Ron Abuela Rum
Old Monk Rum
Swedish Punsch
b) 2 Sugar Cubes
Lemon Rind
Orange Rind
Modified Angostura Bitters
Mole Bitters
Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters
c) Becherovka
The sugar cubes and bitters in (b) were muddled in a rocks glass. The citrus peels were scraped against the remaining sugar crystals and left in the glass. The rums and liquours in (a) were stirred with ice and strained into the rocks glass. Becherovka in (c) was added to a snifter, lit with a lighter, and poured while flaming into the rocks glass. A large ice cube was added to the glass.
My notes state that the modified Angostura was adulterated with cardamom, cherry bark, and other botanicals, and that his Swedish Punsch (he did not call it that but citrus and cardamom flavors made it sound as such) was Batavia Arrack with grapefruit and orange peel, cardamom, and possible another spice or two that I missed. So with the Batavia Arrack, technically there were 3 rums in this old fashioned. Tastewise, it was very herbal and intense in the bitters signature. Clove was an evident flavor most likely stemming from the Becherovka, and the citrus oils from the peels were strong on the nose throughout the drink. The two dark rums donated a robust richness to carry the spice and bitters. Overall, it was a great drink both in show and in taste. Calling it an old fashioned does not do the drink justice. Perhaps an old fashioned on
As I was finishing this drink, Andrea showed up and ordered some dinner and wine. I was pretty cocktailed out by this point, so I finished the evening with a bottle of Orval, a complex Belgian beer that made for a fine transition. We did stop back in to Green Street's Inauguration Party and said hello to a few people before departing for home.
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2 comments:
Fred, I'm curious to try a recipe like this (or the 4-rum old fashioned from Ben you posted about more recently). Do you think the chartreuse added to this drink, or did it fog up the rum-ness? I have no Berchecova, but I thought about flaming either some chartreuse or some lemon hart 151, and maybe using some of my homemade pimento dram as one of the spirit components. In any event, this has given me some fun ideas to play around with.
If you're afraid that the Chartreuse would fog things up, by all means add a small amount or use the more mild yellow version. The Becherovka added some extra spice to it especially a lot of clove. Not sure what the burning really did other than perhaps add some caramel notes and change the liqueur flavor profile a little -- I think it was more for bar theater than a necessity. Pimento dram, while rather different from Becherovka could take the drink in a good but different direction. Then again, the relatively stripped down version that Ben made me was great to drink and more rum-forward and unfogged in its rum-ness.
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