Mark your calendars (I'm sure you already have) because Monday is National Rum Day!!!
Coming from someone who loves rum, I am going to share with you an industry secret that I and many others have been using in craft cocktail bars for a long time: bartenders blend rums to get a complexity in flavor that you just can't get from a single rum.
Rum History 101
Let's just do a quick history of rum. In the 17th century, the Caribbean sugar trade was taking off. As a result, plantations had tons of leftover molasses from the processing of the sugar cane. The molasses was just getting thrown into the ocean until in Barbados, slaves discovered that they could distill the molasses, and rum was born. Rum quickly caught on in the American colonies, becoming a favorite. In 1664, a rum distillery was set up on what is now Staten Island; one in Boston soon followed. New England colonies soon became the biggest supplier of rum in the world. (Yes this is before bourbon was our national spirit). The British Navy then adopted the spirit, giving sailors a half pint of rum twice a day as part of their pay. After adding lime to prevent scurvy and sugar to make it more palatable, grog was born—the predecessor of the daiquiri. As bourbon took over in America, production of rum moved back to the Caribbean—the home of the best rums.
Enough history.
Let's talk about blending rums. I have had bartenders make me a "Nine Rum Daiquiri;" it was amazing, but probably overkill. Typically, I blend three rums together to get an awesome flavor in daiquiris. As a bonus, the blend tends to have enough bite to make a great rum old fashioned. For the base rum, I like to use something that has your "Classic Rum" taste—some natural sweetness with a bit of caramel. This blend is a little different using Ten to One Caribbean White Rum ($31.99) which has a more interesting flavor than Bacardi white rum. Next, to add a little heat and a nice funkiness to the blend, we are going to add Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Rum ($29.99). This is one of my favorite rums; it is a "Navy Strength" rum, which means it is 114 proof, so you want to be careful with it. (You will also see gin in "Navy Strength"). I actually just bought this rum to "reacquaint" myself with it before writing this. There's a good amount of butterscotch on the nose, with a grassy earthiness that gives this blend strength to be great in an Old Fashioned. Then I want to add a rum that has a little spice and/or an interesting flavor. For that I will be using Plantation Pineapple Rum ($31.99) which is a beautiful dark Rum which is infused with pineapple. It has a nice caramel backbone, then there is the best natural pineapple flavor I have tasted in a flavored rum.
Okay, enough talking here's the blend.
1 oz Ten To One White Caribbean Rum
.5 oz Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum
.5 oz Plantation Pineapple Rum
I like to blend into bottles so I don't have to grab 3 different rums whilst making a cocktail. So I would use 1 bottle of Ten To One and a half bottle of both Smith & Cross and Plantation Pineapple. Then it is ready to go and you can just use it to make all your favorite rum cocktails.
And now, the fun part. Recipes.
Rum Old Fashioned
2 oz of Rum Blend (1 oz Ten To One, .5 oz Smith & Cross, .5 oz Plantation Pineapple)
.5 oz Agave Nectar (or simple Syrup)
2 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
Instructions: Add all ingredients into a mixing glass, add ice, stir to dilute, Strain over rocks into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime.
3 Rum Daiquiri
2 oz of Rum Blend (1 oz Ten To One, .5 oz Smith & Cross, .5 oz Plantation Pineapple)
.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice (We sell limes)
.75 oz Simple Syrup
1 dash of bitters (up to you)
Instructions: Add all ingredients into shaker tin, add ice, shake it like you mean it, Strain into a chilled cocktail and garnish with a lime.
There you go. now you are ready for your National Rum Day party.
From your bartender friend,
Nikola Govich
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Plantation Pineapple ($31.99)
Ten to One White ($31.99)
Smith & Cross ($29.99)
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