Hot Buttered Rum

  • 75 ml dark spiced rum
  • 2 tsp Muscovado sugar
  • 1 tsp unsalted butter
  • 1 splash of pure vanilla extract
  • 1 good pinch of ground cinnamon
  • 1 good pinch of ground nutmeg
  • 1 good pinch of ground allspice

Put sugar, butter, vanilla, and spices into an Irish coffee glass or mug and muddle. Pour in rum and top up with hot water. Stir.

If you intend to make this a habit knock up a batch of ‘butter batter’ by combining the butter, sugar, vanilla and spices in a reasonable quantity. Keep in the fridge until required. Then just blend this with rum and hot water on the day.

Once, oddly, a signature drink at Tiki bar Trader Vic’s in the 1940s, the original method floats the butter on top, giving a smooth mouthfeel but, unfortunately, a greasy top lip to the drinker. Not a good look. Some recipes call for vanilla ice cream as a substitute for butter. Please leave this for the kiddies.