When Black Friday Comes

If you’re reading this in the United States, you probably know it’s a big shopping day here. Whether you like that sort of thing or don’t, a tropical drink might help.



When Black Friday Comes

• 2 oz amber Martinique rum (Saint James)
• 2 tsp allspice dram
• 1/4 oz absinthe
• 2 oz lime juice
• 2 oz ginger beer

Shake all except ginger beer with ice and strain into a 10-ounce glass. Top with ginger beer and fresh ice. Mint sprig.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

For the rum, I went with Saint James Royal Ambre. It’s mellower than some other Martinique rums but the funk is definitely there, and it plays subtly with the absinthe and allspice. This drink should be good with Caribbean or Chinese food.

I use a lot of Fever Tree Ginger Beer—my favorite. It has the light body and clean flavor I prefer. The little market where I do most of my daily shopping stocks Bruce Cost’s Ginger Ale, tasty if a bit rich for highballs. It’ll work in the above recipe.

Maybe someday I’ll get it together enough to make Erik’s luscious-looking fermented ginger beer.

Komodo

Substitutions are real fun, and the Singapore Sling template makes so many tasty fizzy sours. For this adventure, I went with another herbal liqueur in place of the Bénédictine: the incomparable green Chartreuse. The resulting color and big flavor, together with a powerful alcohol wallop, reminded me of one of them gigantic reptiles they have in Southeast Asia, the ones that might just as soon eat you. They stun their victims with poison and then finish ’em off. Last I knew, these creatures are only wild in Indonesia, though maybe by now they’ve headed over to the Western Hemisphere and acquired a taste for rhum agricole in addition to the occasional person. In any case, the drink seems fairly pleasant to me, which might explain a few things around here.



Komodo

• 2 oz London dry gin
• 1/2 oz Martinique rum (La Favorite Cœur d’Ambre)
• 1/2 oz green Chartreuse
• 1/2 oz crème de pêche (Massenez)
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1 1/2 oz soda

Shake all except soda with ice and pour into a collins glass. Top with soda. Fresh ice to fill.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Heracles

Another rum sour. The variations are endless fun but the naming process is probably my least favorite part. You think of something striking, catchy, maybe even immortal—only to find out someone else thought of it too. And I balk at calling a drink the Martinez #12 or whatever, though there’s something to be said for having your number rediscovered in some future era of cocktail archaeology and anointed as a winner to eclipse all others of the same name, like the Corpse Reviver #2.

This here’s a riff on my own Hercules but with Martinique rum instead of Dererara. I used J.M.

Heracles

• 1 1/2 oz amber Martinique rum
• 1/2 oz Campari
• 1/4 oz brown crème de cacao
• 1/4 oz Cointreau
• 3/4 oz lime juice

Shake with ice and pour into a double old fashioned. Ice to fill.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

I like Campari and chocolate, though it’s pretty subtle here in the presence of the funky J.M. There’s a bitter grapefruit effect between the rum and the Campari which appealed to both the housemate and me.

Ti’Punch Gimlet

Over the weekend, I took a first stab at making lime cordial. I threw two pounds of key limes in the centrifuge juicer, strained the results through fine mesh and mixed it thoroughly with a equal amount of white sugar. Stuck it in the fridge for a day. Blam-o: lime cordial. It’s plenty aromatic, though maybe I’d like to adjust the sweet-tart balance for gin drinks.

Looking for something else to try it in, I settled on the bottle of 100-proof J.M blanc, rhum agricole from Martinique that has a way of trouncing all but the most assertive flavors. The housemate and I agreed that the combo is perfect.

Ti’Punch Gimlet

• 2 oz rhum agricole blanc
• 1/2 oz lime cordial, or to taste

Shake hard with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Like the classic Gimlet with gin, this is a sensory feast in itself with only two ingredients. Proportions are a matter of taste. The lime cordial is good but I’ll probably keep tinkering.

Autumn Decade

I got the idea for this while sipping gold Rhum J.M one evening with some friends. Someone pointed out the apricot note in the rum, especially when it opened up a little with water. I’ve kept the apricot brandy in the background so you can still taste the rum. The color of J.M is apricot too.



Autumn Decade

• 1 1/2 oz Bacardi 8
  
• 3/4 oz gold Rhum J.M
• 2 tsp Grand Marnier
• 1 tsp apricot brandy
• 1/2 oz lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Mai Tai Punsch

I was sipping a little Rhum Clément and thinking how well it would go with a tea note. This strained drink borrows flavors from the Mai Tai with Swedish Punsch in place of the curacao. I used BG Reynold’s orgeat. Lately, it’s got interesting little bits of almond, but they would’ve been strange in this so I strained them out.



Mai Tai Punsch

• 2 oz amber Martinique rum
• 1/2 oz Swedish Punsch (Underhill Punsch)
  
• 1/2 oz orgeat (BG Reynolds)
• 1/2 oz lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Martinique Rum Daiquiri

I went agricole shopping on Thursday evening and came home with white Rhum J.M, a bright, funky 100-proof from Martinique. Intense stuff. It probably could have handled even more maraschino than I gave it. More lime too.



Martinique Rum Daiquiri

• 2 oz white Martinique rum
• 1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 1/4 oz simple syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: COMPOSITE

MxMo LVI: Your Best

Many thanks to Chris, a.k.a. DJ HawaiianShirt of Spirited Remix for hosting this Mixology Monday. Chris wants us to post our best, and while I’m not sure which of mine I’d single out, the Lava-Lava is the one I liked working on best. I’ve made it by the pitcher for parties (limit: one pitcher per guest) and it’s a lot of fun. It calls for amber Martinique rum though another dry, woodsy amber like Flor de Caña 5 Year would be fine. For the mango, I developed the recipe around Looza, though it was great with one from somewhere in South America or someplace, maybe—can’t remember and never saw it again.



Lava-Lava

• 1 1/2 oz amber Martinique rum
• 1 oz dark Jamaica rum
• 1/2 oz apricot brandy
• 3 oz mango nectar
• 3/4 oz fresh orange juice
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice cubes and pour into a tall glass or mug.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

I know it‘s early for Monday but he’s gonna try to taste them before the wrap-up. Urp.

Royal Bastard

I based this Martinique rum cocktail on Saint James Royal Ambre: bright, dry and assertive, and a favorite of mine for mixing. The aldehyde and woodsy notes combine well with the ginger of Domaine de Canton. I’ve tried this drink with other dry ambers and it’s OK, but Martinique rum makes this one come alive.



Royal Bastard

• 2 oz amber Martinique rum (Saint James Royal Ambre)
• 3/4 oz Domain de Canton
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1/2 oz lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE