Hello and happy Friday once again. We’re smack dab in the middle of the holidays. I’ve decided to channel the season and make a hard to find but yet seasonally appropriate beverage: Hot Buttered Rum. This is a drink I’ve heard about numerous times, but never actually looked into making or serving. This is a bit more complicated than a normal cocktail. You’re essentially mixing up a batter to which you add rum and hot water. Let’s see how it turned out!

Hot Buttered Rum:

2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Pinch salt

3/4 cup spiced rum

2 cups boiling water

4 sticks cinnamon, for garnish

Using an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar, butter, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a 4-cup (or larger) measuring cup. Add the rum and then 2 cups of boiling water. Stir until the butter mixture dissolves. Divide the buttered rum among 4 mugs. Garnish with the cinnamon sticks and serve.

Ok, so let’s get started.

I scaled this down so it only made two servings, because that’s a fuck ton of butter even for myself and Mrs. Sharkbait who offered to help taste test. Lacking a stand mixer where I currently am, I had to mix the batter by hand. Which actually wasn’t too bad. A stand mixer would make it easier on the arms, but breaking out the mixer for a small application might be a bit overkill unless you’re scaling up.

Now to add the batter to a liquid measure, and then dump in the rum and the hot water.

Despite the brown sugar base and honey, this was not as sweet as I thought it would be. The rum is the most dominant flavor, as it should be. With a name like ‘Hot Buttered Rum” the rum should be a featured player. After the rum, the cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg all come together with a hint of underlying sweetness from the brown sugar and honey. I think it could have used a bit more clove to help cut the sweet and rich flavors. Where the clove really shines is the nose, where it pairs with the cinnamon to basically smell like the holidays in a mug.

This drink is absolutely a one and done. Not for the booziness of it, but the fact that each serving is 1/4 stick of butter.  I’m not sure it’s possible (or advisable) to have more than one. After a few sips, your entire mouth is coated in buttery rum residue, which does linger. I sipped my mug down and then went back for a top off, and I soon discovered that was a bad idea. I did not finish the topped off mug. This cocktail is essentially dessert in a mug. However I can also see how this could either be paired with some ice cream, or even poured over some.

The batter base can easily be scaled up to serve more than the 4 the base recipe makes. It can also be made ahead and kept in the fridge to have one on demand. So it’s easy to make and tasty. But keep it to one, for your arteries’ sake.

(Banner image found here)