Rum Sour

This isn't really that much different than half the goddamn recipes in the rum section. Rum, lemon or lime juice, a bit of sugar. However, maybe it was the lemon I used, but I found this to be waaaaay too sour. Even after I added some water and some more sugar, it still upset my stomach. Ughhhhhh....

Recipe:
1 oz lemon juice
.5 tsp simple syrup
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled sour glass. Garnish with a half-slice of lemon and a maraschino cherry.

Rum Screwdriver

It's everyone's favorite college drink, the Screwdriver! Featuring rum this time.

I used to drink screwdrivers and smoke a pipe while sitting on my 4th story window ledge as a college freshman, in an effort to cultivate vices. The pipe-smoking and gravity-defying didn't stick, but look where the screwdrivers got me.

It tastes like alcoholic orange juice, what did you expect? At least the booze didn't come from a plastic bottle this time.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
5 oz OJ

Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled highball glass.

Rum Rickey

Rum and lime go together great, but honestly, without a little sweetness I find this too harsh. I tasted it a few times, then gave in and stirred in some simple syrup.

Recipe:
.5 oz lime juice
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
Club soda

Pour juice and rum into an ice-filled highball glass and top with club soda and stir. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

Rum Relaxer

I made this drink and gave it a taste, and it tasted, um, kinda gross. I couldn't figure out what it was, but it didn't make sense to be coming from any of the flavors in it. I tasted the rum, pineapple, and grenadine separately. All fine. I had make the "lemon lime soda" from fresh lime juice, club soda, and simple syrup, and I'd tasted it ahead of time so I knew it was fine too.

So why does this drink taste like...like...

Shit. It tastes like silicone rubber. Which is what my ice cube trays are made of. The trays I hadn't used in my last place, which had an ice maker.

I remade the drink using the regular plastic ice trays, and it was pretty tasty! Sweet and fruity without being very tart--just what you'd expect from a pink drink.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 oz pineapple juice
.5 oz grenadine (homemade)
Lemon-lime soda (mixed from lime, simple syrup, and club soda until it tasted like 7-Up)

Shake rum, juice, and grenadine with ice and pour into hurricane, parfait, or 24-hrs of Adrenaline giveaway beer glass. Top with soda and garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry.

Rum Old-Fashioned

I'm a big fan of the classic Old Fashioned, so I was excited to try this one. The main thing I was surprised at is that there is no muddled orange in this recipe, which I think is key to the drink.

All in all, I don't think this one is worth revisiting. It's ok, but rum just is no bourbon. The 151 on top certainly mimics the bite, though.

Recipe:
.5 tsp simple syrup
Dash bitters (Regan's Orange)
1 tsp water
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 tsp 151-proof rum (Bacardi 151)

Stir sugar, bitters, and water in an old-fashioned glass. Add ice and light rum. Garnish with a twist of lime peel and float the 151 on top.

Rum Highball and Rum Martini

Two classics, done with rum. I didn't take a photo of the Rum Highball, since you know what it looks like. (Hint: a tall glass of fizzy water with ice.)

Instead, we have a photo of the Rum Martini and my new dog, Finn! He's not a drinker, but he's totally into that dog biscuit next to the drink.

The Rum Highball is a way to get your alcohol and your hydration in one, with minimal fuss. 2 oz rum in a glass of ice, fill with club soda or ginger ale. If you're feeling fancy, add a lemon twist. Refreshing, simple, nice.

The rum martini is better than I thought it would be. If you don't like gin, I'd recommend this rather than a vodka martini. At least it has some flavor.
However, the recipe in Mr. Boston's for this one is all screwed up. It asks for 4-5 "parts" rum, but a "dash" of vermouth. Don't they mean 1 "part" vermouth? Otherwise it doesn't make sense. Also, they say to serve the drink in a cocktail glass over ice, which just doesn't fit, obviously. So my corrected version:

2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
Dash dry vermouth (Noilly Prat)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a generous twist of lemon.

Rum Fix

Another rum sour drink here.

Sheesh. I've had so many drinks of this type I don't distinguish them anymore. This one has a straw! Whoo-hoo!

Recipe:
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp simple syrup
1 tsp water
2.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)

Stir together in a highball glass and add ice, then rum. Stir and garnish with lemon and a straw.

Homemade Grenadine

There exist basically two recipes for homemade grenadine on the web:
1. Add equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar and shake with cold/room temp.
2. Add equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar and boil 20 minutes until reduced.

I think both of these have issues. The first method may keep the "bright" flavor of the grenadine, but you will have to refrigerate the final product to keep it from spoiling. Oh right--another thing--adding a dash of alcohol does nothing as a preservative. You need at least 10% alcohol in order for it to do anything useful preservative-wise, and then you'd be making pomegranate liqueur, not grenadine.

The second method yields a "cooked" taste, and sometimes a brownish color. Based on my recent post about simple syrup, the long cooking with the pomegranate acid will indeed result in a long shelf-life product, but I bet the flavor suffers.

So I decided to make mine by adding juice and sugar 1:2, and then heating until clear--only 5 mins or so. This results in a thicker syrup great for those layered drinks (and partial invert, so it will stay good for a long time unrefrigerated), and yet doesn't seem to compromise the flavor or color. And the syrup is tasty! I need to get some vanilla ice cream immediately to pour this stuff on.

We're back! With a Rum Daisy

Well folks, it's been about 6 months since the last CocktailJen post, and it's about time to get back to drinking. In the meantime, I finished a half-Ironman, moved back to suburbia from San Francisco, and got a dog. Expect to see more fur in the pictures. If not the dog himself, odds are there will be a hair or two stuck to the rim of my glass. Such is my current life.

Anyway, after considering ditching the rum section to move on to more interesting spirits, I instead decided to stick it out and see this thing to the end.

Therefore, the next recipe is the Rum Daisy. Sadly, it's not anything new. Basically it's a daiquiri/sour variant. For spice it's served in a julep cup. I no longer have my metal cups, so a glass mug will have to do.

My homemade grenadine didn't seem all that fresh, so I may be misjudging this drink. (Immediately afterwards I poured it out and then later made a new batch.) But it's sour, sweet, and otherwise unremarkable.

Rum Daisy
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 tsp simple syrup
1 tsp grenadine (homemade and over-the-hill)
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled stein or metal cup. Add one large ice cube and garnish with fruit.