Rum Drink Recipes to Satisfy Your Inner Pirate

Beloved beverage of pirates and beach-goers alike, rum is a versatile drink with a colorful past. No summer gathering is complete without at least a little rum!

History

Rum has its origins in the Caribbean where it was created as a by-product of processing sugar cane. Early rum was quite potent and did not have a pleasant flavor. Even so, the ready availability and relatively cheap price allowed rum to quickly become a staple on naval vessels as part of the crew’s rations. Of course, drunken sailors tend to trip over their own feet and get tangled up in the rigging so captains soon made a point of mixing the rum with water – a beverage commonly known as grog.

Basic Grog Recipe

The components of grog are fairly simple: rum, water, citrus flavoring (lemon, lime or orange) and sweetener (sugar or molasses). Traditionally grog calls for four parts water to one part rum. I suspect, however, that hardcore pirates would have considered this ratio to be rather weak. Today grog is generally served one of two ways: over ice or as a hot beverage. For a true pirate experience, you’ll want to drink it at room temperature.

Rum Today

Today rum is distilled around the world in a variety of types and styles. Some major rum-producing countries include the United States, Barbados, Canada and Australia. Light rum has been filtered to remove impurities and has a light taste. Dark rum is aged longer and has a fuller flavor. Spiced rum, as the name suggests, has spices like cinnamon, vanilla and cloves added to give the rum a rich taste. There are also flavored rums including coconut, pineapple, mango and cherry. Some famous rum drinkers include Blackbeard the Pirate (as well as pretty much every other pirate who caused mayhem around the Caribbean), George Washington, Ernest Hemingway, and even John F. Kennedy, who drank strawberry daiquiris on the night he was elected president.

Every year my girlfriends and I converge on Richmond Virginia for a weekend getaway. The signature drink of the weekend is a fruity rum cocktail that is perfect for summertime sipping. The recipe originally came from the neighbor of our hostess who called it “Tie Me to the Bedpost.” In my research I’ve come across a dozen drinks with that name, but none of them are concocted with the same recipe. Our hostess has since tweaked the ingredients and the proportions a bit which, in my opinion, has greatly improved the flavor. Given the copious quantities of rum involved I feel the drink is more appropriately titled, “Tie Me to the Mainmast,” however my girlfriends and I usually refer to it as “Tie-Me” for short. (Trust me, after you’ve had a glass or two the full name is just too long to say).

Although this drink has enough alcohol to make even the most hardened pirate a bit tipsy, the flavor is surprisingly fruity and mild. Sip slowly for full enjoyment! If you choose to serve this beverage at your next pirate party, make sure there are plenty of designated deck-hands available to escort your guests safely home.