Aarh, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day so I thought that would be a good excuse to bring forward some of my favourite Spiced Rum Cocktails from this past summer’s Rum Howler 2016 Spiced Rum Taste-off. Spiced Rum doesn’t have a very good reputation when it comes to cocktails. Most of my friends (when they consume spiced rum) stick to the tried and true recipe of Spiced Rum and Cola mixing the serving with lots of ice. And if you followed my 2016 Spiced Rum Taste-off you have noticed that I certainly have no trouble recommending that simple libation for many of the spiced rums I review. Rum, with its obvious caramel and molasses flavours mixes very well with cola, and if that rum has been spiced, the result is a nice tall deck drink that is not only refreshing, it has a bit of welcome attitude as well.
However, if you did follow my 2016 Spiced Rum Taste-off this past summer you would also have noticed that I have attempted to elevate the spiced spirit with a few new cocktail suggestions to demonstrate that spiced rum doesn’t have to be just a base spirit for tall deck drinks. It can be a spirit of sophistication as well.
I thought I would augment my efforts on behalf of spiced rum with a listing of Nine Tasty Spiced Rum Cocktails that do not require the use of cola or soda. These are short, sipping cocktails which (in my opinion) could easily grace the menus of any fine cocktail bar.
And so, in no particular order, here are 9 Tasty Spiced Rum Cocktails:
(click on the name of the cocktail to view its recipe)
The Trolley Car
- Spiced Darwin (A nice libation I made specifically for Captain Morgan’s White Spiced Rum. Charles Darwin helped us understand the concept of evolution; this serving serves to signal the new evolution of Spiced Rum Cocktails.
- The Pedestrian (This tasty recipe pays homage to Ray Bradbury’s tale of a not too distant future where television and video entertainment has become so ubiquitous that a lone person who enjoys an evening stroll arouses the suspicions of the city robot police car.)
- The Cable Car (The Cable Car was created at the Starlight Room in San Fransisco by Tony Abou-Ganim. Based upon the modern Sidecar, Tony’s recipe is considered by many to be a modern classic.)
- The Jerrycan (I designed this short cocktail specifically for Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. The flavour profile of Sailor Jerry contains very strong impressions of Dr. Pepper soda which means similar spiced rums such as Blackheart Spiced Rum should also work very well in the new mixed drink.
- The Fog Horn (Another Rum Howler creation inspired by a Ray Bradbury short story which this time features a lonely sea monster and the wail of a distant fog horn. Tony Abou’s Cable Car was most definitely a strong influence here as well.)
- The Honey Badger (The media team for the spirits conglomerate Diageo sent me this great recipe which was designed for their Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum. If you are a fan of that other Black Spiced Rum, you will be pleased to know it works well for The Kraken as well. )
- The Merry Widow (I stumbled across a recipe called the Black Widow in the cocktail book, 1001 Cocktails (Alex Barker compiler) which combines Dark Rum with Southern Comfort and Lemon Juice. Swapping out the Dark Rum for Lemon Hart Navy Spiced Rum, I created a delightful new indulgence, the Merry Widow.)
- The Trolley Car (The Trolley Car was created from a combination of High-proof Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Triple Sec, Orange Juice, Lime Juice, and Bitters. The result is simply delicious! (Yet another recipe of mine inspired by Tony Abou’s Cable Car.))
- Bitter Blood and Spice (This is one of my favourite creations. Based upon a Hennessey Cognac cocktail, Blood Orange Bitters, my serving mixes 100 Proof Spiced Rum with the juice from Navel and Blood Oranges and then accents the libation with Angostura Bitters.)
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Try these spiced rum cocktails and let me know your favourite.
Chimo!
Bradbury’s stories ran the gamut from hard science fiction to horror fantasy, often with the two disparate genres colliding in wonderful ways. The inspiration for one of these stories came when he saw the ruins of a broken roller coaster on a California beach which suggested to him a dinosaur skeleton. In conceiving how the monster came to be washed up on shore, Ray Bradbury was inspired to write, The Fog Horn, a haunting tale of a lone sea monster who mistakes the sound emanating from a remote lighthouse as a call from one of his own kind.
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