A Happy Accident

We have some performer friends that have done some clown training with master teacher John Turner. One of the great pieces of advice he gives is this: "Mistakes are gifts from the gods." What better opportunity than the unexpected to show you a different way of doing things? At Winsome Ginsome, we lean into this philosophy. Sometimes things don't go to plan in the kitchen for whatever reason. However, due to us playing in the kitchen as much as we do, we are consistently able to pivot to a different preparation that still tastes great, and avoids wasting food. This is precisely what happened with this Buttered Rum Old Fashioned.

As we were testing our autumn recipes, we were prepping some butter-washed bourbon for our Apple Pie Old Fashioned- at least, we thought we were. However, we accidentally used dark rum instead of bourbon on our first attempt. By the time we realized this, it was too late to go back, but we still wanted the recipe to feature bourbon. Our solution was to make the butter-washed bourbon as intended, but see things through with our accidental butter-washed rum as well. The result was a delicious, complex flavour that we knew we had to feature on the blog. The combination of butter and rum immediately made us think of a classic Hot Buttered Rum, making it a natural choice for one of our Christmas cocktails. We considered a few different ideas like a rum sour, a Manhattan variation, and even a hot chocolate. However, the flavour of the rum was so good, that we decided that a simple cocktail that allowed the rum to shine would be the best course of action. Thus, the Buttered Rum Old Fashioned was born.

 How to Make It

Prepare the Rum

Melt the butter in a small saucepan or the microwave. Allow it to cool before adding it to the rum in a jar and shaking it to combine. Allow it to sit on the counter for an hour, shaking occasionally, before placing it in the freezer overnight. The fat should separate from the rum and solidify on top. Strain the rum through a damp coffee filter or paper towel. This can be done with a larger amount of rum and butter of you are making a large batch. The butter-washed rum will be shelf stable and can be stored with your other spirits. If you are looking for more information on fat-washing spirits, we break down the process in more detail in our Apple Pie Old Fashioned post.

Make the Syrup

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the brown sugar, reduce the heat, and simmer for about ten minutes. Allow it to cool fully before using. Just like any simple syrup, this recipe can easily be scaled up as long as you use water and sugar in a 1:1 ratio. The syrup will last 2-4 weeks in the fridge and its shelf life can be extended by adding a small amount of vodka or another spirit. If you are short on time, you can add the sugar and hot water to a container and shake until the sugar is dissolved.

Mix the Cocktail

In a mixing glass, add the butter-washed rum, brown sugar syrup, and Angostura bitters.

Add ice and stir with a barspoon, being sure to keep the back of the spoon in contact with the glass to prevent shattering the ice.

Using a Hawthorne strainer, strain the cocktail over ice in a chilled Old Fashioned glass.

Garnish with an orange peel twist and enjoy!