Michael Ruhlman » rum

Friday Cocktail Hour: The Man About Town

Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:58:05 +0000

A rum Negroni, otherwise called a Man About Town. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.

I pay for a service called SaneBox to deal with email overload, so much of it mass PR mail. Somehow a diligent soul, Sally Alfis of M Booth, who represents the company's spirit clients, got though the barricades. Having seen my Friday cocktail hour posts, she asked if she could send me some premium hooch. I never turn down free premium hooch. Thus, the most excellent rum in the photo (it's very good). Surprisingly, though, she continues to read Friday posts and, following my hasty Negroni post (no link, Donna unhappy with photo), sent me a new cocktail made by Scott Fitzgerald (no, relation, though he does beat on, like all ...

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Friday Cocktail Hour: Sour Cherry Daiquiri

Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:00:40 +0000

Sour Cherry Daiquiri. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.

Some cocktails are spontaneous given what's at hand. I happened to be making nougat, the French confection created by pouring cooked sugar and honey into whipped egg whites, then folding in nuts and dried fruits. The pix were so stunning in the Bouchon Bakery book, I simply had to give it a go and attempt a paired down version for the home cook. I considered adding rum-soaked dried cherries and so prepared these. But by the time the eggs whites and sugar had cooled to glossy perfection, I worried that the red-tinted rum, attracted by the sugar, would leach into the stunning whiteness of the nougat. When the shooting was done for the day, I had a bowlful of rum soaked cherries. Hmmm. How to ...

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Friday Cocktail Hour Revisited: The Dark & Stormy

Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:57:21 +0000

Another classic, the Dark & Stormy. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

I've been traveling and hobnobbing with entertainment industry folks this week, so work and body clock are all off. Now I'm back in the deep Cleveland gray and longing for the fine days of cooking in Key West, so I'm reposting this most excellent cocktail that started off all those long lovely boozy nights in the southernmost with my sailing family, the Dark & Stormy: Gosling's rum, ginger beer, and lime. I like equal parts rum and ginger beer, because that's me; the traditional ratio is 2:1 beer to rum. This time I'd like to stress the use of lime. There should be plenty in the perfect Dark & Stormy or the drink is cloying after the first sip or two. Don't give a desultory ...

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Friday Cocktail Hour: Key Lime Daiquiri

Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:00:32 +0000

Key Lime Daiquiri. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.

This blast of arctic air and wind and snow and gray has me longing for the lovely afternoons and evenings of the Key West I left a week ago. Nine full days there, writing, cooking, carousing with the sailing droogs. Sigh. So, to cheer myself, I made some Key Lime Daiquiris—proper daiquiris, with nothing but rum, citrus, and simple syrup. The frozen daiquiri and the frozen margarita are yet more travesties America has made of previously fine libations. I think I was in my thirties when I learned that a daiquiri wasn't a slushie with alcohol. So I fight off these, the worst weeks of the year, with memories of Key West, rum, and Key limes (and thanks to you, Rob and Ab!). Yes, that's blue Ohio winter in ...

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Friday Cocktail Hour: Eggnog

Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:21:59 +0000

Cooked eggnog: a true holiday treat. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.

I'm so pleased with results of the cooked eggnog I wrote about long ago, I wanted to repost an official tested recipe. I'm a fan of raw-egg eggnog, as well as aged-for-two-years raw eggnog. I don't believe anyone should be afraid of eating raw eggs (especially if you buy organic or well-raised eggs). Raw yolk on raw ground beef is a delight, a kind of ready-made sauce. I love a homemade mayo, a runny poached egg. Indeed, raw or warm egg is one of the great pleasures of cooking and eating. But there are those who may be concerned or have reason not to take any chances. There are also those who may simply love the richness of the cooked egg and the clean flavor the vanilla ...

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Friday Cocktail Hour: Between the Sheets

Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:27:04 +0000

Friday cocktail hour: Between the Sheets. Photos by Donna Turner Ruhlman.

I was, by chance, in the offices of the venerable publisher Little, Brown with Donna a few weeks ago during a surprise trip to NYC, and the editor I was speaking with about a potential book deal mentioned a cocktail book they'd published the previous fall. He described it. I asked, nay, demanded, to see it. He swiveled around, swiveled back, and there it was. A book that immediately pissed me off. "HEY!" I wanted to say, "THIS IS MY TURF! THIS IS RATIOS!" (If you didn't know, I wrote a little book called Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking. We developed and built a Ratio app for iPhones and iTouches and then we—that is, my friend Will Turnage—built ...

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Friday Cocktail Hour: Mojito

Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:19:06 +0000

A great summertime drink, the Cuban Mojito. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

I've loved seeing the mutability of cocktails simply by changing the spirit during these Friday Cocktail Hour posts. This cocktail is in effect a Mint Julep only with rum, therefore called a Mojito. Of course what also distinguishes the mojito from the julep is the lime juice and sugar, the intense sweet and sour. So, does that mean it's like a whisky sour with mint and rum? Yes, but no egg white. Or like a daiquiri without the mint? All of the above! Regardless, this is a fabulous cocktail to make in the summer when the mint is taking over the garden and the heat calls out for a cooling rum drink. Again, I love the effect of the pulverized mint, the powerful minty flavor it ...

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Friday Cocktail Hour: Dark and Stormy

Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:31:52 +0000

Another classic, the Dark and Stormy/Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

Last week's cocktail post, The Moscow Mule, allowed me to show off OYO, the awesome Columbus, Ohio, vodka by Middle West Spirits, but it also got me thinking about how cool ginger beer is. It also demonstrates how specific drinks are defined by the spirit used. The Manhattan, made with American whiskey, becomes a Rob Roy when made with scotch (not a "scotch Manhattan"). A Martini made with vodka becomes a Kangaroo (not a "vodka martini"). Swap out the vodka in a Moscow Mule and you don't have a "rum Moscow Mule," you have a Dark and Stormy. (I don't know if this is an official cocktail, but it's great from a taste standpoint, noted by a commenter: make a ...

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