Recommended classic rum cocktails
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:36 pm
All these classic drinks use readily available products and are guaranteed to produce exceptional drinking experiences. They're all highly recommended.
If you like these I'll put up some classics using other spirits
Anejo Highball
40ml Aged Cuban Rum
20ml Orange Curacao
20ml lime juice
dash bitters
Ginger beer
Method: build in glass
Glass: hi-ball
Garnish: Orange and Lime
Comment: A contemporary classic from Mr Dale DeGroff. A tribute to the holy trinity of Caribbean rum drinks, lime, curacao and rum
Mai Tai (Trader Vic’s)
50ml Aged Jamaican Rum
20ml Orange Curacao
20ml Lime juice
20ml Syrup d’orgeat
10ml gomme
Method: shake and strain over cracked ice
Glass: double old fashioned
Garnish: Mint sprig
Comment: ‘Trader’ Vic Bergeron claims to have created this drink for friends of his at his bar in Oakland, CA. The couple who had just returned from Polynesia exclaimed ‘Mai Tai Roe Ae’ meaning “the best, out of this world” Anyhow this drink was originally made with Wray and Nephew 17 y.o which is unavailable except for a few bottles in the hands of collectors
Variation: ‘Trader’ Vic’s mentor Don the Beachcomber might well have fixed the original Mai Tai, a very different concoction, equal parts Cuban and Jamaican rums, lime, grapefruit, falernum, grenadine, Cointreau and a dash of Absinthe. Or if you can be bothered roast some Pineapple and muddle it into the Vic’s recipe above.
Mary Pickford
50ml Cuban rum
50ml FRESH pineapple juice
bar spoon grenadine
dash maraschino
Method: shake and strain
Glass: large martini
Garnish: lime twist
Comments: This drink was created at the Hotel Nacional in Cuba in the 1920’s for silent film star Mary Pickford. This drink is made or broken by the quality of pineapple juice used. Made with fresh pineapple juice it is a simple, easy to drink, summer aperitif, made with cheap carton juice it is a nasty, sickly Alco pop.
Mojito
50ml White Rum
25ml Lime juice
20ml gomme syrup
8 mint leaves
dash of soda (optional)
Method: add all of the ingredients to a hi-ball glass and swizzle with crushed ice.
Glass: Hi-ball
Garnish: Mint sprig
Comments: The British navy has been mixing rum, lime, mint and sugar for over 400 years, however the modern incarnation of this Cuban classic probably came together during prohibition, when the drinking cultures of Cuba and America began to merge.
Variations: again, some fresh fruit or different herbs work well, replace the mint with basil and muddle some strawberries, for example
Pina Colada
50ml Golden Rum
5-6 large chunks of pineapple
25ml Coco Lopez
pinch of salt
Method: blend with crushed ice
Glass: Hurricane
Garnish: Pineapple leaf and cherry
Comments: The Pina Colada was created at the Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico in 1951. The recipe was sold to Coco Lopez, then a local fruit company, and the recipes creator, a lowly bartender in the hotel, died impoverished
Pineapple Fix
50ml Aged Rum
25ml lemon juice
20ml sugar syrup
3 chunks pineapple
Method: muddle pineapple, shake other ingredients, strain over cubed ice
Glass: Rocks
Garnish: Pineapple leaf
Comments: A fix constitutes a spirit, lemon, and some kind of sweet fruit served short, this is one of the finest examples of this genre.
Planter’s Punch
25ml light rum
20ml Demerara rum
10ml Orange curacao
50ml Fresh Orange
50ml Pineapple
15ml lime juice
10ml simple syrup
dash grenadine
dash angostura
Method: shake and strain over cubed ice
Glass: Hi-Ball
Garnish: Orange and cherry
Comment: This is one version of many for the classic plantation sunshine drink. Refreshing, balanced and delicious. Some version of this drink has been enjoyed in the Caribbean for a couple of hundred years.
Swizzle
50ml Aged rum
10ml Velvet Falernum
10ml Sugar syrup
25ml lime juice
dash angostura bitters
Method: add ingredients to sling glass and swizzle
Glass: Sling
Garnish: Mint sprig and orange slice
Comments: Back in the early 1800’s in Guyana. British ex-pats would enjoy a jug of this drink on the terrace of the Georgetown club. The mixture of Rum, Lime and Bitters would be mixed with a long five-pronged branch-wood swizzle stick. The idea being to swizzle it until frosting appeared on the glass.
Zombie
20ml Cuban light Rum
20ml White Jamaican Rum
20ml Aged Jamaican Rum
20ml Barbadian Rum
20ml Demerara Rum
20ml Grapefruit juice
25ml lime juice
10ml gomme syrup
dash absinthe
dash angostura bitters
15ml maraschino liqueur
15ml velvet falernum
Method: Shake and strain
Glass: Hurricane
Garnish: Orange, cherry, lime, pineapple and mint
Comments: This cocktail is one of the most lethal around, don’t skimp on the quality of the rum. Don the beachcomber, who concocted this potion, would limit his guests to two per night. Once when strong-armed by some shady characters in his bar for a third, Don agreed to a $100 bet as to whether he could drink three. Don allegedly laced his drinks with glycerine, making the drink less potent to taste and ensuring it entered his blood stream faster, thus teaching him a lesson and rendering him unconscious (certainly not something we’d recommend doing today!)
If you like these I'll put up some classics using other spirits
Anejo Highball
40ml Aged Cuban Rum
20ml Orange Curacao
20ml lime juice
dash bitters
Ginger beer
Method: build in glass
Glass: hi-ball
Garnish: Orange and Lime
Comment: A contemporary classic from Mr Dale DeGroff. A tribute to the holy trinity of Caribbean rum drinks, lime, curacao and rum
Mai Tai (Trader Vic’s)
50ml Aged Jamaican Rum
20ml Orange Curacao
20ml Lime juice
20ml Syrup d’orgeat
10ml gomme
Method: shake and strain over cracked ice
Glass: double old fashioned
Garnish: Mint sprig
Comment: ‘Trader’ Vic Bergeron claims to have created this drink for friends of his at his bar in Oakland, CA. The couple who had just returned from Polynesia exclaimed ‘Mai Tai Roe Ae’ meaning “the best, out of this world” Anyhow this drink was originally made with Wray and Nephew 17 y.o which is unavailable except for a few bottles in the hands of collectors
Variation: ‘Trader’ Vic’s mentor Don the Beachcomber might well have fixed the original Mai Tai, a very different concoction, equal parts Cuban and Jamaican rums, lime, grapefruit, falernum, grenadine, Cointreau and a dash of Absinthe. Or if you can be bothered roast some Pineapple and muddle it into the Vic’s recipe above.
Mary Pickford
50ml Cuban rum
50ml FRESH pineapple juice
bar spoon grenadine
dash maraschino
Method: shake and strain
Glass: large martini
Garnish: lime twist
Comments: This drink was created at the Hotel Nacional in Cuba in the 1920’s for silent film star Mary Pickford. This drink is made or broken by the quality of pineapple juice used. Made with fresh pineapple juice it is a simple, easy to drink, summer aperitif, made with cheap carton juice it is a nasty, sickly Alco pop.
Mojito
50ml White Rum
25ml Lime juice
20ml gomme syrup
8 mint leaves
dash of soda (optional)
Method: add all of the ingredients to a hi-ball glass and swizzle with crushed ice.
Glass: Hi-ball
Garnish: Mint sprig
Comments: The British navy has been mixing rum, lime, mint and sugar for over 400 years, however the modern incarnation of this Cuban classic probably came together during prohibition, when the drinking cultures of Cuba and America began to merge.
Variations: again, some fresh fruit or different herbs work well, replace the mint with basil and muddle some strawberries, for example
Pina Colada
50ml Golden Rum
5-6 large chunks of pineapple
25ml Coco Lopez
pinch of salt
Method: blend with crushed ice
Glass: Hurricane
Garnish: Pineapple leaf and cherry
Comments: The Pina Colada was created at the Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico in 1951. The recipe was sold to Coco Lopez, then a local fruit company, and the recipes creator, a lowly bartender in the hotel, died impoverished
Pineapple Fix
50ml Aged Rum
25ml lemon juice
20ml sugar syrup
3 chunks pineapple
Method: muddle pineapple, shake other ingredients, strain over cubed ice
Glass: Rocks
Garnish: Pineapple leaf
Comments: A fix constitutes a spirit, lemon, and some kind of sweet fruit served short, this is one of the finest examples of this genre.
Planter’s Punch
25ml light rum
20ml Demerara rum
10ml Orange curacao
50ml Fresh Orange
50ml Pineapple
15ml lime juice
10ml simple syrup
dash grenadine
dash angostura
Method: shake and strain over cubed ice
Glass: Hi-Ball
Garnish: Orange and cherry
Comment: This is one version of many for the classic plantation sunshine drink. Refreshing, balanced and delicious. Some version of this drink has been enjoyed in the Caribbean for a couple of hundred years.
Swizzle
50ml Aged rum
10ml Velvet Falernum
10ml Sugar syrup
25ml lime juice
dash angostura bitters
Method: add ingredients to sling glass and swizzle
Glass: Sling
Garnish: Mint sprig and orange slice
Comments: Back in the early 1800’s in Guyana. British ex-pats would enjoy a jug of this drink on the terrace of the Georgetown club. The mixture of Rum, Lime and Bitters would be mixed with a long five-pronged branch-wood swizzle stick. The idea being to swizzle it until frosting appeared on the glass.
Zombie
20ml Cuban light Rum
20ml White Jamaican Rum
20ml Aged Jamaican Rum
20ml Barbadian Rum
20ml Demerara Rum
20ml Grapefruit juice
25ml lime juice
10ml gomme syrup
dash absinthe
dash angostura bitters
15ml maraschino liqueur
15ml velvet falernum
Method: Shake and strain
Glass: Hurricane
Garnish: Orange, cherry, lime, pineapple and mint
Comments: This cocktail is one of the most lethal around, don’t skimp on the quality of the rum. Don the beachcomber, who concocted this potion, would limit his guests to two per night. Once when strong-armed by some shady characters in his bar for a third, Don agreed to a $100 bet as to whether he could drink three. Don allegedly laced his drinks with glycerine, making the drink less potent to taste and ensuring it entered his blood stream faster, thus teaching him a lesson and rendering him unconscious (certainly not something we’d recommend doing today!)