The Cocktail Barrel #2

I have been very busy lately for various reasons so I couldn’t update The Cocktail Barrel, so here are the recipes acquired over 3 months. For the full list of drink recipes visit The Cocktail Barrel section. Feel free to contact me for any questions.

There aren’t a lot of drinks, but I still played with a few rums in my collection, all different style. The very first recipe got the thumbs up from the owner of the rum featured in the drink so I guess I’m doing something right.

This drink is not inspired by anything in particular, I just really wanted to use J. Gow Revenge in a drink, so I had a look in the fridge and cupboard and ended up this this fruity and spicy serve.

J. Gow is a Scottish rum brand made at the VS Distillery on the Lamb Holm island in Orkney, Scotland. They proud themselves with the oldest UK distilled rum stock, from which the Revenge hails.

J. Gow Revenge is a lovely 3 year old Scottish rum that has fruity, savoury and spicy notes so it paired well with my ingredients. Here it is:

Former Caroline

Lime juice – 25ml
Cinnamon syrup – 15ml
Fino Sherry – 15ml
Creme de Peche – 15ml
J. Gow Revenge – 25ml
Apple juice – 50ml

Shake all the ingredients and strain the drink in a highball over cubed ice. Garnish with an apple fan (yes, I’m a fan of my apple fans) and a cinnamon stick.

This went down too easy, I wholeheartedly recommend this drink. The sherry gives it a lovely tart that pairs amazingly with the peach and apple notes while the cinnamon brings out the spiciness from the aged rum.

I got my mixing glass out in order to make a drink using the bottle of extra dry White Port I purchased the other day.

I decided to go with Admiral Rodney Officer’s Releases No. 1 which is a Saint Lucian column distilled rum that was finished in a former port cask – seemed like an obvious choice.

The rum comes from Saint Lucia Distillers, a well established rum producer available on the UK market with brands such as Chairman’s, Bounty and, of course, Admiral Rodney.

For who knows, the name is pretty obvious, just went with the provenance of the rum and the whole port theme… as in I Googled ‘Saint Lucia port’ and I got:

Port Castries

Admiral Rodney Officer’s Release No. 1 – 50ml
White Extra Dry Port – 20ml
Creme de Peche – 10ml
Creme de Banane – 10ml
Dried Lime Leaves – 4

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass and stir until chilled and double strain to a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a dried lime leaf on the rim using a tiny peg.

The port influences really come through while the liquors balance out their dryness. The lime leaves are very subtle, but I do think they add a ‘thin’ extra layer to the drink.

Couldn’t buy a litre of Worthy Park 109 without using it in a drink, and it also offered me the opportunity to use my new SodaStream.

Worthy Park 109 is a pot still Jamaican offering made at the Worthy Park Estate that has been heavily coloured with caramel in order to make it more of a ‘Navy Style Dark Rum’ and bottled at 54.5% ABV competing with the likes of Pusser’s and Wood’s.

Given this is a bold rum I decided to go with bold flavours and carbonated black tea as a lengthener – Worthy Park usually has a strong black tea note as well.

After thinking about a witty name, all I came up was:

Wor-Tea Highball

Lime juice – 25ml
Cinnamon syrup – 10ml
John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum – 10ml
Absinthe – 5ml
Green Chartreuse – 25ml
Worthy Park 109 – 25ml
Carbonated Black Tea – top (50-75ml)

Add all the ingredients except the tea to a shaker and shake. Pour in a highball (or a cool mug like mine), add cubed ice, top with the carbonated black tea and garnish with a cinnamon stick and star anise.

The result is a herbal/spicy tea-like mix which, despite the high ABV ingredients, it’s easy to drink while the flavours are still punching through.

I posted a list of my favourite rums for a Daiquiri recently and following on that I’ve been suggested to use Aluna Coconut in one.

Aluna Coconut Rum is one of the better coconut flavoured rums out there. They source real toasted coconuts to infuse in their rum blend and use coconut water in order to bring it down to (the new) bottling strength – recently they have upped the ABV from 35% ABV to 37.5 ABV.

Of course I couldn’t limit myself to just a simple Daiquiri so I came up with an updated, yet simple version:

Daicurry

Aluna Coconut (Lime Leaves Infused) – 50ml
Absinthe – 5ml
Lime Juice – 25ml
Agave Syrup – 10ml

Add all the ingredients to a shaker and shake. Strain into a cute coupe and garnish with a lime twist.

For the infusion I used 2 dried lime leaves and 100ml of Aluna Coconut left to infuse for 18 hours.

The coconut-lime leaves combo is a match made in heaven, especially if you enjoy Thai cuisine and the absinthe is there for some extra oomph and complexity. Simple and delicious!