Buttered Rum Cocktail – the perfect winter warmer.
There’s something counterintuitive about a buttered rum cocktail…until you try it. Perhaps it is that for most of us rum is a summer drink – something we associate with Caribbean sunshine? I love those wonderful Caribbean rum cocktails – every island has its own rums and every bar and restaurant has its own Rum Punch. But, whenever I tried to make a rum cocktail this summer, it rained. That just didn’t work for me – nothing quite tasted right to me. On a damp, cold winter’s evening though, a buttered rum cocktail topped with whipped cream seemed right on point.
I first came across Chairman’s Reserve on a trip to St Lucia for the food and rum festival – and that may just have coloured my perception. Chairman’s Reserve was first made in 1999 and takes its name from the Chairman of the distillery at the time, Laurie Barnard. It’s a blend of light and heavy rums which are aged in Bourbon casks for around five years before being blended and then returned to cask for another 6 months. It’s a lovely rum to just sip, with toffee notes, vanilla, raisins, honey and tobacco.
I’ve been looking for classic cocktails that I haven’t tried and came across buttered rum. A classic buttered rum recipe is really no more than rum, water, butter and spices, served warm. While it’s a lovely comforting drink, I wondered what I could do by adding a few more ingredients to bring out some of the flavours in the rum. I also wanted a ‘winter’ equivalent to those delicious Caribbean rum cocktails.
My Buttered Rum cocktail has a St Clements twist and includes orange and lemon juice, Monin praline syrup and a host of spices. I’ve topped it with whipped cream, but that’s optional – it makes a richer drink that would finish off a meal well. The Monin praline syrup adds a lovely caramel nuttiness to the drink, but it’s a limited edition – and if you can’t find it, I’d recommend using butterscotch Monin instead.
Here’s how to make it!
A St Clements Enhanced Buttered Rum Cocktail - the perfect winter's drink with Chairman's Reserve rum, orange, lemon and spiced butter
- 1 tsp unsalted butter
- 50 ml Chairman's Reserve rum
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 orange zested and juiced
- 3 cloves
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 30 ml Monin's praline syrup
- 30 ml hot water or more to taste
- 1 stick cinnamon
- whipped cream
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Put the allspice, cloves, orange juice and lemon juice and zest, butter and Monin's syrup in a pan. Heat the mixture until it comes to a simmer, then take the pan off the heat
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Add the rum and stir through. Strain into a heatproof glass.
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Top up with hot water to taste
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Add whipped cream if required and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Do enjoy this recipe – it’s a great winter drink, perfect for Christmas and The New Year.
Looking for other winter cocktail recipes? We really love this Rhubarb and Custard cocktail, which is based on Advocaat and Rhubarb Gin. Here’s how to make a classic Advocaat Snowball. If you don’t want alcohol, then do try this Pomegranate and Apple mocktail.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried run before but this sounds delicious, definitely worth a try!
It’s definitely worth trying – a really lovely warming winter drink
I’ve never tried this before but I adore real butter and love rum and Chrstmas spiced drinks, so I think it will be right up my street! Mich x