Rum, Gum & Lime

I’m not really into sipping spirits. There are exceptions, like a brandy or eau-de-vie after a meal, but as a general rule I don’t do straight booze. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the nuances of a fine spirit, of course, but I prefer having a vehicle to help it on its way.

Usually an Old Fashioned will do the trick for bourbon as well as other dark spirits such as rum. However, while browsing Beachbum Berry’s latest book Sippin’ Safari, the Rum, Gum & Lime struck me as having similar qualities and being more adapted to rum because of the lime juice it contains. Having tried it, I can happily report I wasn’t wrong. This simple recipe is great for appreciating a fine rum without having to drink it straight.

The Bum also recommends Ron Pampero Aniversario as being a good rum for this drink, if you’re undecided as to which rum to go with. I picked up a bottle since it was on my shopping list anyway, and have to second this recommendation. It really is a smooth and rich rum, and is a pleasure to taste. The original was made with a rum called Infierno, from Cuba, but this hasn’t been available for decades.

I’ll be using the Rum, Gum & Lime in my rum tastings from now on, no doubt about it.

Recipe:

1 1/2 oz. Rum
1/2 oz. Lime juice
1 tsp. Simple Syrup
1 oz. Seltzer

Stir everything in an old-fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with lime and orange peels.

Notes:

You may want to adjust the seltzer and simple syrup amounts to your taste and the rum you’re using. If the rum isn’t very intense, it can end up tasting watered-down with a full ounce of seltzer.

Rating:

- A cool tool for rating rum (I should work for The Sun)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.