Posts Tagged ‘rum’
Mojito
It’s been a while since I’ve mixed something up in the monthly cocktail party that is Mixology Monday and I’m well and truly past the deadline. But I’m hoping that Kevin over at Beers In The Shower (one of my all time favourite pastimes along with shower pow-wows) will accept the submission.
The concept of the “Money Drink” is one I’m so familiar with, a friend comes over, sees your bar and asks you to whip them up a tastey cocktail. They aren’t sure what they like, and you want to blow their socks right out of the water. Where do you turn? There’s a few decisions you have to make, do they want something hard or something smooth? Sweet or perhaps dry? The answers all of course depend on your punter. Old Fashioned, Manhattan or a Negroni are my favourites, the beauties that I turn to when I want to impress myself. But when I want to impress someone else, the best place to start is with a Mojito.
Recipe
- 45ml rum. I think any lighter, unnaged rum is good. Traditionally of course it is Cuban, illegal in the US. Here in Australia we don’t have a problem with that so Havana Club is a cheap option, but Matusalem Platino is amazing.
- 30-45ml lime juice. This depends on how tangy the lime is. I usually use around 1 1/2 limes.
- 1 barspoon brown sugar. This is supposed to be cane sugar but I use brown sugar. Palm sugar is a good option also, it gives the drink a slightly cleaner taste.
- Mint. Go out to the garden and grab a handful of mint, leave the stalks on there is a heap of flavour hiding in there.
Method
Put the lime juice (and the shells if you like), sugar and mint in an old fashioned glass and gently muddle it. Add the rum, and then top the glass up to the top with crushed ice. Add a splash of soda water (or not.) Clap a sprig of mint nice and hard and garnish.
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Now, I’m not much of a vodka drinker. I don’t hate it, like many of the people involved in this internet cocktail malarky. Though, the last time I bought a bottle of vodka, it was a bottle of 42 Below Feijoa and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t opened. Sad really, Feijoa and Apple juice is a great summer drink and I’m quite fond of that bizarre flavour. But I digress.
Today is Mixology Monday and the theme is “Vodka”. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about vodka is russians. Not the kind that invented it, but the kinda that the dude drinks. White Russian. Caucasians. It just so happens that I’ve already posted about the White Russian (one of the first posts on this blog) so that ruled that out. Pity I’d already bought a bottle of the necessary coffee liqueur, hired the Big Lebowsky and settled in on the couch.
S
o I set about making some improvements on one of my favourite drinks. The sad thing was, that any improvements I thought of, and call me uncreative, involved taking the vodka out of the drink (I swear I don’t have anything against vodka.) I certainly hope I don’t offend Amelia by taking the vodka out of the cocktail.
Gin would be the first thing to try, but we are out. Sadly, there is actually 5 empty bottles of gin in the bar. 5 bottles, 5 brands and I’m sure I only bought a new one a few days ago. Who knows what happened there.
Finally, rum was it.
- 30ml of Mount Gay XO.
- 30 ml of Kahlua
- 60ml of Milk.
Shake (cause we want the foam on top) and serve in a dodgy tumbler as though you are really poor imitation of the Dude. Grate some chocolate over the top.
You should follow me on Twitter.Gingerino: Mixology Monday – Ginger Cocktails
I have a particular affinity to ginger. Whether it is in a drink or food, the not-quite-bitter flavour makes me salivate at the very thought of it. I have even been to the world’s biggest ginger factory. My favourite combination with ginger however is rum. Ginger beer, ginger syrup, or even just a finger of ginger floating in my Matuselum is fine. Fitting I suppose that Rumdood is this month’s Mixology Monday host.
Now, I have already made a ginger based drink for Mixology Monday so, the old faithful dark and stormy was off the cards. I have also been tempted by the combination of dry vermouth and rum in the past and thought this was a perfect opportunity. I’m also a big fan of ginger and coriander together so wanted to combine these in a drink. So without further rambling I present the Gingerino, inspired by the El Presidente and the Dark and Stormy.
45ml rum of your choice. I’ve used Mount Gay.- 15ml dry vermouth
- 15ml simple syrup
- 3 slices of ginger
- 5ml Campari
Muddle the ginger with the syrup and then shake the remaining ingredients with plenty of ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with star of ginger and coriander leaf. Be sure to clap the coriander before serving to release the unique scent.
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Hosted this month at the wild drink blog, the theme for Mixology Monday is “Superior Twists.” Browsing the host blog would give anyone enough ideas for this to contribute 4 or 5 posts each, but who has the time or inclination for that?
My drink this month is a classic twist on a classic drink with a twist. The Rum Manhattan is possibly the most common modification of any cocktail that it probably should have a name of its own. As far as the rum goes I prefer Mount Gay Extra Old (the TDN Drink de Jour.) The robust oaky flavours stand up really well against the power of bitters and the complexity of sweet vermouth.
The twist on the twist was inspired by the previous article on the wild drink blog on how to make caviar. Using a small amount of the huge amount of Maraschino cherry juice we had at work I made some caviar to replace the cherry garnish. This worked a treat and although the caviar tastes a little bit like plastic, it is actually really similar to a cherry.
I also like to shake my Manhattans, I think the process adds a little bit of water to the mix which opens up the rum a little bit more letting the flavours speak for themselves.
Recipe
- 45ml Mount Gay Extra Old
- 25ml Sweet Vermouth
- 3 dashes Angostura Bitters
- 1 bar spoon Maraschino liquer
Shake (to Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again) and garnish with Maraschino caviar and a twist of lemon.
You should follow me on Twitter.Not quite a dark and stormy – Made from Scratch
The theme for MxMo this month is Made from Scratch having never really delved into the homemade ingredients side of things before I wanted to start with something basic. I recalled seeing a post from Stevi at Two At The Most for a recipe of ginger syrup, so I got to work. I actually wanted the syrup to be a little bit more gingerbread-like so I also added a bit of ground cinnamon. That’s what you can see floating in the drink in the photo.
Now it seems like quite an easy thing to make, but I managed to forget it was on the stove and let it reduce down to a very thick treacle like substance. Adding some more water brought the consistency back but the flavour was a little bit more bitter than it probably should have been.
I then decided on some sort of rum based cocktail. I’m not entirely sure what to call it but here is the recipe
- 3/4 oz Mt Gay rum
- 3/4 oz Bombay Sapphire
- Half a lime of lime juice
- 3/4 oz homemade ginger syrup
Shake and strain over ice. Top up with soda.
Entertainingly enough the syrup wasn’t the only thing homemade used while making this, I dropped (and broke) the only boston in the house so I had to use a coffee mug as the other side of the shaker.
You should follow me on Twitter.On Mexican Food and Hangovers – an Interview with RumDood
As the first of hopefully a series of boozing and cooking related interviews Matthew Robold from RumDood.com agreed to answer some quick questions about drinking, cooking and hangovers. I’ve run into the problem here that I could keep asking more and more questions, so I might leave them for another time.
Over here at My Aching Head we love nothing more than a home cooked dinner and a bottle (or two) of wine. What’s your dinner of choice?
I’m a big fan of Asian cuisine. I cook in my wok a great deal, although lately I’ve been in a big ahi tuna phase and have been making seared ahi steaks, sushi, sashimi, and ahi salads quite a bit. I’ve been experimenting with using different rums as ingredients in marinades for the fish when I sear it. So far I’d say a good demerara rum like Lemonhart or El Dorado seems to work the best at matching with the fish. Something about the smoky richness of the demerara rums just makes it so tasty…although I’ve also enjoyed using Mount Gay Extra Old for the same purpose…and sometimes I skip the marinade and just have a dram with my fish.
I’m interested in Rum, but surely that isn’t the only thing you drink, so what else is in the liquor cabinet?
Well I don’t keep the rum in the liquor cabinet…it won’t fit. My main fallback when I’m not drinking rum is gin. I’m a big fan of Tanqueray and Plymouth gins, and a simple gin and tonic is just so refreshing. I’ve also taken to drinking whiskey more often, and have probably 2 of every style but Scotch. I keep a single bottle of vodka around for guests, but can’t remember the last time I opened it. Then, of course, there are the numerous liqueurs, vermouths, tinctures, bitters, etc.
I’m also a big fan of port and pretty much always have a bottle of ruby and 20 year old Tawney at hand, in addition to a few bottles of wine, and a refrigerator door full of beer.
I love a gin and tonic as well. The problem I have is I always suck them back way too fast but I’m always curious what other G&T drinkers have as their garnish. Personally I’m a lime man, but lemon is good and more recently people have been sneaking cucumber into them. Where do you stand?
I’ve never gone wrong with lime. I mean, it’s such a perfect garnish…you can garnish just about any drink with a lime and it works. If I don’t use a lime, I’ll usually opt for a lemon twist. I can’t say I’ve ever had a cucumber garnish in a G&T. I’ve had a G&T garnished with an orange wheel before, which was interesting. I think the most unusual garnish I’ve ever seen in a G&T was probably a sprig of mint.
And what do you drink when you are looking to get boozed up?
Rum is still my first choice when looking to tie one one. Granted, I don’t generally go for the rarer stuff for that purpose. I’d say my go-to rums for a good bender are Sailor Jerry’s Spiced rum or Appleton Estate V/X. They’re both very inexpensive and easily replaced. The Sailor Jerry is good for a rum and coke or mixed with juice…the Appleton Estate is good in anything.
If I really want to hurt the next day, I’ll even through in some J. Wray and Nephew overproof or the Lemonhart 151.
Gah! You actually think about causing yourself pain? I generally let the barman sort that out for me. Do you have a favourite haunt for a few quiet (or loud) drinks?
I don’t necessarily think to myself, “Self, let’s put a hurtin’ on for tomorrow!”, but I’m usually cognizant of when I’m headed down the path to alcoimmolation, and sometimes I really just don’t care because I want the drinks – and zombies are just freaking good.
As for a favorite watering hole, it depends on who I’m with. My brother and I tend to spend a lot of time in various bars all over Downtown Fullerton – usually in Bourbon Street, Mulberry Street…any bar named after a street apparently. I also have a buddy that loves dive bars, so if I’m out with him the odds are very high that I’ll end up at the Goat Hill Tavern in Costa Mesa. Of those bars, only Bourbon Street really has any decent rum in its selection – but when you’re a rum snob, you learn that unless you can get to places like Tiki Ti in LA or Forbidden Island in Alameda really easily, you’re going to have limited options.
And as far as waking up with a hangover, how do you sort that out? Are you a hair of the dog man or a coffee man?
When hungover, I generally maintain a strict regimin of coffee, gatorade, ibuprofin, antacids, and either pizza or Mexican food. Something about the grease in a taco stand’s offerings or a big slice of meaty pizza just seems to make the world right again. A burger and fries, animal style, from In’n’Out will also work in a pinch.
I will confess that the “hair of the dog” approach served me well in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail this year – though it’s not my typical approach.
I personally am a “hair of the dog” man and if I asked you to whip me up a quick rum-based cocktail that wouldn’t be too harsh on the stomach or the head. What would you give me?
That’s easy. If I’m going “hair of the dog” with rum, I usually mix up a Dark and Stormy (dark rum and ginger beer), with a few dashes of bitters. The combination of the effervescence, ginger, bitters, and the blackstrap rum all just work wonders on an unsettled stomach and headache-addled brain.
Ah, I love a Dark and Stormy, maybe with a splash of lime.
Personally, I love heading down to my local coffee shop, ordering a bacon and egg surprise. What about you?
Are we still talking about hangovers? If I’m hungover and by myself I usually opt for pizza delivery simply because it means I get to stay in the house with the shades drawn and wait for food to come to me. Either that or I’ll call a friend and ask them to save me with a carnitas burrito. Carnitas, beans, rice, cheese, salsa, and guacamole really hits the spot when I’m trying to get my feet back underneath me.
Havana Club Anejo Reserva Review
After spending a few minutes on Tuesday at the Mixoloseum’s rum chat and hearing Rum Dude’s talk on sipping rums, I’ve decided to take it upon myself to try and drink some more rum (and other spirits) straight, rather than with mixers. I spent a bit of time this summer working my way through the range of rum’s at the bar I worked at. This in itself was a big step for me, coming from Queensland I had the preconception that the only rum was Bundaberg, and Bundaberg was aweful. Mount Gay opened my eyes to just how nice rum could be. Anyway, I had previously had the Anejo Reserva with a splash of Coke and really enjoyed it, in fact it is probably a dead heat with Mount Gay as my favourite.
Drinking it on the rocks was definitely a new experience for me, having previously only drunk whiskey straight, rum certainly is a different experience. It doesn’t have the complex and lasting after-taste that whisky brings, but more of a direct taste of vanilla. This coupled with a slight hint of coffee makes it a very interesting spirit, unlike darker rums there are no rich flavours, yet the vanilla is very intense. All in all it was a very enjoyable drink.
When you mix this rum with coke (not too much) it takes a completely different face altogether, the spices become very prevalent, in fact it almost give the coke a hint of cinnamon. Take note though, it is easy to drown out the taste with coke so going easy on the mixer is key. I would be hesitant to mix too much else with this rum and there is definitely no need to add lime, it is complex enough.
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