Good evening, I’m Nick Winters and I’m here to entertain you tonight. So sit back, have another Hot Buttered Rum, and let it happen.

A final cocktail-related post before we dive into the heart of our holiday shopping lists starting tomorrow.

This is @how2drink Hot Buttered Rum recipe (link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cCbEwyntSCM ) and it is divine.

- 2 oz. brown butter fat washed Jamaican Rum
- 1 oz. simple syrup (2:1 ratio sugar:water)
- 4 oz. hot water
- 1 piece of star anise
- Cinnamon stick

Per @how2drink instructions, I browned 250 grams of butter, combined it with a bottle of Appleton Estate rum, agitated it episodically for an hour, then chilled it in the freezer for 2.5-3 hours.

Directions: combine brown butter washed rum, hot water, and syrup in toddy glass, stir. Float star anise and garnish with cinnamon stick.

The perfect Hot Buttered Rum, @how2drink style.

As Greg says in his video, this was *the* winter/Christmastime beverage of the Northeastern US during the Colonial/Revolutionary era. Them Massholes and New Yorkers loved them some rum, and at one point one of the biggest rum distilleries in the Western Hemisphere was on Long Island. Sadly, Colonial American rum had a reputation for being straight rotgut, so it was generally deployed as a mixer. And in the winter, hot cocktails were obviously popular. That said, the wealthier would spring for Jamaican rum when it was available, and that is the version that eventually, and rightfully, became canonical.

This version is liquid decadence. I think you could reasonably utilize this as a stand-in for a dessert course at a holiday meal and you’d receive zero complaints. I can’t stress enough how much the anise and cinnamon are also bringing to this party. Hats off to @how2drink — log this with the Mai Tai as a quintessential rum cocktail.

Image courtesy of Jon who also writes on Low Class & High Proof.

Low Class & High Proof

I learned how to make cocktails watching Danger 5