Cocktail No 48 Muddy Water

So Cuba Libre (Rum & Coke with Lime to most people) replacing the lime with orange juice. The OJ makes a real difference. Since I am not really a Coke fan, I can't really say whether I am enjoying this.

It lives up to its name and looks like a muddy slurry. I guess the relatively high proportions of Rum and Orange Juice to Coke makes this a potent drink and changes the balance of flavour. Its definitely not a Rum & Coke. It is growing on me, but not sure its a repeater.

Mmmmh can't really say much more about this, but most people will have the ingredients in house, so try it and let me know what you think.

NB - there seems to be multiple completely different recipes for the Muddy Water.

Recipe

Fill a Highball glass with Ice. Add 1 measure White Rum with 1 Part Orange Juice and 2 measures Cola.

Cocktail No 38 Hemingway

I bought a grapefruit just to make this one, and since it is freshly squeezed explains why I made this and the Lieutenant on the same evening.

I've been reading a bit of Hemingway recently and therefore wanted to make this one. First I read "The Sun Also Rises" as I was visiting Pamplona and it was quite a good read. Just finished "A Farewell to Arms" and can't really say it worked for me. Not sure why, but I found it hard work.

Quite unlike this cocktail on the other hand. This is entering into my pantheon of favourites and will be repeated I am sure. The mix of Rum and Cointreau with a sour is always a winner. At equal measures you would expect it to be very sweet and it is, but less than I expected. Far less so than the Apricot Brandy in the Lieutenant. A benefit of this is that the Grapefruit Juice comes through clearly and very pleasantly. The Sparkling Wine gives a great lift and tingles in the mouth, making it a great drink sensation as well as taste.

Recipe

2-3 Ice cubes
40 ml White Rum
40 ml Cointreau
40 ml Grapefruit juice
Sparking wine

Add White Rum, Cointreau and Grapefruit Juice to a shaker and shake very well on ice. Strain into a Champagne glass and top up with Sparkling Wine.

Cocktail No 29 East india

Its a Rum night tonight and the East India is fabulous on a cold, miserable night like tonight.

I am really surprised by this cocktail. It only has a splash of pineapple juice, but it mixes and blends with the Rum to a much greater flavour that I would have predicted. As alcohol strength goes, its up there with the Martini, as its basically neat rum diluted with a teaspoon of juice. However I wouldn't be tempted to increase the pineapple juice otherwise the drink will be overly sweet. If its too strong, then add a splash of soda.

This is another one of multiple sensations. Initially just coldness on the tongue and no flavour, developing into sweetness after 1/2 a second, which rapidly becomes recognisable as pineapple, then as you swallow that wonderful harshness of the rum biting then warming at the back of the throat - me likee. This could be fantastic made with Cachaça instead of rum and then it would be a very aggressive drink.

Recipe

Add 1 & 1/2 measures white rum to a shaker with 1 teaspoon of Cointreau, 1 teaspoon of pineaple juice and a dash of angostura bitters. Shake on ice until chilled and strain into a cocktail glass.

Cocktail No 21 Mississippi

The Old-Fasioned went down very quickly and the Mississippi was on the same page and looked very good, so that's the only excuse I will offer for indulging!

I didn't have Rye whisky in so I made this with Scotch. Can' say its made much of a difference. This is from the same family as Daiquiri's - in fact you could describe it as a Daiquiri using 50:50 whisky and rum. It has much less sugar so the tartness of the lemon juice really cuts through. Its cold and raining here, but you can imagine how refreshing this would be on a balmy summer night in the Southern states.

The whisky and rum blend well together. If you know there are there, you can identify their individual tastes, but I think it would take a very refined palate to identify them in a blind tasting.

Recipe

Add 1 measure each of Rye Whisky, White Rum and lemon juice to a shaker with 2 dashes of sugar syrup. Shake on ice and strain into a tumbler. Decorate with a spiral of lemon peel.

Cocktail No 16 Daiquiri (classic)

Forget the frozen slushpuppy versions that seem all you can get in the bars today, the original version is far superior and a well deserved classic of the cocktail world. It counts high as one of my favourites (I'm a traditionalist at heart)! I had to make up fresh sugar syrup for this one (225 g of sugar dissolved and boiled in 300 mls of water - store in fridge).

If you have never had one you must try it. The mouth feel is incredible - tartness from the lemon or lime juice, sweetness from the rum and sugar syrup and earthiness from the rum. The flavours come one after the other and there is a chilling effect on the roof of the mouth. Its quite hard to describe the experience except to say its is really good and intense and I recommend you try it. You can see from the pics that I used freshly squeezed lemon juice which clouds the drink. I don't mind that but if you want it perfectly clear use the bottled lemon juice.

With thanks from Wikipedia for the history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daiquiri

Recipe

Add 2 measures of Barcardi or white rum to a cocktail shaker with 1 measure of lemon or lime juice and 1/2 measure of sugar syrup. Shake on ice and strain into a cocktail glass, Drink and enjoy - no further garnishes are needed for this raw, elemental drink.

Cocktail No 15 Fireman's Sour

A sweet and sour delight for rum lovers. Other recipes call for more lemon, but I think this one is better balanced and not too sharp but with a definite sting. Its getting the weekend of to a wonderful start.

The rum is the predominant flavour, very caramelly and rich, but cut by the lemonjuice. The grenadine mainly adds colour, but the combination with the soda water really distinguishes it from a daquiri, which has similar proportions.

Recipe

Add 3 measures of Bacardi rum to a cocktail shaker with 1/2 measure of lemon juice and one teaspoon of grenadine. Shake with ice and strain into a tumbler. Decorate with 3 cocktail cherries and 6 small triangles of lemon.

Top Up with a little soda water.

Cocktail No 14 Barcardi Blossom

New batch of rum made so started with the first rum based cocktail. Surprisingly tart and dry considering the main component is rum and since this is made from fermented sugar cane, it is intrinsically sweet. The lemon juice is surprisingly effective, considering such a small amount is used. The orange juice just gives colouring.

Recipe

Add 2 measures of white rum (Barcardi) to a cocktail shaker with 2 tespoons of orange juice and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice with one teaspoon of sugar syrup (or one teaspoon castor sugar). Add ice, shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

Cocktail No 6 Havana Club

Getting back to the classics, which to be honest is the majority of cocktails that I drink.

Havana Club - how to describe it - the molasses from the rum gives a great warm under belly to this drink. I used spiced rum, which gives an extra kick whilst the original calls for white rum.

The rosso vermouth has a strong flavour so be gentle on the measure. It provides a complexity of flavour from all the herbs and aromatics - too much will create bitterness and cloying sweetness. The ratio of 2:1 is about right IMHO.

Shame I have run out of rum - a second one would be most welcome. This one is a keeper in my books.

Recipe

Add 2 measures of White Rum and 1 measure of Rosso Vermouth to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Decorate with a cocktail cherry on a stick.