Thread: It's National Rum Day!

And American rum sucks, so grab a bottle of something good and drink up me hearties!

If straight is too much for ya, try these timeless cocktail legends...

The original Trader Vic's Mai Tai, circa 1944, twisted for the better:

1/2 oz fresh lime juice (always fresh - NEVER buy lime juice pre-made)
1/2 oz simple sugar syrup
1/2 oz Orgeat syrup
3/4 oz orange curacao
1 oz St. James Extra Old Rum (from Martinique)
1 oz Myers Dark Rum (from Jamaica)
Garnish with a mint sprig


The original Zombie, circa 1934 from Don the Beachcomber in Beverly Hills:

3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/4 oz white grapefruit juice
1/4 oz cinammon infused simple sugar syrup
1/2 oz falernum
1-1/2 oz Bacardi gold (crappy Puerto Rican rum, but mixes well in this drink)
1-1/2 oz Appleton V/X (fantasic Jamaican rum)
1 oz Lemon Heart 151 Rum (simply the best rum around for under $80 - this Demerara rum from Guyana will kick your ass, and you will lover every second of it)
1/8 teaspoon of Pernod or Herbsaint (any quality anise will do)
1/8 teaspoon of grenadine (not Roses red food dye sugar water - get the real stuff made from pomegranate - trust me!)
Dash of Angostura bitters
Garnish with a mint sprig

The Rum Runner (1970's, Florida)

1-1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz blackberry brandy
1 oz creme de banana
1/2 oz grenadine
3/4 151 Cruzan rum from the Virgin Islands


The Hurricane (1940's Pat O'Briens in Naw-lens)

2 oz fresh lemon juice
2 oz passion fruit syrup (Monin's if you can find it)
4 oz Dark Jamaican rum (Coruba for a brown sugarish flavor, Myers for a molasses nod, or Appleton Extra for an oaky caramel slant)

The Navy Grog (1941, Don the Beachcombers)

3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 white grapefruit juice
3/4 club soda
1 oz honey mix (equal parts honey and water, heated, dissolved, then chilled)
1 oz light Puerto Rican rum (Bacardi if you have to, but subbing Flor de Cana rum from Nicaragua is much better)
1 oz Myers dark Jamaican rum
1 oz 80 proof El Dorado Demerara rum (from Guyana, a little easier to find than the Lemon Heart version)

Listen to this guy. He knows things.