292877 Tue May 20 09:55:48 -0700 2003 32 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1600151 I like drinks made with rum, so I'd like to hear your ideas for interesting rum concoctions beyond the obvious (e.g., mojitos, daquiris, mai tais, and so on). I like fruit flavors in drinks, but not the kind that you can replace dessert with, and I'm not looking for frozen drinks. Also, what are your favorite rums for mixed drinks? Tue May 20 09:55:48 -0700 2003 0 Caitlin McGrath 1 1600157 I hate to say this, but my favorite rum drink is the Cuba Libre....rum, cola, and a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice. I hate to say this even more: I'll use diet cola most of the time. Can't deal with the sugar in normal soda. I like to use Havana Club rum when I can, though it is illegal in the states. Otherwise, I like Rhum Barbancourt, which is (I believe) made in Haiti. Tue May 20 10:34:27 -0700 2003 1600151 0 David Greenbaum 1 1600158 Mount Gay and tonic with a lime. Simple and refreshing. Tue May 20 10:39:41 -0700 2003 1600151 0 OPJK 2 1600210 Second the recommendation for Mount Gay Rum & Tonic, with lots of limes. Perfect summer drink. We also make a drink dubbed the "Vanilla Martini" which is delicious: 2 parts vanilla vodka, 2 parts malibu rum, 1 part pineapple, shaken over ice in a martini shaker, and served in a martini glass. Yum :-) Tue May 20 14:16:39 -0700 2003 1600158 0 DanaB 3 1600236 Since your drink doesn't have even ONE ingrediant in common with a martini, why on earth would you call it a martini??? Tue May 20 15:56:54 -0700 2003 1600210 0 Pssst 4 1600265 there are martinis made with vodka (which her drink contains) which makes one ingredient in common and many many restaurants and bars now serve cocktails they call martinis that contain lots of ingredients beyond gin and vermouth. by the way, you might want to know that there are some who might think that your post was intended to make DanaB feel stupid and unsophisticated, even though a true chowhound, like yourself, would never send such a message to another chowhound. Tue May 20 18:52:49 -0700 2003 1600236 0 wurstle 5 1600276 Didn't read anything in that post that seemed meant to make anyone feel anything, other than, no matter how many bars serve "vodka martinis," if it is not made with gin, it is not a martini. Tue May 20 20:46:13 -0700 2003 1600265 0 Deb Van D 6 1600340 Thats one opinion- if you check a real bartenders guide you may be suprised to find how many drinks are considered martinis. This is fighting a loosing battle since establishments will continue to call drinks whatever they want regardless. The "martini" styled drinks are a popular fad now and when it changes they may be calling them sidecars or manhattans but who cares??? As long as my customers order them and I get tipped for making them you can call them banana splits for all I care! Wed May 21 12:14:23 -0700 2003 1600276 0 BarTender 7 1600393 "if you check a real bartenders guide you may be suprised to find how many drinks are considered martinis. This is fighting a loosing battle since establishments will continue to call drinks whatever they want regardless." Yes, it may be true that to many people, including some bartenders, the name "martini" is synonymous with "cocktail" (the same way that in some southern states, the term "coke" is synonymous with "soda"). It may be that in some bartender's guides (not all, or even most), many a drink is called a "martini" that contains neither gin nor vermouth. But one does not have to be a snob or a hopeless romantic to prefer that the term is reserved for the original drink. Drinks have names for a reason -- so that we can order something and have a reasonable chance of getting what we expect. You may say that "As long as my customers order them and I get tipped for making them you can call them banana splits for all I care!" but I doubt you really mean it. Your job would become infinitely more difficult, if not impossible, if you couldn't count on your customers sticking (in general) to conventional names for conventional drinks. Suppose, for example, that I walk into your bar and order a margarita. You give me a drink made with tequila, triple sec and lime. I say, "that's not I want. I want a drink with vanilla vodka, Malibu rum, pineapple juice and mango." My guess is that you would say, "that's not a margarita." And you would be correct. It's telling that all of these new drinks are *not* simply called "martinis." They're always called the "[fill in the blank] martini" -- the vanilla martini, the chocolate martini, the mango martini, etc. It's also interesting that very few of them are standard enough that one can count on getting the same drink in various bars when odering one of them (yet another reason to wish that they had more original names). Just why all of these drinks have come to be called "martinis" (rather than, say, "cocktails") is probably complicated enough to be the subject of a whole new thread. I think the main reasons are 1) that the martini has always been seen as the height of sophistication and people like to be thought of as sophisticatd; and 2) people are not terribly creative when naming new drinks. You're right in thinking that we purists are probably fighting a losing battle to object to the new nomenclature, but we can always hope. Wed May 21 17:18:01 -0700 2003 1600340 0 Janet A. Zimmerman 8 1600412 "Just why all of these drinks have come to be called "martinis" (rather than, say, "cocktails") is probably complicated enough to be the subject of a whole new thread. I think the main reasons are 1) that the martini has always been seen as the height of sophistication and people like to be thought of as sophisticatd; and 2) people are not terribly creative when naming new drinks." I would suspect that the reason these drinks are called martinis is because they are prepared in a *martini shaker* and served straight up in a *martini glass*, just like a martini. You already had the vodka martini diluting the purity of a martini made with gin, so it was only a matter of time before other deviations followed. Frankly, I don't think your example of the margarita works. I would never order a "martini" and expect to be served anything other than a gin martini. However, if I ordered a Green Apple Martini or a chocolate martini, I believe I would get what I ordered. Besides, most of these places have a drink menu to tell you what their in house specialities are. You aren't ordering blind. Wed May 21 19:50:44 -0700 2003 1600393 0 DanaB 9 1600427 Yeah, but a Cosmopolitan and a Sidecar are also both shaken in a martini shaker and served in a martini glass, and we don't call them martinis ... Wed May 21 21:40:36 -0700 2003 1600412 0 Caitlin Wheeler 10 1600435 ... and some of us mix all our cocktails (including Martinis) in a "cocktail shaker" and serve them in a "cocktail glass". I suppose I don't really care what a drink is called, but I do long for a time when any variation (even just proportions or garnish) on a drink was given a whole new name. A Gibson or Buckeye is a lot closer to a Martini than even a "Vodka Martini" is. Wed May 21 23:31:54 -0700 2003 1600427 0 Azamiryou 11 1600440 I have to cop to my naivitee that a martini glass has ever been called anything other than that--but I did do a web search and got many references to "martini glass aka cocktail glass." Learn something new every day--that's why I love you chowhounds! Anyhow, I do agree that in an ideal world, all cocktails would enjoy their own unique names, and not hang on the coattails of the eponymous martini. In the world I live in, unfortunately, they don't, and so I've fallen into the cheap and easy habit of calling any new, unnamed cocktail, served shaken not stirred, in a *martini aka cocktail glass*, as a variety of martini (unless they have their own name already, like a Cosmo, Sidecar, Manhattan, etc.). Call me heathen, call me what you will. Martini appears to me to be one of those words, like kleenex, that has lost its "brand name" and come to mean any "tissue" i.e. any of a variety of cocktail served in the martini style. Is it worthwhile to continue to bicker over the philology of the word martini? I'll leave that to you all :-) Thu May 22 01:13:54 -0700 2003 1600435 0 DanaB 12 1600535 I think to a certain exten this argument (that people are calling drinks martinis because they're served in martini glasses) has got it backward. The idea behind a martini/cocktal glass is to be able to serve the drink cold and have it stay that way (hence the stem), vs, say, an old fashioned glass or a highball. But I think these new concoctions are going into martini glasses because, as Janet noted, it's seen as a sophisticated way to serve a drink. And note that martinis made a comeback a few years agoas fashionable drink (though I daresay some new consumers of them would be shocked to find out that they're made with anything but vodka) and all the "____ martini" drinks followed. Martinis were (are) seen as swank and sophisticated, so a drink served in the same glass and given the name "martini" must be, too, right? Even if it's made with root beer schnapps and vodka. Thu May 22 17:03:20 -0700 2003 1600440 0 Caitlin McGrath 10 1600470 true, "martini" isn't added to the end of those names, but if a place has a drink menu they are often in the "martini" section. of course, if we stand by the idea that there is only one "martini," then there really shouldn't be a whole section devoted to different kinds anyway...hee! Thu May 22 11:15:22 -0700 2003 1600427 0 Nancy 4 1600270 Pssst, you might try going to a fine restaurant or bar once in a while; although not traditional, there are many delicious drinks on drink menus across the nation called "martinis" which vary from the original definition of same. Methinks you are fighting a losing battle. Personally, I don't mind what it's called, so long as it tastes good. Thanks, wurstle, for sticking up for me. Tue May 20 19:46:02 -0700 2003 1600236 0 DanaB 1 1600161 I can't remember the exact name but I remember the rum comes in a white opaque bottle (Malibu Rum???) It is a coconut flavored rum that if you mix with a splash of pineapple juice will taste like a pina colada. Best served: stir over ice and pour straight up into martini glass with slice of pineapple! Tue May 20 11:08:18 -0700 2003 1600151 0 BeachBabe 1 1600163 Bacardi light rum with 7-up and a squeeze of key lime. Simple but very refreshing. Tue May 20 11:14:44 -0700 2003 1600151 0 Neta 1 1600165 Bacardi light rum with 7-up and a squeeze of key lime. Simple but very refreshing. Tue May 20 11:15:20 -0700 2003 1600151 0 Neta 1 1600167 Meyer's Dark with HQ pineapple juice. Squeeze of lime. Tue May 20 11:21:23 -0700 2003 1600151 0 GG Mora 1 1600183 Why not rum and your favorite fruit juice(s)? That's what rum seems to go best with. The expensive sipping rums are great by themselves. Tue May 20 12:26:55 -0700 2003 1600151 0 muD 1 1600186 Lately, we're big fans of the Dark & Stormy, which we make with Myers, Barbancourt, or Appleton rum and Buffalo Rock ginger ale. Full-flavored and spicy is the only way to go with the ginger ale/beer. Link: http://www.buffalorock.com/products/ginger_ale.htm Tue May 20 12:45:28 -0700 2003 1600151 0 ted 2 1600219 I love the Dark and Stormy, but frequently have trouble finding Ginger Beer. I find that ginger ale doesn't have enough bite. Tue May 20 14:44:56 -0700 2003 1600186 0 OPJK 3 1600229 Ginger beer is readily available in most of the supermarkets in the far east side Cleveland area. You may want to try World Market if you have one in your area. Also for the true D & S use Gosling's Black Seal and be sure to squeeze some lime juice into it. Tue May 20 15:22:17 -0700 2003 1600219 0 Jambalaya 3 1600241 I am able to get Ginger Beer at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. The more Latin-oriented supermarkets in my area also carry it. Tue May 20 16:22:44 -0700 2003 1600219 0 AlanH 3 1600283 ginger beer is easy to find in brooklyn...where are you located? Tue May 20 23:36:54 -0700 2003 1600219 0 Nancy 1 1600193 Shot of Wray & Nephew White Overproof, 4 oz. cranberry juice, a long dash of Angostura Bitters. Shake or stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Tue May 20 13:12:25 -0700 2003 1600151 0 lintsao 1 1600197 I like dark rum with lemonade and club soda. Myers, Mount Gay, and Cruzan dark are my faves. Never bothered with the more expensive stuff. Tue May 20 13:29:52 -0700 2003 1600151 0 andy huse 1 1600225 1) Navy Grog (the way my grandpa makes em) Light rum, dark rum, grapefruit juice, ice, and a splash of Pernod (optional) 2) Bermuda Rum Swizzle (we swizzled these during an entire weekend in Bermuda): Lime juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, grenadine, light rum, dark rum and bitters. Tue May 20 14:58:00 -0700 2003 1600151 0 Caitlin Wheeler 1 1600228 Gossling's Rum and ginger ale - splash of soda. Tue May 20 15:21:42 -0700 2003 1600151 0 Hazel 1 1600272 1) Bacardi Anejo with orange juice over crushed ice in a rocks glass. Serve with plantain chips. 2) Bacardi Limon with cranberry juice on the rocks - in a tall glass. 3) Light rum with lemonade on the rocks. All of the above served at the bar at the Caribe Hilton, please. Tue May 20 19:57:11 -0700 2003 1600151 0 Deenso 1 1600286 This isn't exactly a "mixed" drink, but it is truly one of the finest rum concoctions I've ever had. In fact I've got a jar macerating in my kitchen cupboard right now. 1 bottle amber, and 1/2 bottle each light and dark rums 2 ripe mangos 1 whole ripe pineapple zest of 2 or 3 limes a good, fragrant vanilla bean sugar .... 1/4 to 3/4 cup Slice the top and bottom off of the pineapple and then quarter it vertically (leave the skin on). Peel the mangoes but leave them whole. Find a nice big glass container and add your rums and then sugar to taste (I like it on the not-so-sweet side, so I go with 1/4 cup --- you can always add simple syrup later if necessary), stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the other ingredients, give it a stir. Seal well and set aside in a cool dark place for 4 weeks (if you can wait that long). Remove the fruit and vanilla, and strain. I squeeze the pineapple and mangoes to get all of the rum out!Serve straight, over ice ... I like a good squeeze of fresh lime too. Paraphrased from "The Thrill of the Grill" (Schlesinger). Wed May 21 00:38:54 -0700 2003 1600151 0 foodfirst 1 1600536 Thanks, everyone, for some good ideas. I definitely see Burmuda swizzles and tropical fruit-infused rum in my future. I knew I should have included the dark and stormy in my "basics" - love them. Somrthing I just thought of, and can't wait to try, is mixing Paldo, a tasty Korean cinnamon-flavored (noncarbonated) soft drink, with dark rum and some soda and lime (without soda, it'd be edging into dessert territory). Link: http://www.ikoreaplaza.com/ikp/index.asp?page=product.asp&sku=KPSM03SD010&dept_id=1020 Thu May 22 17:11:33 -0700 2003 1600151 0 Caitlin McGrath