Kev's Cocktail Corner - Spiced Rum

2017 promises to see the rise of Rum above our beloved Bourbon ‘Despite a boost from spiced offerings such as Gin in recent years, marketers still anticipate similar rapid growth rates experienced by Bourbon in 2016’.

I would like to hope, given what is available to us ‘on the rock’ that we have become a little more adventurous in regards to our spiced Rum’s. Everyone has heard of Captain Morgan’s, it’s a big household name and deserves respect given for what it has brought to the industry over the past two decades. Captain Morgan’s is certainly a staple in a majority of bars across the island but surely we can do better than the average tot of spiced Rum in our glorious drinking holes… after all it is 2017. Given my nature of wanting to know of all things quaffable I set out to make some unusual discoveries. Luckily I didn’t have to look too far as three excellent Rums presented themselves as Love Wine looked to extend it’s portfolio.

Along came Dark Matter, Chairmans Spiced & Duppy Share. (I will come onto Charimans & Duppy in due course) 

Dark Matter really grabbed my attention, I found this quote on their website which really Intrigued me ‘the taste equivalent of warping into a liquid black hole but without every atom in your body being crushed to an infinitely small point’ After a some research I found that Dark Matter won a gold accolade at the Rum Masters 2016 and to throw you a curve ball this is the first spiced Rum ever in the history of mankind that has actually been made in Scotland. Who would have thought… Scotland… producing Rum? When most people think of Rum, the Caribbean springs to mind, islands like Jamaica, perhaps even the Bermuda in the North Atlantic! Never Scotland!

Jim & John Ewan we salute you for your noble efforts. With my mind completely fixated on this spiced Rum I decided to see what all the fuss was about. Out came the bottle, tearing off the plastic sealant over the lid, I grabbed the nearest glass and got my nose straight into it, Molasses-based, full-bodied notes of long pepper, fresh ginger, green peppercorns and allspice. Dark Matter really is an outstanding Rum!

I knew I had to make a cracking cocktail to complement the freshness and innovative style of this spiced Rum. 

Welcome to the Spiced Rum Sour

Running with the idea of pulling your ingredients together you will need one egg white, Dark Matter Rum, 2 fresh limes, 1 orange, vanilla sugar syrup and Angostura bitters.

The only mildly complicated part of this cocktail is the Vanilla Sugar syrup and obtaining that luscious foam from the egg white. For the desired foamy consistency you will have to ‘double shake’ this drink, once shaken dry to emulsify the egg and the other ingredients once aerated this concoction will become light and fluffy, shaken a second time… very hard, to activate the liveliness of the foam.

To make the vanilla sugar syrup simply extract the insides of one vanilla pod and add it to the stove with one cup of hot water followed by one cup of sugar (equal measures) bring to the boil and remove from the heat, the residual heat from the pan will help to extract all the flavour you need. Once cooled remove the vanilla pod from the syrup and put to one side.

Prep done, grab your mixing tin add:

50ml of Dark Matter

30ml of freshly squeezed lime juice

1 egg white

20ml of your vanilla sugar

two dashes of an angostura bitters

shake dry (no Ice), then add ice and shake a second time as hard as you can (don’t pull a hernia) grab a sieve and pour lovingly into your vessel, usually this style of drink comes in a tumbler but I quite like the style I used in the picture, grab your orange and with a peeler run it down the side of the orange for your garnish, grab the orange peel and squeeze the oils over the top of your foam. This provides a dry, fragrant sensation which whet’s your appetite. Sit back and enjoy!!

Should you need any advice on anything in this blog please feel free to email me at kevin@lovewine.je. Feel free to upload your creations to instagram or facebook, don't forget to tag us! #darkmatter

On that note, I bid you adieu with these wise words, "Yo ho ho and a bottle of Rum!"

Kevin