the drink.

2¼ oz 67.5 ml Barbados rum (strong), e.g.,
Mount Gay Eclipse, 43% ABV, or Old Brigand, 43% ABV
¾ oz 22.5 ml Fresh lime juice (sour)
1½ oz 45 ml Simple syrup (sweet)
3 oz 90 ml Still mineral water (weak)
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Nutmeg

Shake ingredients with ice and pour contents and ice unstrained into a Collins glass. Grate a little nutmeg onto the finished punch as garnish.

Cherry Heering, Lime Juice, Orange Juice, Pomegranate Juice, Rhum Agricole, Tiki No comments

Lalau Cocktail – A messed up Aloha Cocktail

I basically made this cocktail by mistake, when trying to decide between making a Donga Punch or an Aloha Cocktail. The former is a cocktail from Dick Santiago’s personal notebook used whilst working at Don The Beachcombers in Hollywood and the latter is by Hank Riddle, 1970, who worked as a bartender at Don The Beachcomber in Palm Springs. Basically, I unintentionally mixed the two recipes and added fresh pink grapefruit juice to the Aloha cocktail. In a second attempt, I replaced the light white rum with the Martinique rhum agricole blanc used in the Donga Punch recipe. So try it and see if you like it. I’ve called it the Lalau, which means error or mistake in Hawaiian, using the Negroni Sbagliato (messed up or mistaken Negroni) as example.

½ oz 15 ml Clément Rhum Agricole Blanc, 50% ABV
½ oz 15 ml El Dorado Superior Overproof Demerara Rum 151, 75.5% ABV
½ oz 15 ml Fresh lime juice
½ oz 15 ml Fresh grapefruit juice
½ oz 15 ml Fresh orange juice
½ oz 15 ml Fresh pomegranate juice
½ oz 15 ml Sugar syrup
¼ oz 7.5 ml Cherry Heering Liqueur, 24% ABV
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake the ingredients with ice cubes and then strain into a flute champagne glass.

Cocktails, Cointreau, Cranberry Juice, Rhum Agricole, Rum No comments

Cosmopolitan malgache

I have recently been reading Tristan Stephenson’s “The Curious Bartender: The Artistry and Alchemy of Creating the Perfect Cocktail” (ISBN 978-1-84975-437-8) and was intrigued by his discussion regarding the cosmopolitan. Unfortunately, I did not have any citrus vodka to actually try out the cocktail, but I had given my partner a bottle of Dzama Rhum Cuvèe Blanc, a rum from Madagascar, for her birthday in February and this rum certainly had a citrus note to it. So this gave me the idea to try a cosmopolitan by substituting the citrus vodka with the Dzama rhum. And yes, well, it was a revelation! Really, a  very delicious cocktail! Try it at your pleasure. The colour is also something to savour.

So here is my recipe. Try it if you can.

2 oz 6 cl Dzama Rhum Cuvée Blanche Prestige, 40% ABV
1 oz 3 cl Fresh lime juice
1 oz 3 cl Cointreau, 40% ABV
1 oz 3 cl Cranberry juice

Add the lime juice, rhum, and Cointreau to a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a Martini glass. Add a zest of orange as garnish. Enjoy.

Absinthe, Cinnamon Syrup, Falernum, Jamaican Rum, Lime Juice, Overproof, Pomegranate Juice, Ron, Tiki No comments

Revisiting Don the Beachcomber’s Original Zombie Again

Having watched Jamie Oliver create a Zombie on his Drinks Tube, in which he used fresh pomegranate juice with its beautiful deep red colour instead of grenadine, I thought I’d see what a difference it would make to Don the Beachcomber’s original Zombie recipe. So I bought some pomegranates and extracted the juice from one. Extracting the juice was a little tricky, but it was easier than I thought. I cut the pomegranate in half and used a simple run-of-the-mill orange juicer to press out and collect the juice. Be careful though, because the juice tends to squirt out from all directions, especially if the skin of the pomegranate breaks, which it tends to do. Finally, squeeze the remaining pieces of the pomegranate to extract the last remnants of juice. I was surprised that the yield from one pomegranate was roughly 200 ml (just over ¾ of a cup)!

The colour is astounding and really improves the general experience of the Zombie. Unfortunately, to enjoy the colour you have to do forgo the Tiki mug. But how much juice should be used? The original recipe calls for 5 ml grenadine, but grenadine is a syrup and much sweeter than the fresh juice. Jamie Oliver used 15 ml. So I initially started with 15 ml, but soon went to 22 ½ ml (¾ oz). To compensate for the loss of sweetness from the grenadine, I added 15 ml (½ oz) of simple syrup.

So to add an extra dimension to the Zombie, replace the grenadine with freshly pressed pomegranate juice and simple syrup. This is now the recipe that I use when making my Zombies.

1 ½ oz 45 ml** Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum, 40% ABV
1 ½ oz 45 ml** Ron Varadero Oro 5 Años, 40% ABV
or
Ron Palma Mulata de Cuba Añejo Reserva 5, 38% ABV
1 oz 30 ml Lemon Hart 151 Proof Demerara Rum, 75.5% ABV
½ oz 15 ml John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum Liqueur, 11% ABV
¾ oz 22 ½ ml Fresh lime juice
¾ oz 22 ½ ml Fresh pomegranate juice
½ oz 15 ml Simple syrup
6 drops / 1/8 tsp 0.5 ml Absinthe Libertine 55, 55% ABV
1 dash Angostura Bitters
2 tsp 10 ml Fresh grapefruit juice*
1 tsp 5 ml Cinnamon syrup*
6 oz /
¾ cup		 180 g Ice cubes

Place all ingredients but the overproof rum in a blender, adding the ice last, and blend at medium speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a Tiki mug or, to better experience the beautiful vibrant colour of the cocktail, a tall glass (at least 15 oz/450 ml). Add ice cubes to fill. Layer the overproof rum over the ice at the top of the drink. Garnish with a wedge of fresh pineapple sandwiched between 2 maraschino cherries. If available, additionally garnish with a half of a passionfruit, whose aroma will significantly add to the Zombie experience. Enjoy.

* Don’s Mix.
** The amount of rum can be reduced to 30 ml (1 oz) without a serious loss of enjoyment, if you wish to minimize the impact of the Zombie.

Absinthe, Angostura Bitters, Cinnamon Syrup, Falernum, Grenadine, Jamaican Rum, Lime Juice, Overproof, Ron, Tiki No comments

Revisiting Don the Beachcomber’s Original Zombie

In earlier post I describe my attempt to create Don the Beachcomber’s Original Zombie, but could not source the Lemon Hart 151 Proof Demerara Rum. In the meantime, I have managed to obtain a bottle. And yes, it makes a big difference compared to the El Dorado Superior Overproof Demerara Rum 151. Firstly, it has a much more characteristic rum aroma and taste. Secondly, its dark colour adds to the drink experience. So it is a must for the Zombie and have adjusted my recipe accordingly.

1 ½ oz 45 ml** Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum, 40% ABV
1 ½ oz 45 ml** Ron Palma Mulata de Cuba Añejo Reserva 5, 38% ABV
1 oz 30 ml Lemon Hart 151 Proof Demerara Rum, 75.5% ABV
½ oz 15 ml John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum Liqueur, 11% ABV
¾ oz 22 ½ ml Fresh lime juice
1 tsp 5 ml Grenadine
6 drops / 1/8 tsp 0.5 ml Absinthe Libertine 55, 55% ABV
1 dash Angostura Bitters
2 tsp 10 ml Fresh grapefruit juice*
1 tsp 5 ml Cinnamon syrup*
6 oz /
¾ cup		 180 g Ice cubes

Place all but the overproof rum in a blender, adding the ice last, and blend at medium speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a tall glass. Add ice cubes to fill. Layer the overproof rum over the ice at the top of the drink. Garnish with a wedge of fresh pineapple sandwiched between 2 maraschino cherries. Serve.

* Don’s Mix.
** The amount of rum can be reduced to 30 ml (1 oz) without a serious loss of enjoyment, if you wish to minimize the impact of the Zombie.

Lime Juice, Orgeat, Rich Syrup, Rum, Tiki, Triple Sec No comments

Black Cask Mai Tai

For Christmas 2015, I treated myself to a bottle of Plantation Black Cask 1651 Rum. I have been very impressed with the rums produced by Plantation, such as Plantation 3 Stars Rum and Plantation Barbados XO Rum 20th Anniversary and the ‘black cask’ labeling intrigued me, so I had to try out the rum. In my opinion this rum is a very well balanced rum. Plantation have done a great job again, so I can certainly recommend it and Black Cask will have to become a permanent fixture in my drinks cabineton my back bar. My initial reaction was that it tasted like a Jamaican rum, but looking closely at the label, this black cask rum was a blend of rums from Barbados, Bélize and Trinidad. Mmm. Maybe, there is strong pot still rum in there that is reminding me of Jamaican rum. Then I thought that this blend may be ideal for a Mai Tai. So I had to try. And yes, it does work, making a very delicious variation on the Mai Tai.

BTW: Plantation rums are produced by Maison Ferrand which also produce the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec used in this Mai Tai.

2 oz 60 ml Plantation Black Cask 1651 Rum, 40% ABV
½ oz 15 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec
¼ oz 7.5 ml Monin Sirop d’Orgeat (almond syrup)
1 oz 30 ml Fresh lime juice
¼ oz 7.5 ml Bar syrup

Shake together with crushed ice and pour contents including ice into a Tiki mug, garnish and serve.

Postscript (2016-03-13): Having compared the original Mai Tai recipe to my Black Cask Mai Tai, I think that the original recipe still has the edge. The Black Cask Mai Tai nevertheless is still a very delicious alternative!

Dale DeGroff Pimento Bitters, Jamaican Rum, Lime Juice, Orgeat, Rhum Agricole, Rich Syrup, Tiki, Triple Sec No comments

Mai Tai

My exploration of Tiki drinks continues with the Mai Tai.

My first attempt used the following recipe, which is based on Trader Vic’s original 1944 recipe, replacing the 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephews Jamaican rum with equal parts dark Jamaican rum and Martinique aged rum (Rhum Vieux Agricole) as recommended by Jeff ‘Beachbum’ Berry:

1 oz 30 ml Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Rum
1 oz 30 ml Clément Rhum Vieux Agricole VSOP
½ oz 15 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec
½ oz 15 ml Monin Sirop d’Orgeat (almond syrup)
1 oz 30 ml Fresh lime juice
1 tsp 5 ml Bar syrup

The Smith & Cross and the orgeat over-dominated. IMHO the Jamaican rum and orgeat needed toning down a little.

Reducing the orgeat to ¼ oz and replacing the rum with Myer’s Rum Original Dark produced a more balanced cocktail, resulting in the following formula:

1 oz 30 ml Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz 30 ml Clément Rhum Vieux Agricole VSOP
½ oz 15 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec
¼ oz 7.5 ml Monin Sirop d’Orgeat (almond syrup)
1 oz 30 ml Fresh lime juice
¼ oz 7.5 ml Bar syrup

Shake together with crushed ice and pour contents including ice into a Tiki mug, garnish and serve.

Having been making this recipe for a while, I have been experimenting to see if I could add a little more flare and finally settled on a dash of Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters, which in my opinion, improves the recipe and drinking experience without distracting from what the Mai Tai is all about or its colour. So, here is Mixelero’s recommended formula:

1 oz 30 ml Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz 30 ml Clément Rhum Vieux Agricole VSOP
½ oz 15 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec
¼ oz 7.5 ml Monin Sirop d’Orgeat (almond syrup)
1 oz 30 ml Fresh lime juice
¼ oz 7.5 ml Bar syrup
1 dash 1 dash Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Aromatic Bitters

Shake together with crushed ice and pour contents including ice into a Tiki mug or double Old Fashioned glass and garnish with a slice of pineapple sandwiched between 2 Luxardo Maraschino cherries.

Absinthe, Cinnamon Syrup, Falernum, Grenadine, Jamaican Rum, Lime Juice, Overproof, Ron, Tiki No comments

Don the Beachcomber’s Original Zombie

I attempted to create my first Zombie based as near as possible on the original recipe of Don the Beachcomer (Donn Beach born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt) from 1934 as figured out by Jeff Berry (Beachbum Berry). The recipe as quoted by the Beachbum:

1 ½ oz 45 ml Gold or dark Jamaican Rum
1 ½ oz 45 ml Gold Puerto Rican Rum
1 oz 30 ml 151-proof Lemon Hart Demerara Rum
½ oz 15 ml Falernum
¾ oz 22 ½ ml Fresh lime juice
1 tsp 5 ml Grenadine
6 drops / 1/8 tsp Pernod or absinthe
1 dash Angostura Bitters
½ oz 15 ml Don’s Mix
(2 parts grapefruit to 1 part cinnamon syrup)
6 oz /
¾ cup		 180 ml Crushed ice

Place in a blender, adding the ice last, and blend at high speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a tall glass. Add ice cubes to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Cinnamon syrup:

16 oz 454 g Sugar
8 oz 226 g Water
3 3 Cinnamon sticks

Combine the sugar with water in a saucepan and then whisk over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cinnamon sticks (coarsely crushed). Simmer for 5 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Let cool and strain into a bottle.

Unfortunately, I was not able to source Lemon Hart 151 Proof in Germany in February 2016 as it was out-of-stock at all the online suppliers that I frequent. Once it comes back in stock, I try a Zombie with it. Instead of the Lemon Hart, I used El Dorado Superior Overproof Demerara Rum 151. Not a dark rum like Lemon Hart, but at least a demerara rum. Would also be interesting to try using Wray & Nephews Overproof Jamaican Rum, which I have in my cabinet.

For the Jamaica rum I used Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum. Since I had no gold Puerto Rican rum, I used Ron Palma Mulata de Cuba Añejo Reserva 5, which I had in my drinks cabinet. For the Pernod or absinthe, I used Absinthe Libertine 55, which I also had to hand. The 6 drops were a bit difficult to measure, so after initially trying 1 ml absinthe, which made the Zombie taste too unbalanced in the favour of absinthe, I settled on 0.5 ml.

Since I have a Vitamix Professional Series 300 blender that simply turned the crushed ice to water at high speed after 5 seconds, I decided to change tactics and use ice cubs and settled on blending the drink at medium speed for 5 seconds. This resulted in a much more pleasing consistency of the drink.

So here is my take on the original Zombie. I must emphasize that it is really important is to use really fresh grapefruit juice. My initial attempts using a rather old grapefruit that was lying around the kitchen at the time were completely overshadowed when I bought and used a fresh pink grapefruit. Since many recipes call for white grapefruits, which I couldn’t source at short notice, I will have to see if using a white grapefruit will make a big difference in some future attempt.

1 ½ oz 45 ml Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum, 40% ABV**
1 ½ oz 45 ml Ron Palma Mulata de Cuba Añejo Reserva 5, 38% ABV**
1 oz 30 ml El Dorado Superior Overproof Demerara Rum 151, 75.5% ABV
½ oz 15 ml John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum Liqueur, 11% ABV
¾ oz 22 ½ ml Fresh lime juice
1 tsp 5 ml Grenadine
6 drops / 1/8 tsp 0.5 ml Absinthe Libertine 55, 55% ABV
1 dash Angostura Bitters
2 tsp 10 ml Fresh grapefruit juice*
1 tsp 5 ml Cinnamon syrup*
6 oz /
¾ cup		 180 g Ice cubes

Place all but the overproof demerara rum in a blender, adding the ice last, and blend at medium speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a tall glass. Add ice cubes to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig and/or a wedge of fresh pineapple sandwiched between 2 maraschino cherries. Layer the overproof demerara rum over the ice at the top of the drink. Serve.

* Don’s Mix.
** The amount of rum can be reduced to 30 ml (1 oz) without a serious loss of enjoyment, if you wish to minimize the impact of the Zombie.

Cachaça, Cocktails, Lime Juice, Rhum Agricole No comments

The Caipirinha and variations thereof

The Caipirinha was one of the first cocktails that I ever got serious with. I was first introduced to the Caipirinha during a visit to Brazil in 2005 (where else?). I have tried different ratios of lime juice and sugar to the cachaça and have finally settled on the following recipe. I generally reduce the sugar by a third for those who like their Caipirinhas a little less sugary. I prefer to have some sugar left undissolved in the glass which I can suck up through the straw. In many cases when you order Caipirinhas in bars, I find they often use less lime juice. I think a full lime brings out the best of the Caipirinha.

2 oz 60 ml Cachaça
1
(~ 1 oz)		 1
(~30 ml)		 Medium lime
1 ½ tsp 7.5 ml Cane sugar
Crushed Ice

This cocktail is built in the glass, preferably a Caipirinha glass (or double old fashioned glass would also suffice). Cut the lime into quarters, then cut each quarter into 3 roughly equally sized pieces and toss into the glass. Cover the lime pieces with the sugar and muddle the sugar into the lime. Do not over do the muddling, otherwise the lime juice may become slightly bitter. Fill the glass with crushed ice and then add the cachaça over the ice. Insert a cocktail spool, which is a spoon with a built-in straw. Serve with a smile.
As an alternative to using cachaça, I have also tried using rhum agricole from the French Caribbean islands (Guadeloupe and Martinique) with great effect. Maybe because rhum agricole is made from sugar cane juice rather then from molasses as other rum types are. Since this version of the Caipirinha uses rhum agricole from the Caribbean, I initially called it the Caipirinha Caribe, but later corrupting it to the Caribinha.

2 oz 60 ml Damoiseau Rhum Agricole Blanc 50%
or
Clément Rhum Agricole Blanc 50%
1
(~ 1 oz)		 1
(~30 ml)		 Medium lime
1 ½ tsp 7.5 ml Cane sugar
Crushed Ice

Made exactly the same way as the traditional Caipirinha described above, replacing the cachaça with rhum agricole. I found using a rhum agricole with 50% ABV* produces the best results.
*ABV – Alcohol By Volume

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