Finally, FINALLY it is seasonable up in the northeast. What that means is warm days and warm weather drinking! To me, that is solidly rum territory, and that’s what I wanted to work with this week. I’m turning to the Waldorf Astoria bar book for a book named for a royal using a Caribbean rum as a base. Let’s mix this one up and try to keep cool shall we?

Queen Elizabeth

2.5 oz. Appleton Estate 12 year Jamaican Rum

.25 oz. Fresh lime juice

.3 oz. House made grenadine

2 dashes Orange bitters

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled Old Fashioned glass with large ice cubes or sphere. Garnish with orange peel and brandied cherry

I did not have Appleton 12, so I rolled with the Bacardi 8. I definitely need to up my rum game. That might be the next purchase. Outside of Gosling’s for summer dark and stormys of course.

The nose is very rum forward. In fact, that is mostly what I get. I can maybe discern some lime in there, but the run definitely steals the aroma prize. Given there is 2.5 ounces of the stuff in there, I’m not really that surprised that is the lead smell. The description in the Waldorf book says it’s a strong one. Judging by the smell, I’m inclined to agree with that assessment.

The sip starts off slightly sour and tart, which is a bit of a surprise actually. Upon subsequent sips I can start to distinguish the rum underneath the lime and grenadine cover. Lacking the orange garnish, I ended up adding an extra hit (dash) of orange bitters to make up for the lack of the orange garnish. I don’t think it worked out, since  I could see where more orange would do well here. The extra bitters tries, but it doesn’t make up for lack of garnish.

I also backed off on the grenadine a bit. I’m using Rose’s here so a little goes a long way. I used about .25 ounces in my attempt. Any more than that would overpower and ruin the balance here. Even then, I might have added more than I wanted to. I would try this again, but with even less than the .25 of grenadine.

The finish is light, without too much lingering flavor, or mouth feel. As suspected this is strong, but definitely not the strongest drink I’ve made. I nay have set my expectations a little high once I read the bartender thought it was strong. For the majority of people, it probably is. for me, could be stronger. Either way, this is a good drink for early evening or pre dinner. I would avoid making one after dinner though. I feel it is a bit too tart for a post dinner drink.

Go make one of these the next time it gets warm in your area, it’ll be a refresher for sure. In the meantime, GSTQ

(Banner image found here)