Coquito

Credit: Alejandra Ramos, Always Order Dessert

Ingredients

12 oz evaporated milk
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
15 oz Coco López Cream of Coconut
14 oz coconut milk
24 oz Puerto Rican rum
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

Directions

Combine everything in a blender except for the cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean—blend in batches if needed. Add the cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean. Pour into bottles or pitchers and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours to get cold and for the flavors to settle. Serve in small glasses.

Notes

Ok, so, my father-in-law is 1/2 Puerto Rican and I hope his mother would have been happy—or amused at least—that I brought this to our first Christmas gathering together in a while! It’s so tasty, and not at all overly sweet despite the comical amount of sweet things that go into it. A fun change from eggnog!

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Averna Toddy

Credit: Elena Lepkowski, Serious Eats

Ingredients

1 oz Amaro Averna
1/2 oz brown sugar syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
4 oz boiling water
lemon peel garnish

Directions

Combine everything in a mug and garnish with lemon peel.

Notes

Note: I didn’t make the spiced syrup that Elena Lepkowski includes in her article, because I wanted to make this with ingredients I already had on hand. This was fantastic, and the bizarre thing—it tasted exactly like hot apple cider! Like, exactly. It was the funniest thing!

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La Bomba

Credit: The Educated Barfly, citing Joaquín Simó

Ingredients

2 oz rum
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
5 raspberries
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
raspberry garnish

Directions

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Muddle the raspberries. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with raspberries.

Notes

Ok, these are just dangerous. I struggle with daiquiris sometimes, and here the added pomegranate molasses and raspberries add just enough to bring this drink right to the sweet-tart line.

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Mai Tai

Credit: Jeff “Beachbum” Berry

Ingredients

1 oz Rhum Clément VSOP Martinique Rum
1 oz Appleton Estate Signature Blend Jamaican Rum
1/2 ounce Pierre Ferrand Curaçao
1/2 ounce orgeat
1/4 oz 2:1 demerara syrup
1 oz lime juice
spent lime shell
mint garnish

Directions

Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice. Garnish with spent lime shell and mint.

Notes

Fantastic—definitely needs the ice for some dilution. Jeff “Beachbum” Berry is the authority on tiki drinks!

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Cafe Colada

Credit: Cocktail Chemistry, citing Brandon Bramhall, Attaboy Nashville

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Appleton Estate Signature Blend Rum
1/2 oz Tempus Fugit Creme de Banane
1/2 oz Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
3/4 oz Coco López
1/2 oz orange juice
1/4 oz lime juice
nutmeg garnish

Directions

Shake and strain over crushed ice. Grate nutmeg over the top.

Notes

Another great tiki drink. It reminds me of the Mr. Bali Hai as coffee is the dominant flavor to me, then coconut. I didn’t get much banana, but I might try it next time with Giffard Banane du Bresil.

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Piña Colada Clarified Milk Punch

Credit: Cocktail Chemistry

Ingredients

8 oz aged rum
4 1/2 oz Harmless Coconut Water
2 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
3 oz pineapple juice
2 oz lime juice, strained
5 oz whole milk

Directions

1. Add milk to a large container and set aside.

2. Mix the remaining ingredients into another container.

3. Slowly pour the mixture into the milk, and gently stir until it curdles.

4. Run a few ounces of the curdled mixture through through a coffee filter, then pour those first few ounces back into the filter.

5. Filter the remaining curdled mixture…it will take a few hours!

6. Bottle and store in the fridge. To serve, pour about 4 oz over a large ice cube in a rocks glass.

Notes

Finally! Success with clarified milk punch. This stuff is sooo easy to drink…be careful! I recommend Harmless Coconut Water as it tastes so much more like coconut than other brands.

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Key Lime Pie

★ Original Cocktail ★

Ingredients

2 oz Brinley Shipwreck Coconut Rum
3/4 oz caramelized condensed coconut milk
1/2 oz blended lime cordial
1/4 oz lime juice
4 drops saline solution
grated graham cracker garnish

Directions

Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice. Grate graham cracker over the top.

Notes

This is my first original cocktail, and it nails the key lime pie flavor. This took some trial and error, including using heavy cream, which didn’t work. Brinley Shipwreck is key here, because of its thicker, sweeter texture.

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Orange Whip

Credit: Leandro DiMonriva, The Educated Barfly

Ingredients

1 oz Plantation 3 Stars White Rum
1 oz Brinley Shipwreck Coconut Rum
1/2 oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
1 oz heavy cream
1 oz orange juice
3/4 oz lime acid orange
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
1 egg white
sparkling water

Directions

Add some ice cubes to a chilled collins glass, then pour in 1 1/2 oz sparking water. Dry shake all the remaining ingredients, add ice, then shake again until chilled. Strain and pour into the glass, and let it rest for a minute. Slowly pour soda water into the center of the foam until it rises above the rim.

Notes

This is like an orange coconut version of a Ramos Gin Fizz, but tastes a lot like an Orange Julius. For the win! Watch the Educated Barfly video for more on the drink’s origin. I used ingredients I had on hand, so my recipe is slightly different.

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The Remedy

Credit: Existing Conditions

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum
1/2 ounce Smith & Cross Navy Strength Rum
3/4 ounce lime acid orange
3/4 ounce caramelized condensed coconut milk
4 drops saline solution

Directions

Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice.

Notes

This is a take on the classic Painkiller. It’s amazing how much pineapple comes through solely with the rum and no actual juice. I’d have to taste this and a Painkiller side by side since this drink tasted nearly the same to me.

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Painkiller

Origin: The Soggy Dollar

Ingredients

2 oz Smith & Cross Navy Strength Rum
4 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
1 oz Coco López
grated nutmeg on top
orange and Luxardo cherry garnish

Directions

Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice.

Notes

Ok, I see why this is called a Painkiller—even after splitting one with my husband! Coco López is key here. It has the essential flavor and texture for this cocktail. The Smith & Cross rum is perfect, and necessary to shine through the Coco López.

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Lucano Corretto

Credit: The Educated Barfly, citing Ryan Wainright and Kara Newman, Nightcap

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Amaro Lucano
1/2 oz Flor de Cana 12 Year Rum
1/2 oz Mr Black Coffee Liqueur
1/2 oz heavy cream
2 dashes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
chocolate garnish

Directions

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Grate chocolate over the top.

Notes

This is a perfect nightcap. Even with no sugar syrup and using a much less sweet coffee liqueur, the drink is plenty sweet from the amaro, and has a bitter, spicy, intriguing flavor. I’d like to get white chocolate next time for a bit more creaminess—I used a dark chocolate almond orange bar, which was still fantastic. And Fee’s Aztec Chocolate bitters have so much flavor!

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Hot Buttered Rum

Credit: How to Drink

Ingredients

2 oz brown butter-washed banana rum
4 oz hot water
1/4 oz cinnamon syrup
star anise and cinnamon stick garnish

Directions

Stir ingredients in a warmed glass mug. Garnish with star anise and a cinnamon stick.

Notes

This is unbelievable. It tastes like hot liquid banana bread. Sip slowly—it goes down easy!

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Egg Nog

Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Ingredients

2 large eggs
4 tbsp superfine or baker's sugar
2 oz Argonaut Speculator Brandy
2 oz Siesta Key Spiced Rum
6 oz whole milk
4 oz heavy cream
grated nutmeg

Directions

Beat eggs in blender for one minute on medium speed. Slowly add sugar and blend for one additional minute. With blender still running, add brandy, rum, milk and cream until combined. Chill thoroughly to allow flavors to combine and serve in chilled glasses, grating nutmeg on top immediately before serving.

Notes

Quite unlike most egg nogs I’ve had, which have been too thick, sweet, or boozy. This is elegant, smooth, drinkable, and can be made in advance! I didn’t have enough of my homemade spiced rum so took a chance on Siesta Key—a worthy alternative for eggnog use. I cut the sugar down to 4 tbsp and it was plenty sweet.

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Piña Colada (Puerto Rican Style)

Ingredients

2 oz Siesta Key Spiced Rum
1 oz heavy cream
1 oz Coco López
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
4 ice cubes
Luxardo cherry garnish

Directions

Blend everything in a blender. Garnish with a cherry.

Notes

The first time I made a piña colada, it was way to watery. Then I got the great idea from Serious Eats to freeze the ingredients! Frozen pineapple to the rescue! I’ve since also frozen heavy cream in 1/2 oz cubes. Use Coco López without question. Also, I switched from coconut to spiced rum as it’s more balanced and interesting. I didn’t have much of my homemade spiced rum left, so I bought Siesta Key—a worthy choice.

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Tasting: Jungle Bird 2 Ways

Credit: Brad Thomas Parsons, Amaro

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz blackstrap rum
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
3/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz 2:1 demerara syrup

Directions

Shake and strain over ice.

Notes

Fun to have Campari in a tiki drink! I tried this drink with 2 different rums: Gosling’s Black Seal Rum and Cruzan Black Strap Rum. The Gosling’s Rum led to a more pineapple-forward drink. The Cruzan was much more assertively molasses.

Verdict

My husband preferred the Cruzan version. As much as I love pineapple, I tend to agree!

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Spiced Rum Old Fashioned

Ingredients

2 oz spiced rum
1/4 oz cinnamon syrup
2-3 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
orange peel

Directions

Build in a glass and add an ice sphere. Squeeze orange peel over drink to release oils, then use as a garnish.

Notes

This might be my drink. It’s so smooth for being on the boozy side, and the cinnamon, orange, and spices from the rum play so well together. Perfect.

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Spiced Rum and Ginger Beer

Ingredients

1 oz spiced rum
4 oz Fever Tree Ginger Beer
lime wedge

Directions

Build over ice.

Notes

Wow, this drink lets that spiced rum shine! I used less lime than I did in the Dark and Stormy since the ginger beer is less sweet, and I wanted to play up the spices in the rum.

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Mr. Bodi Hai

Credit: Shannon Mustipher, Tiki, citing Nathan Hazard

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz blended aged rum (I used Appleton Estate Extra 12)
1/4 oz Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
1/4 oz Giffard Banane du Bresil
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz macadamia orgeat
dash of Angostura Bitters
Luxardo cherry garnish

Directions

Shake and strain over crushed ice.

Notes

Alas, I wanted this drink to be sweeter. I also couldn’t really taste the banana or the orgeat. My husband liked it though…he said he liked “its darkness.” Oh well, back to Mr. Bali Hais for me!

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Spiced Rum

Credit: Martin Cate, Smuggler’s Cove

Ingredients

750 ml rum (I used Plantation Original Dark rum)
4 inches of a vanilla bean, pod and scraped seeds
2 1/2 x 1 1/2-inch strip of orange peel, with as much white pith removed as possible
3 allspice berries
4-inch cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
5 whole peppercorns
1/2-inch piece of ginger, sliced
demerara syrup, optional

Directions

Put everything into a mason jar and let sit for 3 days, stirring once a day. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, then a coffee filter. Add 1 ounce of demerara syrup if needed, depending on your base rum.

Notes

There’s no comparison—making your own spiced rum is the way to go. The Plantation Original Dark was plenty sweet enough without adding any demerara syrup. This rum is so good I can sip it straight, which says something as I don’t like super-strong drinks. I can’t wait to try this in a hot toddy or eggnog!

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Cold Buttered Rum

Credit: Dave Arnold, Liquid Intelligence; Cocktail Chemistry

Ingredients

1 fat ounce butter syrup (1 oz + 1 tsp)
1/4 oz lime juice
2 oz Brown Butter-Washed Banana Rum

Directions

Shake and strain into a chilled rocks glass.

Notes

Ok, this took some trial and error! The first time I mixed this, I accidentally doubled the amount of lime when I doubled the recipe, as I was making it for me and my husband. Then I followed Dave Arnold’s recipe and used 1/2 oz lime, and it was still too acidic. Both times I had also used Sailor Jerry’s spiced rum, which is slightly higher proof at 92. So I scrapped everything and decided to try infused rum and less lime.

WOW. This stuff is sweet, buttery, and totally different than anything else I’ve tried. Next time I’d serve it over a large ice sphere because: 1) the cocktail could afford some dilution; and 2 to keep it cold—the richness of the butter at room temperature can make the mouthfeel a bit off. Now that I have a preferred amount of lime, I’d be curious to try this cocktail with other rums.

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