Havana Banana Fizz

It's very rare when a Fizz is also a blended cocktail. It is even rarer when the drink involves real banana and Peychaud's bitters. This wild combination comes together brilliantly in the Havana Banana Fizz, which is just so much fun to say.

Tips for this drink include using a tall glass, like the one pictured in the New York Bartender's Guide and not the Old Fashioned Glass that the recipe calls for. Inconsistencies like these are more common than you would think, as I can attest to having done most of the recipes in the 1997 edition.

The other tip is to use more ice than you think you will need and to make sure to chill that bottle of bitter lemon soda. Mine was Perrier lemon, in case you were wondering. I forgot to include it in the photo.

• 2 oz. light rum (Buzzard Point colonial style rum used)
• 2 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 3-5 dashes Peychaud's bitters
• 1/5 banana sliced
• bitter lemon soda (Perrier lemon used)

Combine all ingredients except lemon soda in a blender with cracked ice. Blend until slushy and pour into a chilled highball glass (about half way) and top with lemon soda then stir. 

Frozen Brandy And Rum

The drink needs a more creative name. This is a really good dessert drink that goes down like a custard. There's lots of raisin flavor from brandy. I chose Martell Single Distillery VS, however because it is dry and not overly fruity. There's some citrus and oak, but it's not a fruit bomb like American brandy. I also used Buzzard Point rum for its toasted marshmallow flavor. Then an egg white and some lemon juice just turn this cocktail into a blended creme brulee.

• 2 oz. brandy (Martell Single Distillery VS used)
• 1 1/2 oz. light rum (Buzzard Point used)
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 egg yolk

Combine all ingredients in a blender with cracked ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. 

Cantaloupe Cup

This is the only alcoholic cantaloupe cocktail in the 90s vintage NY Bartender's guide. It's a solid drink. In a pinch, blending is just about the only way to get cantaloupe into a cocktail in a meaningful way, not just as a garnish. There's lots of water in it, and the flavor is light. I felt that an interesting rum like Buzzard Point would be helpful to accentuate the melon flavor.

Buzzard Point is a colonial style rum. It has a fresh sugar cane flavor similar to cachaca, but its yeast creates a toasted marshmallow flavor that comes through in this cocktail, which is just what you want with a cantaloupe boat drink.

I like the look of melon slices standing on end. The directions are vague, and this is probably the most practical and attractive use of "melon slice" garnish.

• 2 oz. white rum (District Distilling Co. Buzzard Point used)
• 1/3 cup ripe cantaloupe
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• cantaloupe slice(s)

Combine 1/3 cup of cantaloupe and liquid ingredients with ice in a blender. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with the cantaloupe slices. 

Continental Cocktail

As far as creme de menthe drinks go, this one is easier to stomach. I'll start with that. The color is attractive and the lime and mint foreground tastes about the same as it looks. The bonus here is a good colonial rum like Buzzard Point will stand out when needed to, and it does. There's that panela sugar funk that brings this cocktail closer to being a colonial drink.

So with that in mind, we are talking about a drink that represents old Europe in terms of its invention of creme liqueurs like creme de menthe, and the rum trade in the colonies, represented by Buzzard Point and accentuated by this map of the Caribbean.

• 2 oz. light rum (District Distilling Co. Buzzard Point used)
• 1/2 oz. green creme de menthe
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Devil's Tail

This is a final Devil-themed cocktail, notably a blended drink in a champagne flute with a curious green twist of lime peel. It looks devilish, but I imagine the name comes from it being a rum drink and the old slander for the spirit--Demon Rum!

I like that this light fruity cocktail can still have a rich center with a tasty rum like Buzzard Point by District Distilling Co. This panela sugar rum has a natural and unrefined taste of the fresh pressed cane sugar that it is made from.

• 2 oz. light rum (Buzzard Point used)
• 1 oz. vodka
• 2 tsp. apricot brandy
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 2 tsp grenadine
• lime twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a blender with cracked ice. Blend until smooth. Pour into a chilled champagne flute and garnish with a lime twist.

Chicago Fizz

This Fizz drink is best served very tall, like a Chicago skyline. This fizz, like most Chicago drinks, is a little different from its family of cocktails. First, it is the only Fizz I know of that uses rum. Gold rum is really a blend of rums defined only by its color. I used a mix of Cruzan 151 and Buzzard Point, both of which are flavorful blends.

There's also port in this cocktail, which makes it pretty and pink and sort of fruity, beyond the typical lemon juice bite of a typical Fizz.

• 1 1/2 oz. gold rum
• 1 oz. port (Sandeman ruby used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 egg white
• sparkling water

Combine all ingredients except sparkling water in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into chilled Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with sparkling water and stir gently. 

Poker Cocktail

If you make this drink for yourself, you're in good hands, like this high strait. Rum Martinis are not unusual, but they often rely on very dry white rums and dry vermouth. This one gives you more wiggle room.

I used a mix of white rums that I like to give the drink more flavor. Bacardi is the dry one, but Buzzard Point from District Distilling Co. gave the drink a funky sugar flavor that was very interesting. Do this when you want to sip something with taste.

• 3 oz. light rum (Bacardi and Buzzard Point used)
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Sevilla

I'm doing a lot of pink egg white drinks lately. Sevilla is a dessert-like drink with a whole egg, a rich rum if you have it, and port. If done right, the foam will be very tall, and no ice will be necessary to keep the drink cool. It's like fruity rum ice cream when really cold.

• 2 oz. light rum (Buzzard Point rum used)
• 2 oz. ruby port
• whole egg
• 1/2 tsp. sugar

Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker to chill. Remove ice by straining into another container. Return liquid ingredients into the shaker and shake vigorously to create foam. Pour into a chilled wine glass. 

San Sebastian

The San Sebastian is pretty much a gin drink with juices. Triple sec means that no sugar is needed, which makes this cocktail pretty dry and fruity. You only get a half ounce of rum in the recipe, so make a statement. Use a flavorful rum like Buzzard Point or Plantation 3 Stars so that it stands out and lends a tropical air to what would be only a gin drink.

• 2 oz. gin (Strange Monkey used)
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

San Juan

This blender drink has a lot of potential. You could make it with a flavorless white rum like Bacardi, and the coconut and brandy would carry the sweetness along. But when you have a lightly aged white rum like Buzzard Point, with a funky panela sugar base, you can enjoy the exotic taste of rum and grapefruit juice.

I fresh squeezed all the juice but used coconut puree rather than coconut milk. The flavor is sweeter and more intense. But it is still pretty natural seeming if you just use less coconut puree.

• 2 oz. light rum (Buzzard Point used)
• 1 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1 tbsp. coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tbsp. brandy (Cognac please)

Combine all ingredients except brandy in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled wine glass. Float brandy on top. 

Tradewinds (Smuggler's Cove Recipe)

This is a 1970s tiki cocktail that the famous mixologist Beachbum Berry adapted. It certainly is tropical with coconut cream and falernum. Apricot liqueur also makes the drink sweet and complex. You can put this in a tiki mug or a Collins glass, or substitute dry gin for the rum.

• 1 oz. black blended rum
• 1 oz. blended lightly aged rum
• 1 oz. apricot liqueur
• 1 1/2 oz. coconut cream
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• lemon wedge

Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice. Flash blend and pour into a Collins glass or tiki mug. Garnish with a lemon wedge speared by an umbrella that's turned inside out as if it was blown open by the wind.

Falinum (Smuggler's Cover Recipe)

There's a beautiful drink in a gorgeous tiki mug. Falinum is a made-up word, I'm thinking. Perhaps it is Falernum spoken with an accent. This cocktail is supposed to show off spicy falernum flavors of cloves, cinnamon, anise and allspice. The recipe calls for an aged, column still rum. Buzzard Point holds up well here--it's a panela sugar rum!

• 2 oz. column still aged rum (Buzzard Point used)
• 1 oz. coconut cream
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. falernum (hommade version used)
• 1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice and flash blend. Pour into a grim-faced tiki mug and add more ice. Garnish at will with flowers. 

D.I.Y Falernum (Alcoholic)

Falernum is a spiced and citrus flavored sugar syrup that includes rum flavors if not actual rum. This recipe has rum and adds alcohol as well as flavor to tiki cocktails like the Calypso and Trade Winds.

For the home bartender, making your own falernum is a Jedi's making a lightsaber. It is the completion of training with lesser things and a sign that more difficult challenges are on the horizon. Once you make falernum, you can move on to spicing your own rum or making allspice dram.

I got this recipe from a guy I work with who's really into cocktails and may have already tried making falernum. It's here below:

• 1/2 cup 151-proof rum
• 1/2 cup aged rum (Mount Gay recommended)
• 20 cloves
• 5 allspice
• 4 anise stars
• 1 cinnamon stick
• zest of 4 limes
• 1 oz. pealed ginger (1 tsp. powdered used)

Combine all ingredients in a seal-able jar and allow to steep for 24 hours.

Strain mixture through a coffee filter and add the following ingredients:
 

• 14 oz. simple syrup (demerara sugar used)
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 3 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. lemon juice

Shake and refrigerate.

NOTE: A couple of changes were made when I did this recipe, partly because of what I had on hand and also because of preference.

First, I didn't have fresh ginger, but dried ginger is fine as long as you don't use half as much as the fresh because it is stronger.

Second, there is something great about demerara sugar syrup. I wanted that raw cane sugar flavor in my falernum. Make it by heating a mixture of equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and mixture is slightly reduced.

Finally, for the rums, I had Cruzan 151 rum, but not an aged rum that didn't have spices already added. For this used an unaged panela sugar rum that had a similar character. This worked really well, but Mount Gay is more widely available for most home bartenders.

Cuban Cocktail

This is oddly a brandy cocktail that uses a tsp. of rum very sparingly. I was not sure why so small an amount of rum was used, but that was before I tried Buzzard Point--a rum you want to use sparingly.

Buzzard Point is a local D.C. distilled rum made from panela sugar. It is really funky, for lack of a better word. Just noticeable underneath many ounces of flavor-dampening brandies and lime juice. It is amazingly rich and strong and makes this cocktail a boozy tropical blast.

• 2 oz. brandy
• 1 oz. apricot brandy
• 1 tsp. light rum (Buzzard Point used)
• 1 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.