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. 

Derby Special

Derby drinks are mostly juicy rum cocktails that are served up. This cocktail is especially fruity with Cointreau to boost that orange juice center. Think of the Derby Special as a Daiquiri meets Margarita.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. Cointreau
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice

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

September Morn

I can see waking up to this rosy drink on a cool morning, as the name suggests. There's egg white, rum, lime juice and grenadine. Not too original except for the time of day that you consume it.

• 3 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. grenadine
• egg white

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker to produce foam. Add ice and shake to chill. Strain with a gated finish into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Saxon Cocktail / Santiago Cocktail

This is a two-for-one post because these two drinks are remarkably similar. The Saxon Cocktail, probably so named because...well there's no obvious correlation between a tropical rum drink and Saxons, but I like to think there is by way of pirate ships and islands. It is proportionally stronger than the latter.

Santiago Cocktail has more lime juice and no orange twist, which makes it a juicier drink. It requires a half tsp. of simple syrup to cut the acidity.

Saxon Cocktail 

• 2 oz. light rum  
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/4 tsp. grenadine 
• orange twist

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

Santiago Cocktail

• 2 oz. light rum  
• 2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar syrup 
• dash grenadine

Combine liquid 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. 

Hop Toad

The Hop Toad is a fun rum cocktail with apricot brandy and lime juice. It's pretty tropical and improved with an interesting rum like Plantation 3 Stars. A little too citric, but worth the experience. This toad is sneaky and makes you dizzy if you take it down too quickly.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1 1/2 oz. apricot brandy
• 1/2 oz. lime juice

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