Classic Cocktails Using Vitae's Modern Rums

 

Rum Martini--Yes it has been done before, but rarely is it this good. That is because mass marketed white rums are blended to be as flavorless as possible. Generally a Bacardi Superior Martini is what you'll find in this niche mixology of replicating a classic cocktail with rum. In the past I've broken from this mold to make a Rum Martini with Cotton and Reed's dry spiced rum. The result was a dry tasting and complex Martini that was similar to one made with gin with a dash of orange bitters. I didn't opt for any garnish, but if I had, I would have used a lemon or lime twist. 

My most recent rendition with Vitae's Platinum rum is closer to a Vodka Martini, however. I knew that the clean flavor of Vitae's rums, and the not too sugary body, would work well with a savory garnish like an olive. Going light on the vermouth was a good call. Just like drinking a Vodka Martini, the main spirit is the thing. 

• 3 oz. Vitae Platinum rum 
• 1/4 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin used)
• 1 olive garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the olive. 

Rum Old Fashioned--It's been done frequently and with much success, but this one is a beauty. Try making an Old Fashioned the traditional way with rich sugar syrup, Angostura bitters, and an orange peel. But make sure that you choose a richly aged rum, not just something that is dark or spiced. Dark rums, especially black strap, are sweetened with molasses, which gives them that dark color. Their flavor will be simply muddy sweetness and ethanol. You should look for a barrel-aged rum with some years on it. These rums are dark from contact with wood and are superior in quality. 

When I first tried Vitae's Barrel Aged Distiller's Reserve rum, I wanted to make Old Fashioneds with it. 

• 2-3 oz. aged dark or gold rum (Vitae's Barrel Aged Distiller's Reserve used)
• 1 tsp. brown sugar syrup
• several dashes Angostura bitters
• lemon, lime or orange peel

Build cocktail in an Old Fashioned glass by disolving sugar syrup and bitter in the rum by stirring. Then add large ice chunks and continue to stir to allow the cocktail to chill. Twist a fruit zest over the drink and drop it in. 

Aged Rum Manhattan--I've never seen this done before, at least not with only rum as the principal ingredient. But I knew that Vitae's Barrel Aged rum would work fine. It is aged in ex bourbon and wine casks, so it picks up plenty of oak and vanilla notes that make it a good substitute for whiskey. Plus the Manhattan is a wine and spirits cocktail, so everything about Vitae's Barrel Aged rum would work well. And does it ever!

• 3 oz. aged dark or gold rum
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth 
• one dash Angostura bitters
• maraschino cherry

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add cherry for garnish. 

Magens Bay

 

This is a pretty cocktail named after a beautiful place. Magens Bay is a white sand beach on St. Thomas Island in the Caribbean. Besides being a fittingly rummy cocktail, it is pretty much a classic recipe with orange juice and apricot brandy. You could just about do this cocktail with any spirit and it would taste the same--which isn't a bad idea. 

The thing is that apricot brandy tends to direct the flavor in a sweet and fruity way. Fresh ingredients help make sure that the drink is balanced and interesting. A pure liqueur cocktail with apricot brandy tends to be overly sweet, and that's not the kind of thing you want to drink when you are relaxing in a beach cabana. 

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. apricot brandy
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lime juice
• sugar syrup to taste (1/2 oz. is appropriately sweet)
• orange slice
• maraschino cherry

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with fruit.

Tom Tom

This tiki cocktail is strong, hence the name coming for the snappy percussion instrument. It beats you over the head with rum and flavor!

Of course you can put this in a Hurricane glass or whatever globe you like--it's frozen, after all. But I think that no one really wants to look at yellow slush and they might rather have some cool statuary to stare at as their vision starts to blur. 

I picked up some of my old favorite rums for this. Here is Plantation 3-Star recipe for the light rum instead of Haitian. I figured that Haiti is represented in the blend, so we are good. For brandy I had to resort to Mandarine Napoleon, which I made from Courvoissier, so it works pretty well. Even better with its tropical fruit and spice, actually. 

• 1 oz. Haitian rum (Plantation 3-Star used)
• 1 oz. coconut rum (homemade used: 1 oz. light rum combined with 1/4 tsp. creme of coconut)
• 1 oz. Brandy (homemade Mandarine Napoleon used)
• 1/2 oz. La Grande Passion (homemade version used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz. orange juice
• orange slice
• mint sprig

Combine liquid ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a Tiki mug or Hurricane glass. Garnish with the orange slice and mint sprig. 

Rum Cooler

For what it is worth, the Rum Cooler is an easy, build-in-glass cocktail that can be made with minimal preparation. This is a good thing because it is also a very strong drink, and its simplicity means that you can make a second one after the first has completely sapped your fine motor skills.

The point of this drink is to make a strong and long rum cocktail with ginger ale. The orange twist is actually a nice touch. Expressing the twist gives the cocktail an orange flavor that becomes more pronounced as you drink it down.

If you have these ingredients on a hot day, by all means, enjoy this drink.

• 3 oz. light rum (Cruzan aged used)
• ginger ale (Q used)
• orange twist

Build drink in a highball glass with rum and ice. Top with ginger ale and stir gently. Twist orange peel over the drink and drop it in. 

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. 

Fair And Warmer

The weather is fair and it is getting warmer. What a time to break out this cocktail. This is on an upstairs window ledge of my restaurant in Old Town Alexandria. The Fair And Warmer is a rum-rich Martini variation with lots of kick and flavor. The cocktail avoids falling to too sweet or too dry with the addition of merely a few dashes of curacao. I used Vitae orange liqueur from Charlottesville, Virginia. This bittersweet liqueur and classic sweet vermouth is all that is needed for this simple warmer weather drink.

• 2 oz. light rum 
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
• 3 dashes white curacao (Vitae orange liqueur used)
• lemon twist

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

Fort Lauderdale

A Florida cocktail needs to represent orange, and this one is no exception. Ripe and juicy naval oranges fresh squeezed and used as a garnish make a big impression. This is a rum drink and very similar to the Florida cocktail I posted a few days earlier.

As a side note, the recipe calls for sweet vermouth but I have Byrrh Quinquina, which is pretty much the same thing except it has more quinine and sweet berry and lavender notes as well. What better combination to show off the sunshine state.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth (Byrrh used)
• orange slice

Combine all ingredients except orange slice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the orange slice.

Frozen Daiquiri

The NY Bartender's Guide shows this drink served in a champagne flute. I have reservations about this. The first being that this hacienda on St. Thomas Island didn't have any champagne flutes, and second; who sees Frozen Daiquiris served in such small containers nowadays? Nobody. They're always in a cocktail glass (Margarita pictured) or a Hurricane glass. So while this drink is less traditional and more mainstream, it is as it should be. A big and rewarding boat drink riff on the classic Daiquiri.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• lime slice

Combine all ingredients except lime slice in a blender with 1/2 cup cracked ice. Blend slowly until smooth but not watery. Pour into a champagne flute (cocktail glass recommended) and garnish with lime slice.

Cuba Libre / Rum And Coke

Take a Rum & Coke and add a lime slice and you have the classic Cuban spy thriller cocktails, the Cuba Libre. It was the signal flag of reporters and spies meeting in the Havana Hotel to discuss the end of the Spanish occupation of Cuba.

It's so simple to make and really so basic that it is beautiful. I found it to be especially good for afternoon beach drinking in the Caribbean, where you really need to pair down ingredients and tools to keep things simple.

• 2 oz. light rum
• cola
• lime slice

Build cocktail in a double Old Fashioned Glass with ice. Top with cola and stir. Garnish with lime slice. 

Rum Daisy

As far as Daisies go this is not the most outstanding. It is, however, much like its family members, a light, strong, and pink drink. I still like the Canadian Daisy (all other types listed here as well) as the strange one with raspberries. But the Rum Daisy is the one I want in a beach cabana. There's nothing like the taste of rum when you are sunbathing poolside. Now that its almost summer, I can see the appeal of this drink.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. grenadine
• club soda
• maraschino cherry
• orange slice

Combine all ingredients except club soda, cherry and orange slice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain over fresh ice in a Collins glass. Top with club soda and garnish with orange slice and cherry.

Rum Collins

There might be some debate if this drink is necessary. If all you have is rum and soda, though, it's pretty necessary. Lime juice is the only other substitute from the Tom Collin's lemon juice. Everything else is done the same.

• 3 oz. light rum
• 1 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• club soda
• lemon slice
• maraschino cherry

Combine rum, lime juice and sugar in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice. Top with soda and garnish with lemon slice and cherry

Rum Sour

Rum is a perfectly acceptable base for a sour drink. The idea is to  do sours authentically--I mean in a small sour glass, not in the Old Fashioned glasses that are popular today with whiskey drinkers. This sour is very sour, with little sugar to balance out the tartness. That makes it very cooling on hot days.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. simple syrup
• lemon slice
• maraschino cherry

Combine rum, simple syrup and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled sour glass or small wine goblet (port/sherry glass). Garnish with lemon and cherry. 

Little Devil

This little drink, that might be better named White Devil, is the most deadly of the Devil cocktails. It is a full 3 1/2 oz. of 80 proof liquor. Rum seems to be a common ingredient in Devil cocktails because of its potency and reputation for violence. Susan Cheever, in her book Drinking In America, says, "Rum was both a gift from God and an invitation to dance with the devil." Maybe the drink isn't the Little Devil of its namesake: drink more than one of these and you will become a minor imp.

The flavor is softer and sweeter than you'd expect. That much triple sec means that the lemon juice is balanced out and the gin less predominant. I don't know what this says about me, but I think this is my favorite Devil Cocktail.

• 2 oz. gin
• 1 1/2 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. triple sec
• 1/4 oz. lemon juice

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

Louisina Planter's Punch

This is my favorite of the Planter's Punch series of punches. Oddly there's no Southern Comfort in this punch, which is a New Orleans local spirit. It does do a very New Orleans cocktail tribute with bourbon, Pernod, Peychaud's bitters and cognac, which makes it taste a little like a Sazerac. Pernod in these small proportions just gives a tropical flavor that is hard to identify and passes as some strange bitter fruit or cherry juice. Guess what? It's wormwood flavor.

This punch recipe doesn't call for a pineapple spear or cherry, but when you've got it, flaunt it.

• 2 oz. gold rum
• 1 oz. bourbon
• 1 oz. cognac
• 1/4 tsp. Pernod
• 5 dashes Peychaud's bitters
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• club soda
• lime slice
• orange slice

Combine liquid ingredients except soda in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a highball glass or beer mug and top with club soda. Garnish with fruit.

Plantation Punch

Punches began as communal drinking experiences with participants doing their part to finish a large bowl of liquor, juice, wines and often spices. Soda and American individualism gave rise to single serving punches like Planter's Punch. The Planters/ Plantation punches make no apology for agrarian slavery that they ironically seem to romanticize. The rum and fruit are native to the southern United States and Caribbean islands where plantations and planters would have supplied ingredients to landlords. This cocktail is more Louisiana, than Caribbean with the inclusion of Southern Comfort.

You don't taste the rum as much as the Southern Comfort and the sweet wine notes of ruby port in the Plantation Punch. As far as garnishes go, there's less to worry about than with the Planter's Punch. This saves a little prep time but the drink itself is very rewarding and more flavorful than Planter's Punch. I think of it as a deluxe version that offers more "comfort" on a hot afternoon in Louisiana.

• 2 oz. dark rum
• 1 oz. Southern Comfort
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. ruby port
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• club soda
• lemon slice
• orange slice

Muddle brown sugar in a little club soda inside a shaker. Add rum, Southern Comfort, port and lemon juice and shake with ice. Pour into a highball glass or beer mug. Top with soda and stir gently. Garnish with fruit.

San Juan

A tiki-like hit at a party, the San Juan is a Puerto Rican daiquiri. This would be best prepared in a blender with not too much ice, as that tends to make the drink watery. And besides citrus, there's subtle brandy flavors.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1 tbsp. brandy (Catoctin Creek 1757 Virginia brandy used)
• 1 1/2 oz. grapefruit 
• 1 tbsp. coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. lime juice

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

Hemingway Daiquiri

This is another drink I photographed at Fiola. It's not because I don't have the ingredients, I just happened to spot it on the cocktail menu and bought one to use for the blog. The Hemingway Daiquiri is a more modern version of the drink Hemingway would probably have enjoyed on the rocks.

• 1 1/2 oz. white rum (El Dorado used)
• 1/4 oz. Luxardo maraschino cherry liqueur
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/4 oz. sugar syrup
• lime or grapefruit peel

Combine all ingredients except fruit peel in a shaker with crushed ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime or grapefruit peel.

Old Cuban

The Old Cuban is a precursor to the Mojito, and it is made very similarly. It's done like a sour with mint and topped with champagne. It's no wonder it was popular in Paris, where we tried it at The Experimental Cocktail Club (photo below)

• 5-8 mint leaves
• 1 1/2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup
• champagne

Muddle mint and sugar syrup in a shaker. Add ice and rum and shake to cool. Strain into a chilled coup or sour glass. Add champagne to top and garnish with a mint leaf. 

Andalusia

This was a nice mellow cocktail to follow the Union League Club. More sherry than brandy means that it is full of soft grape flavors and less spice. Andalusia is the southern region of Spain where bull fights and medieval castles can be found--the very Spanish part of Spain.

• 2 oz. dry sherry
• 1 oz. brandy
• 1 oz. light rum
• 1/4 tsp. bitters

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

Rum Dubonnet

I'm finding that rum and Dubonnet Rouge go very well together. It is interesting that you can control the richness of the drink with the proportion of Dubonnet. This is a dry and tart cocktail, very different from the Bushranger.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. Dubonnet Rouge
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice

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