FOOD AND DRINK TRENDS
SYNONYMOUS with pirates and the Caribbean, rum is enjoying a revival but you don’t need to carouse with seafaring scoundrels to drown a cocktail laced with a clear white spirit, or plunge into a golden oldie for some spicy warmth.
The latest offering from master mixologist Tristan Stephenson is a treasure chest of silver and gold (rum). The Curious Bartender’s Rum Revolution delves into rum’s darker past.
“Drunk neat, rum is a marvel,” says Tristan. “In mixed drinks, it is magical.”
Here are three of Tristan’s recipes to get you in the mood for a rumfest... Ingredients: 50ml Havana Club 3-Year-Old (£19.35, 70cl, The Whisky Exchange) 20ml lime juice 10ml sugar syrup 12 fresh mint leaves, soda water Method: 1. Take a chunky highball and throw the mint leaves in. 2. Gently bruise the mint leaves using a muddler. It’s essential that you’re gentle - if you crush the leaves you’ll release bittertasting chlorophyll into the drink. 3. Douse the leaves in the rum and give a good stir, then add the lime juice and sugar syrup. Throw a scoop of crushed ice in and give the mixture a good churn with a long spoon. Pile more ice on top, give it another stir, then fill any space with soda. 4. Stir again, add more ice (if needed), then garnish with a lime wedge and a fresh sprig of mint. Drink with a straw. Ingredients: 50ml aged white rum 120ml Coca Cola Half a lime Method: 1. In accordance with the version of this drink in Charles H. Baker’s Gentleman’s Companion (1939), I’m a strong advocate of a quick lime muddle as the first step of construction. 2. Squeeze the lime juice into a separate vessel and drop the spent shell into a highball glass. Squash it to remove the oils, then add cubed ice, rum, lime juice and coke. Give it a good stir. Ingredients: 60ml Bacardi Carta Blanca (£13, 70cl, Waitrose) 15ml fresh lime juice 10ml sugar syrup Method: 1. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously with cubed ice for at least 30 seconds. Strain into a frozen coupe glass. Don’t garnish it.