of thee i sing, baby

1 1/2 oz Jamaican Rum (Coruba Dark)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Grenadine
Juice 1/2 Lemon (3/4 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry and a small sprig of mint.

Two Thursdays ago for the cocktail hour, I began flipping through Bottom's Up when I spotted the Of Thee I Sing, Baby. The drink was created by actor William Gaxton and named after a stage musical he was in during the 1930s. What drew me to the recipe was that it had a resemblance to the Periodista with grenadine and lemon instead of apricot liqueur and lime.
The mint garnish contributed to the drink's bouquet along with the fruitiness of the citrus and grenadine and the funkiness of the Jamaican rum. The citrus and pomegranate notes continued on into the sip and were chased by the flavorful dark rum on the swallow. The lemon certainly took the drink in a different direction from a Daiquiri or Periodista, but it definitely worked in this combination.