(Bermuda) Rum Swizzle

Saturday was one of the sweatiest days in recent memory. On one hand, it served as a fine instrument for purging the rotten alcohol in my tired bloodstream. On the other, comfort could be found only in an air conditioned breeze. Boat drinks were in order - exhibiting in one glass the feeling of tropical waters and the kiss of an ocean spray.  

I like to think that the inherent social nature of cocktails reveals an entirely alternative angle to the term “boat drinks.” It seems to me that booze notoriously eases the inhibitions of two complete strangers toward some manner of solidarity. And this solidarity (permit me to stretch a bit) can best be described as two people having that existential feeling of "being in the same boat;” hence, boat drinks.

Anyway, I'm not a tiki-bartender. But I do admire the occasional indulgence of these exhilarated flotillas of alcohol and juices. One of these attempts has been with the Rum Swizzle. 

To clarify, the addition of Gosling's or other Bermuda rum would require the salutation of "Bermuda" Rum Swizzle. But one mixes drinks with the bar that he/she has (something former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld might have been inclined to say) and I was fresh out of Bermuda rum. Life goes on. 

Rum Swizzle

- 2 oz of rum (I use Myers's Jamaican Dark Rum)
- 1 oz of fresh lemon juice
- 1 oz of fresh orange juice
- 1 oz of pineapple juice (preferably fresh)
- 1/2 oz of falernum
- 1 oz of simple syrup
- 2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Glassware: pint glass

Pour 2 oz of dark rum into the pint glass.

Pour in 1 oz of fresh lemon juice.

Pour in 1 oz of fresh orange juice.

Pour in 1 oz of pineapple juice.

Pour in 1/2 oz of falernum.

Pour 1 oz of simple syrup and Angostura bitters.

Add ice and stir a dozen times.  Garnish with a cherry and a lime wheel.  Enjoy.

As usual, I’ve pulled a combination of recipes. One recipe for the Rum Swizzle came from Dale Degroff's legendary book The Craft of the Cocktail and the other recipe at DrinkBoy.com. It's a very bright cocktail that couldn't quite taste the same without the exotic spice of the falernum. Some sites seem to suggest grenadine is an acceptable substitute. Resist this assertion. The falernum makes the drink.

So as my friend (and professional renegade) Virginia Lee say: “boat drinks!”

For Sh*ts and Giggles: Homemade Falernum

It seems as though nearly all of the mixology heavy weights have descended upon New Orleans, Louisiana (or "NoLa" as the kids are so artfully abbreviating it) for Tales of the Cocktail.  Not me.  I'm here in DC as an observer from afar.

Ah, but opportunity presents itself!  As Camper English, a San Francisco journalist, demonstrates on his blog Alcademics, there will be a significant outage in the communications from the blogger elites.  What a perfect occasion for rendition of their readership. 

Right.

Anyway, making my way through the tribulations of fresh homemade ingredients, I fell upon falernum.  Since the temperature outside is crying havoc its perfectly appropriate to get bamboo straws, little umbrellas and toss together "boat drinks."  And since falernum can be found in a number of such cocktails I took time to build this strange ingredient from scratch.

I sought guidance from RumDood's blog and his journey to make was seems to be a great homemade falernum.  Sooner or later I stumbled upon another promising recipe at Cocktail Chronicles.  I perused several other sites but relied primarily on a constituency of these two approaches. 

Falernum


Stage One:
8 oz of Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum
2 oz fresh shredded ginger
Zest from 8 limes (this is a pain in the trousers)
40 whole cloves
2 anise stars

Stage Two:
14 oz simple syrup (2:1 - cold processed)
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
4 oz fresh lime juice

Necessary tools: a zester, cheesecloth

Stage one: steep the shredded ginger, lime zest, cloves and anise stars in the rum for twenty-four hours.

Stage two (24 hours later): collect the resulting liquid using cheesecloth.  Add simple syrup, lime juice, and almond extract.  Mix the combination and it's ready to serve.

I'll be making Bermuda Rum Swizzles at Tonic today.  If you're hoping to slip global warming for a moment and reinvigorate yourself with a fresh boat drink, step into Tonic and put me and my homemade falernum to the task.