Beachcomber’s Rum Barrel

As other cocktail bloggers begin writing about the approaching spring and hay fever, I'm still stuck in the great white north deep freeze. It's warmed up a good five degree's since my last post, so, with the wind chill, it's a balmy -19. Even though I don't mind that temperature, as long as it is sunny, I still feel that this has been a long winter. Maybe it's the one year old that requires a lot of prep work before I go outside, or maybe it's been the record snowfall and just possibly it could be that I'm getting old, but I need a short break from the winter. A Caribbean cruise isn't in the budget, so I'm back to tiki drinks. Today I'm going with a Beachcomber's Rum Barrel, which should put me in a temporary tropical comma.

The Rum Barrel is one of those classic tiki drinks that merges flavour with potency. If the name doesn't provide enough in-site into the quantity of rum in the drink, then I'll let you know that in many districts in North America, serving this drink would be illegal*. But, when at home you can do anything you want.

Beachcomber's Rum Barrel

1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Honey Mix*
1 oz Light Rum
1 oz Gold Rum
2 oz Deme rara Rum
1 tsp Falernum
1 tsp Pimento Dram
6 drops Pernod
6 drops Gre nadine
Dash Ango stura Bitters
8 oz Crushed Ice

Instructions: Combine all ingredients, blend for 5 seconds and serve in a highball glass.

As usual there were a number of substitutions. The Rum Barrel calls for light Puerto Rican rum, but I used light  Jamaican rum. I also substituted the Pernod with Henri Bardouin pastis, which is a little more flavourful. Other than that this cocktail stayed pretty true to the original.

Flavour-wise this drink doesn't taste as potent as you'd think with the 4oz of assorted rums. But it is definitely a sipper, you don't really want to be pounding back too many of these on any given night. The key flavours are obviously rum, but the grapefruit juice comes forward, but with no bitterness. The other components all mingle together to form a unique tasting drink. It's hard to put your tongue on it, but all the flavours come out occasionally. Really, it reminds me of a jack'd up Five Alive.

I doubt you'll be able to find this drink at a bar. If you hit a place like Forbidden Island I'm sure they whip one up for you though. That basically means you are on your own to collect up all the ingredients and create a Rum Barrel for yourself. It will definitely take the edge of the winter. But, if you are going to invest in all the ingredients, you might as well whip up a bunch for your friends.

* In Ontario the maximum amount of alcohol allowed to be served in one drink is 3 oz of 40% ABV.
** Beachcomber's Rum Barrel recipe was taken from Sippin’ Safari