new old booze

a highlight of the poor dining experience in lake placid was accidentally discovering a great hot drink: hot buttered rum. after ordering irish coffee with lunch i received a mystery drink that contained neither whiskey nor coffee. inquiring about the drink, the waitress said it was hot buttered rum. when the coffee did arrive i was disappointed not to have the rum. so to reconcile that, before dinner i ordered a hot buttered rum. it was delicious. so good that when i got home last night i bought a pint of rum and made one myself. it's a great winter drink: hot, boozy and easy to make. there are a number of variations but i used a simple recipe that took only as long as it takes to boil water.

first boil a cup of water. in a mug mix about a tablespoon of brown sugar with a little less than a tablespoon of butter, as much rum as you want (i used a generous shot of dark rum) and a little boiling water. when that's well mixed add the rest of the water. many recipes i found add whip cream, ice cream, cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves. go ahead, try one tonight.