Friday 5 o'Clock Cocktail - A Better Rum Runner

Normally I don’t like to make drinks that require a lot of ingredients. Why? The answer is the potential for multiple points of failure.

Besides the complexity of putting lots of ingredients into one glass without spilling, if the drink requires lots of ingredients then it is more likely that you’re going to be out of something, and then that’s going to screw up your plans.

But sometimes a drink is just so good; you have to make it – even if it has a lot of ingredients. And besides, when it comes to the ingredients in a Rum Runner, any self-respecting Drunk should have all this stuff stocked anyway.

Now, this is a drink that requires a short history lesson. The Rum Runners were the guys who smuggled rum from the Caribbean, Europe, and Canada to the United States during Prohibition. At first they used small, fast boats and carried small amounts of cargo. But by then end of Prohibition, their operations were much more sophisticated.

I’ve spoken before about the most successful and notorious Rum Runner. His name was Bill McCoy, and he hauled mostly Canadian and Irish whiskies to the Northeast Coast. His product was so well regarded that today we still refer to products of quality as “the real McCoy.”

Fortunately, you don’t have to brave machine gun fire from Coast Guard cutters just to have a sip of Rum. Getting the ingredients to make a Rum Runner requires only a quick trip to the store.

A couple months ago I presented a different version of the Rum Runner. Since then I’ve been hard at work researching a better recipe; and Holy Crap is this good!

Here’s how to make a BETTER Rum Runner:

• 1 oz Light Rum
• 1 oz Dark Rum
• 2 oz Pineapple Juice
• ½ oz Brandy
• ½ oz Banana Liqueur
• 1 oz Orange Juice
• ¼ oz Simple Syrup
• Juice of ½ lime
• Dash of Bitters

Instructions:Combine all ingredients in a shaker about half filled with ice. Shake well, then strain into a highball glass with ice. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a slice of lime. Gulp.

Remember there are thousands of Cocktail Recipes on Drunk Man's Guide!

Friday 5 o'Clock Cocktail - The Hurricane

If you've ever been to New Orleans then you can probably appreciate the benefits of a strong Hurricane. And no, I'm not talking about Katrina or Andrew. I'm talking about the kind of Hurricane every drunk should know how to make.

Now, there are some fancy pants bartenders who aren't from the Big Easy who get stingy with the booze. I've seen recipes for Hurricanes that only include one ounce of liquor in a big glass of juice. Sorry, that's not how you make 'em.

When you order your Hurricane from one of the open, walk-up bars on Bourbon street , the drink is strong. Like "knock-you-on-your-a$$-strong". I mean, it's called a Hurricane, not a "drizzle". Hurricanes destroy things, so it follows that if you drink one, you should be likewise destroyed, right?

But you don't have to go to Louisiana to get a good Hurricane because you're a Drunk and you can make your own. Here's how to do it:

• 1 oz Vodka
• 1 oz Amaretto
• 1 oz Gin
• 1 oz Light Rum
• 1 oz Triple Sec
• 1/2 oz 151 Rum
• 1/4 oz Grenadine Syrup
• Pineapple Juice
• Grapefruit Juice

Directions: Pour the liquors into a Hurricane glass (or pint glass, or collins glass, or whatever big glass you have) 3/4 filled with ice and stir. Fill the rest of the way with equal parts of the juices. Enjoy.

Remember there are Thousands of Cocktail Recipes at the Drunk Man's Guide!

Friday 5 o'Clock Cocktail - Loco Lemonade

Layered drinks always make things fun. They add visual interest, and they give an extra dimension to your drinks. Ideally, as you drink them, the drink should change from one extreme to another; tangy to sweet, or spicy to mild. That kind of thing.

The Loco Lemonade is an easy and fun drink you can make that gives the extra visual and taste appeal of a layered drink. Just as with a Tequila sunrise, the drink starts off tart, and gets sweeter toward the end. Because it is made with lemonade, however, it is much more tart than a Tequila Sunrise. But it is still great on a hot sunny day!

For this drink I used pink lemonade, but you can use whatever you have laying around. The pink lemonade, in combination with the Grenadine made the drink a little more red.

Here's what you need:

• 1 1/2 oz Tequila
• 4 oz Lemonade
• 1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 oz Grenadine Syrup

Instructions:

Pour the ingredients into your glass (2/3 filled with ice) in this order: Tequila, grenadine, lemonade, lemon juice. If you do it carefully, the layers will make a cloudy, swirling effect.
Remember there are more cocktail recipes at http://www.drunkmansguide.com/

Friday 5 o’Clock Coctail – The Mojito

Last week we did the Mint Julep in honor of the big horse race in Kentucky. This weekend we’re doing it Cuban style with the Mojito!

Hopefully you still have some Mint left over from last week, because the Mojito is very similar to the Mint Julep. Here’s what you will need:

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ oz Light Rum
• 6 Mint Leaves
• 1 Lime
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 4 oz Club Soda

Cut the lime into quarters and sqeeze the juice from each into a tall glass. Mix the sugar and lime juice then toss in the mint leaves.

GENTLY muddle the mint leaves against the side of the glass with a spoon. Don’t damage them too much. You don’t want small bits of mint leaf floating in your drink; you want to keep them whole.

Next, fill the glass almost to the top with ice; add the rum and Club Soda and stir. Garnish with a lime slice and sprig of mint. Delicious!

Remember, there are thousands of Cocktail Recipes on DrunkMansGuide.com!

Friday 5 o’Clock Coctail – The Mint Julep

Tomorrow is the Kentucky Derby, and you know what that means! That’s right - big hats and Mint Juleps.

The Mint Julep is a real blast from the past. It was developed in the Southeastern United States in the late 18th century, and has been the subject of songs, and featured in artwork, stories, poems and literature for over 200 years. It is truly an historic drink.

Here’s how to make a Mint Julep:

• 4 oz of Good quality Bourbon
• ½ oz of simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)
• 6-10 Mint Leaves (the small leaves are the sweetest for flavoring, but the big ones are great for garnishes)
• Glass full of crushed ice

Directions: This drink really is supposed to be made with crushed ice. You can crush your ice in a blender, or use a mallet and a clean towel. Or, perhaps you are lucky enough to have a refrigerator that can make crushed ice for you.

Put a small amount of the ice in your glass and add the mint leaves. You will muddle the mint leaves with the ice – but don’t KILL it! Just mash it around a few times with the back of a spoon. If you muddle the mint too much it will get bitter.

Next, fill the glass the rest of the way up with ice so that the ice is actually mounded on top of the glass. Next, pour the Bourbon over the ice and let it settle to the bottom. As it does this it will cause the ice to melt somewhat. Then add the syrup, on top. There is no need to actually mix this up.

Garnish with a sprig of mint.

The Mint Julep is intended to be sipped from a silver or stainless steel cup on a hot day. As you drink the ice melts and the flavors of the mint and syrup blend with the whiskey in a delicious way. These days, most people serve them in glass Collins glasses – simply because that’s what we all have. Either is ok, but the metal cups get a nice frost on them from the condensation that is really cool.