19 Jan Cocktail Recipe: King Baby Hot Buttered Rum
In honor of the start of Mardi Gras season and National Hot Buttered Rum Day, we brought a bit of New Orleans’ flavor to warm us up in Upstate New York with our new cocktail recipe, a take on a King Cake-inspired Hot Buttered Rum.
Yesterday here in Ithaca the sky opened up and dumped inch after inch of fresh powder, smacking you in the face with flurries of snow, and yet I was warmed from the inside out by our King Cake-inspired Hot Buttered Rum, which paired the classic baking spice flavor of King Cake with our herbaceous and citrus-forward Lafcadio Botanical Rum! Continue reading for a brief history on hot buttered rum, King Cake, and a recipe for this seasonal rum cocktail.
The history of hot buttered rum dates back to colonial times at least and perhaps even further. The act (or art? You decide) of incorporating butter into a beverage is nothing new—in his book Imbibe!, David Wondrich claims that butter was being added to drinks during the reign of Henry VIII, though history does not divulge whether or not alcohol was involved in the mix.
Most notably, hot buttered rum is connected to the colonial era, and that’s for a couple of reasons. By that period in American history, the hot toddy was already a very popular cocktail (a toddy, broadly, being a hot beverage). This was also a time in our history when the trading triangle of slaves, molasses, and rum was blossoming. Most folks were too poor to afford tea, which was kept under lock and key in the homes of those wealthy enough to access it, but the poorest farmer had a bottle of rum that they would bring out and offer to any guest who came to their home. The consumption habits of colonial Americans are staggering—it’s estimated that men, women, and children were consuming a pint of hard alcohol each on a daily basis during this time, drinking from sun up to the time they, in all likelihood, passed out.
Since rum was a staple and faraway the most consumed spirit during the colonial era, it makes perfect sense that early Americans found a way to incorporate it into their hot winter beverage. Through time and human ingenuity, the hot buttered rum cocktail was born and began to be disseminated across North America. It was famously mentioned in Kenneth Roberts’ historical novel Northwest Passage, published in 1937, which tells the story of a colonial force called Roger’s Rangers that fought alongside the British during the French and Indian War in 1759. The quote in Roberts’ novel goes like this: “After a man’s had two-three drinks of hot buttered rum, he don’t shoot a catamount.” Having not read the book myself, I can’t even begin to guess what that means, but I am going to assume it has something to do with enjoying that drink because it is damn tasty. Northwest Passage is said to be responsible for a resurgence in the popularity of hot buttered rum in the 1940s.
An essential wintertime cocktail, hot buttered rum’s beauty lies in part in its simplicity. This made devising a recipe to pair with our rum truly a breeze. Traditionally, hot buttered rum involved adding butter, sugar, and spices to hot water and rum, but enterprising cocktailians have since developed the butter batter, elevating the hot buttered rum game irreversibly. We opted to use a batter in our hot buttered rum, and we would strongly suggest you do the same, though I suppose some purists would say what we’re doing is apocryphal (they would be wrong, though.)
When the forecast in Ithaca said that we would be expecting -5 degrees this week, we knew it was time to bust out the kettle. Hot beverages abound! During one very specific and rather short period of time each year! We also knew that we would be using our Lafcadio Botanical Rum in said cocktail, and that this month kicked off the Mardi Gras/Carnival season in New Orleans, where we distilled Lafcadio, with the Krew of Joan of Arc parade on January 6th, also known as “Twelfth Night.” So we decided to borrow a bit of New Orleans’ warmth and bring it up north with our hot buttered rum inspired by the flavors and celebration in King Cake.
It always surprises me when I remember how rooted in religion Mardi Gras is—the history of King Cake and the small plastic baby that’s placed in every pastry is because, on the Twelfth Night, Jesus first showed himself to the three wisemen and the world. So a baby is baked into King Cakes, and whoever finds the baby in their piece during the celebration is crowned king for the day and bound to host the next party and provide that year’s cake. And on and on it goes.
A classic New Orleans’ King Cake is going to have a couple of features: first, the colors purple (signifying justice), green (for faith), and gold (for power) will be used to decorate the top, and of course, there’s that little baby. Don’t forget about that—you wouldn’t want to accidentally swallow a small plastic infant. The flavor is that of your typical pastry: baking spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice are common, and the glaze on top might feature a hit of citrus to brighten it up.
For our King Cake-inspired Hot Buttered Rum, we made a batter with softened butter, organic cane sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla ice cream. We then prepared each cup with an ounce of Lafcadio Botanical Rum, a tablespoon and a half of batter, and topped it up with freshly boiled water. Allowed to sit a moment, the cocktail quickly comes together, and you’re left with a delicious hot, luscious beverage. We’re officially two for two pairing baking spices and a creamy texture with our botanical rum—the slightly savory, herbaceous orange creamsicle notes in Lafcadio are just so damn harmonious with the flavors that you would find in traditional King Cake. A match made in heaven, and hopefully ordained by all the kings of Bacchus past and present.
KING BABY HOT BUTTERED RUM
1.5 tbsp batter*
Freshly boiled water
Top with freshly grated nutmeg
*To make the batter: Add 1:1:1 white sugar, brown sugar, and softened butter (we did 8 oz of each) to a bowl and combine. Mix in 6 oz of vanilla ice cream, 1 tsp cinnamon, 0.25 tsp nutmeg, and 0.25 tsp clove.. Batter can and should be refrigerated to allow flavors to combine.