Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes (15 minutes active)
Makes 5 to 7 cocktails
This recipe turns the Hot Buttered Rum on its head. Traditionally, it is a warm cocktail in which a pat of butter is melted into a steaming blend of rum, apple cider and spices. That certainly won’t work for the freezer door! Plus, it limits this cocktail to cool weather. To give this wonderful flavor combination year-round appeal, fat-wash aged rum with melted butter. Once the rum is infused, the butter solids are discarded, leaving behind only a rich, sweetly flavored liquor. For the freezer door version, instead of hot apple cider, I finish the cocktail in the glass with a splash of bright hard apple cider.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 stick (8 tbsp, 113 g) butter, melted
- 18 ounces (540 mL) aged rum
- 2¼ ounces (68 mL) orange liquor
- 2¼ ounces (68 mL) agave or simple syrup
- 2 ounces (60 mL) water
- Generous pinch grated nutmeg
- Hard apple cider, to serve
In a heat-proof liquid measuring cup with at least a 4-cup (1-quart or 1-liter) capacity, microwave the butter until melted.
Add the rum, then let sit at room temperature, stirring often for 10 minutes.
Place in the freezer for 1 hour; the butter will solidify on top of the rum.
Strain through a cheesecloth-lined mesh strainer into a 750-mililiter bottle; discard the solids. Add the orange liquor, syrup, water and nutmeg. Cap the bottle securely, then shake well to mix.
To serve, shake the bottle (some sediment on the bottom is normal), then fill a cocktail glass two-thirds full. Top with 1 to 2 ounces (30 to 60 mL) hard cider. Store the rest in the freezer.
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