frozen drinks

Tuesday Reviews-Day: Captain Morgan 1671 Commemorative Blend

Sips, Tuesday Revews-Day

 

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In 1671, the real Captain Morgan’s ship, The Satisfaction, sunk after raiding the Spanish in Panama. The folks at Captain Morgan rum have created the 1671 Commemorative Blend Spiced Rum as their best estimate of what rum aboard The Satisfaction would have tasted like, and even put it in a bottle reminiscent of those old bottles with the loop for easy carrying or tossing back a shot.

They suggest this spiced rum is one for sipping on the rocks, but I find it still with one too many edges for me to drink it straight–but we all know I like my spirits balanced with a mixer of some sort. The aroma (or nose) is just wonderful: rich, a little smoky, a little sweet, and some dried fruits like apricots and raisins.

Rum always reminds me of growing up on Ponchatoula, Lousiana. First, because my aunt would mix pina coladas at my grandparents wet bar in the evenings (she’s pour out a little of the blended mixture for me before adding the rum) and then because of the frozen strawberry daiquiris they’d serve up at the annual Strawberry Festival. And at the holidays, instead of the Bourbon balls everyone else seems to be familiar with, my family made Rum Balls and I’d sneak into the pantry to grab more than my fair share back in the day.

With those early memories in mind, I created a lighter twist on them both in honor of hot summer days and cool frozen drinks.

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Summer Satisfaction

1 1/2 cups frozen pineapple chunks
1 1/2 cups hulled and halved strawberries
2/3 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup spiced rum (like Captain Morgan 1671)

Combine everything in the blender and process until nice and smooth. Garnish with a whole strawberry and, if you’re feeling fancy, replace the stem with a small sprig of mint. Make 3 cups–you decide how many servings that amounts to.

I don’t like using ice in my frozen drinks since all it manages to do is dilute everything and make a mess by the time you’re halfway through. Using frozen fruit for all or part of your blended drinks saves you from this travesty, and the frozen pineapple mixes well with the strawberries and coconut milk instead of taking them over. And speaking of the coconut milk, I went with it over the pina colada-standard coconut cream because I didn’t want the heavy, cloying sweetness to take over the drink. Instead, the coconut milk give you a hint of the pina colada without going overboard.

For non-beverage uses, I can see this rum being a lovely addition to your homemade (or even doctored store-bought) barbecue sauces and baked beans over the summer. Use some to marinate your next batch of ribs or brisket and see if it doesn’t just turn the dial on the flavor up a notch or two. This Commemorative Blend is a limited edition, though, so if you’re wanting to rum up your summer with it, you might want to get some sooner rather than later!

***I was provided a sample of Captain Morgan 1671 Commemorative Blend Spiced Rum for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own.***

Tuesday Reviews-Day: Cruzan Key Lime Rum

Sips

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***This is a sponsored post. I was provided a sample of Cruzan’s Key Lime Rum for purpose of review. All opinions expressed, below, are my own and no other compensation has been exchanged. Now that that’s out of the way…***

Our friends at Cruzan Rum were kind enough to share with us their perfect-for-summer flavored rum-Cruzan Key Lime–and I was more than happy to give it a try. After all, with such wonderful memories of their Vanilla and Pineapple rums, I had high hopes for the Key Lime.

Nor was I disappointed!

At first sip, I was reminded of the taste of summer, childhood summers spent with Otter Pops and other super-sweet ice pops squeeze from plastic sleeves. Of course this one has a bit of a kick to it, but (as usual) there is no hard edge from the rum, just a pleasant warmth to counteract the tang of the lime. Todd didn’t think it was quite tart enough, but I stand by my first impression.

Of course, when thinking of lime libations, I often think of the Harry Nilsson’s Coconut song, and one of two images comes to mind.

This one:

(Direct link for the feed readers: Kermit the Frog – Lime in the Coconut)

Or this one:

(Direct link for the feed readers: Practical Magic – Midnight Margaritas)

So of course I was pleased to see this recipe that came along with my information from Cruzan:

Cruzan® Key Lime in a Coconut
Recipe by Jesse Card, Cruzan Master Mixologist
 
Ingredients:
  • 2 ounces Cruzan® Key Lime Rum
  • .75 ounces Lime Juice
  • 1 ounce Coco Lopez® Coconut Cream
Method:
Add all ingredients into a blender with 12 ounces of crushed ice. Blend and pour into a coconut.

Now, I had a coconut shell handy, but it was a souvenir from our cruise and I like to keep him on the shelf so I used a regular glass for my cocktail and I don’t think it’ll make that much of a difference–though if you’ve got a fresh coconut handy, by all means feel free.

For a frozen cocktail made with coconut cream and sweet rum, this is not an overly sweet drink. Like many of it’s kind, the cold does dull some of the rum’s edge, but it’s still noticeable, so you’re not likely to over-indulge without realizing it. The tart of the lime blends nicely with the coconut and really makes for a refreshing treat perfect to beat the summer’s heat.

Cheers!

Best of: Fruit[y] Cocktails

Sips

Since I’m still recovering from the impromptu trip last weekend and in honor of the holiday this coming weekend, here’s a couple of fun, fruity drinks to get you through the weekend. We’ll pick back up with our tasty tour of US History next Friday!

~~~oOo~~~

I’m not a girl who likes her liquor straight. On the contrary, I prefer mine well-mixered and my favorite class of mixer is fruit juice. Frou-frou umbrellas are not necessary and the blender can usually stay in the cabinet, but a good juice-to-booze ratio makes a happy camper of this cocktail chick.

I went flipping through my mixology books and found a promising “Mocktail” (a non-alcoholic cocktail, from the book of the same name) that I thought had potential. Even better, I had plenty of fresh strawberries and honeydew melon on hand that the recipe called for.

The one criticism I have for the original recipe is that the quantities are not specific. In school my chefs quickly figured out that I was definitely a baker (as opposed to a line cook) since I preferred (and always asked for) exact quantities, times and temperatures–everything that’s necessary for proper baking chemistry but more subjective for cooking on a line. How much is a “slice” of honeydew? What, to you, is a “part”? Since one ingredient was pineapple juice and the cans I keep on the bar are 6 oz. I decided that a “part” for this trial would be 3 oz. to prevent waste. (I decided to try the recipe two ways.) Here’s my version of the original:

Fantasia

6 strawberries, hulled and washed (halves are okay if the strawberries are very large)
6 1-inch balls of honeydew melon (I’d just finished a party and had extra melon balls, adjust as necessary)
3 oz orange juice
3 oz pineapple juice
1 c ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. This makes 1 tall smoothie or 2 short ones to share.

—adapted from Mocktails, David Biggs

Now, this was okay. Todd commented that it was all sort of mushed up together–no one flavor dominated. And that’s okay, really, but it doesn’t make the drink stand out. Even with the amount of liquid in this, it’s still very frothy and a bit chewy. If you, as the original recipe suggest, blend everything but the ice and then pour the mixture over crushed ice it may make a difference. I combined them for convenience.

So we have Fantasia, non-alcoholic and, frankly, G-rated. I was in the mood, however, for something with a little more kick and a little more flavor. This is our preferred version of this cocktail, still low-alcohol so safe for Summer consumption without fear of a hangover, but no longer safe for the kiddies:

CHF* Pink Elephants on Parade

6 strawberries, hulled and washed (halves are okay if the berries are large)
6 melon balls (for more kick, soak them in a little Midori)
3 oz orange juice
3 oz pineapple juice
1.5 oz spiced rum
1 c ice

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Makes 1 tall cocktail or 2 shorter ones: make a friend.

The spiced rum in the Pink Elephant version (does anyone else remember that scene from Dumbo? my favorites were the plaid ones) smooths out the flavor, warms it up even for being a blended ice-drink and gives a pleasant aftertaste.

Safe Sipping!

*Cocktail Hour Favorite. There may be only so many ingredients in a drink but there’s many ways to mix them.