Brown Butter Rum Old Fashioned on National Rum Punch Day

2 oz Brown Butter Cruzan Black Strap Rum*
1/2 oz Simple syrup
2-3 dashes Hella Bitters Aromatic

Stir everything with ice and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with ground Nutmeg,

So, I didn’t make a Rum Punch on National Rum Punch Day. I didn’t really feel it, I can’t really figure out why this ends up after the Summer’s nearly over, and I really, really wanted to try out making this Brown Buttered Rum. I guess I could have tried this in a Buttered Rum Punch kind of thing but that’s a lot of prep for something I don’t really like. Winter is Coming and it will soon be time for a proper Hot Buttered Rum and i’m hoping that this will be the magic element that will make a most amazing version.

Browned Butter and Rum

It seemed like a good idea to give this Fat Washed Rum a try in something simple that had few ingredients aside form the rum itself. I decided to break from the traditional citrus peel garnish for the old, old garnish of ground Nutmeg as I felt that it was better suited to the buttery goodness of the Rum. It was indeed a worthy endeavor, especially since I don’t particularly like Cruzan Black Strap very much on its own. The end result had an almost bitter maple flavor that really stretches out becoming more mapley long into the finish which was highly unexpected.

I’ve been reluctant to get into Fat Washed Spirits and Cocktails. The idea of animal fat in my drink always had an initial revulsion until I thought too long about those most gorgeous of foods: Butter and Bacon. I doubt I would ever order one out as I’m concerned about shoddy practices of bars trying to out-do each other with daredevil cocktails with more thought into something new and extreme instead of something well researched and crafted. If you’re interested, this article by on the Imbibe site on dangerous cocktails  by M. Carrie Allan is a far better example of what to look out for than any tripe found on Liquor.com. Also, should you ever consider a Tobacco cocktail, here is a good read by Paul Clarke talking to Ted Breaux of Lucid and Jade Absinthes, also from Imbibe.

*Brown Butter Rum

1 cup Cruzan Black Strap Rum
1 stick Wegman’s Unsalted Butter

Cook the butter over medium-low heat until it turns medium brown and smells nutty (about 4-5 minutes).
Remove from the heat and gradually pour in the rum (it will froth up).
Let it cool to room temperature, then transfer to a coverable bowl and refrigerate for two days.
After 2 days, skim off the solidified butter on the top and strain the rum through a coffee filter into a clean bottle.