Why Rum is uniquely delicious when it's raw outside.
By: Warren Bobrow
Published: August 15, 2011

Rum is a sea-faring liquor.  It is unaffected by the rolling motion of waves or the heat of an un-airconditioned berth.  Rum is effective against sea-sickness and it helps a sailor sleep if he's spent the night hauling sheets down from tall masts in the pouring rain.  Rum is as much of a part of history as sailors and the pirates who plied the oceans from England to the Caribbean and return.  It can be cold and raw out on the ocean- very similar in many ways to the weather we've been enjoying here in New Jersey.  Summer as we know it is taking a break. 
My thoughts for a warming cocktail are quite simple.  A rum based drink or two?  Why not?  A hot rum based drink is just as delicious in the hot weather as it can be in the cold of winter.  It just depends how warm you want to become inside!
Rum is uniquely welcomed at a sailor's table, or their bunk, especially when it's impossible to get fully dry from being in the face of waves all day.  High alcohol from overproof rum means warming you from the inside out.  On a cold and rainy summer's day, there are few drinks that can compete from a flavor perspective.  You must try a Hot Toddy after mucking around on a sailboat in the surf and rain.
It will help you spend more of your time relaxing when you're on Island Time.
 
Sailor's Dream (or nightmare?)
3 oz of Kōloa Rum (Light Rum)
1 oz Lemon Hart 151 Overproof Rum
2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
1 pat of salted butter
1/4 cup of coconut milk (unsweetened)
Boiling water
Preparation:
Pre-heat ceramic mug with boiling water.  Toss out.  Add all ingredients to mug and top with more boiling water.  Scrape some nutmeg over the top and sip carefully.
Serves One
 
Incoming Wave
1/4 ladybird pepper (don't use too much, they're hot!)
2 oz of Kōloa Rum (Dark)
1/3 cup Coconut Milk - Sweetened is ok
1 Thai Basil Leaf
Boiling water
Preparation:
Chop the ladybird pepper very finely.  You may want to wear gloves- the oils are quite potent!
Add them to a ceramic mug.  Add Kōloa Rum and then sweetened coconut milk. 
Chop Thai Basil leaf finely and add to mug.
Top with boiling water
Sip through to Thai spiced dreamland.

Comments:
Sheri Wetherell
August 15, 2011

We have a sailboat and I always make sure we are WELL stocked with rum! That, and limes. You certainly don't want to get skurvy!  ;) Nice post, thanks!