Episode 48 - Creamy Rum Cocktails (with just a teeny bit of work)

Is it always easy to do the right thing?  Of course not.  

A while ago, a listener left a comment on our blog page (as we would like you to do too) wondering if we could do some easy drinks for newcomers to the world of cocktails.  We gladly obliged and did a few shows that featured drinks that were very easy to make and only had a few ingredients.

This is not one of those shows.

Was it the right thing to do?  Of course.  Is it always easy doing the right thing?  Of course not!  It’s practically killing us just to be gentlemen!  But we do it.  We do it for you.  These two drinks are going to require a little prep work from you.  One of the drinks only has 3 ingredients.  One of them is rum.  You’ve got rum.  If you don’t, you know where you can get it.  You also need lime juice.  Get the limes while your out getting your rum.  The final ingredient is butter syrup.

Uh oh.  You don’t have butter syrup do you?  Neither did we.  This is that prep work we were talking about.  This is the ONE hard part in the Cold Buttered Rum by Dave Arnold and found in his mind warping book Liquid Intelligence.

We could explain to you the concept behind it all, but we don’t know it ourselves.
You know who does?  This guy.  Click on the YouTube clip below and he’ll walk you through we we had to do

Here’s the recipe for the syrup and the drink

Butter Syrup
-by Dave Arnold and found in his book, Liquid Intelligence

200 grams water
150 grams melted unsalted butter
200 grams granulated sugar
3 grams Ticaloid 210 S
10 allspice berries, crushed

1. Heat the water and infuse allspice berries for 5 minutes at a simmer, then strain out the allspice
2. Hydrate the Ticaloid 210 S in the allspice water using the hand blender
3. Add the melted butter and blend until smooth
4. Add the sugar and blend until smooth

Store outside the fridge until needed

Cold Buttered Rum
-by Dave Arnold and found in his book, Liquid Intelligence

2 ounces spiced rum
1 Fat ounce (1 1/8 ounces) of butter syrup
1/2 ounce  freshly strained lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker
Add ice and shake for about 15 seconds
Double strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass

Check out that creamy, buttery goodness!  The kicker in this drink is that little bit of lime juice.  The citrus cuts through all the richness and reminds you that you are drinking a rum drink after all.  The lime juice kind of elevates the whole experience and takes the drink beyond just a sweet creamy drink.  You will LOVE this drink.  Go get your Xanthan Gum and Gum Arabic right now!

This is what Wikipedia has to say about our next drink, Coquito!

"Coquito is a coconut-based alcoholic beverage traditionally only served in Puerto Rico, similar to eggnog, hence it is sometimes called Puerto Rican eggnog. It is always made with rum, coconut milk, sweet condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves"

We know it’s not Christmas right now, but the pairing of these two creamy rum cocktails was too good to pass up.  There are recipes all over the internet for this classic holiday treat.  We chose the one from Allrecipes.com and we are glad we did.  Now like we said . . . there is a bit of prep work.

Coquito Recipe (approximately 10 servings)
-from allrecipes.com

2 egg yolks, beaten
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14 ounce) can cream of coconut
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup white rum
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In the top of a double boiler, combine egg yolks and evaporated milk. Stirring constantly, cook over lightly simmering water until mixture reaches a temperature of 160 degrees F (71 degrees C).
The mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Transfer mixture to a blender, and add cream of coconut, sweetened condensed milk, rum, water, cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla. Blend for about 30 seconds. Pour into glass bottles and chill overnight.

We put a cinnamon stick in ours!

Jiminy Christmas!  Forget your regular old egg nog.  The Puerto Ricans have got it going on!  You'll never go back to that store bought swill again.  It will be all Coquito all the time from here on end.  We promise you.  We know what some of you are thinking.  You don't like coconut.  We don't like it either! (Except Fred)  Don't give it a second thought.  It's in there but it's not overpowering in any way.  Make this for a crowd in the summertime and see what they think.  Say it's Christmas in July!

As we said in the show, the world may be losing yet another of it's mid century tiki palaces.  This time Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach may be on it's way out.  Check out this video tour posted by one of our favourite YouTubers, Justin Scarred.

And finally, the Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure have been featured in print!  The spring issue of Indulge Magazine is out, and the Gents are featured in an article about podcasting.  Our big thanks go out to the Peace Arch News for inviting us to be a part of there great magazine.

If you don't happen to live in the White Rock/ South Surrey area of BC, you can have a peek at the electronic version right here.   Peace Arch News eEdtions     Please give it a read.

Until next time, keep on drinking!  

And reading . . .