New base, new possibilities.
Our current bar has plenty ingredients to offer, so here’s some cocktails that
are possible right away.
Since it’s hard for
me to let go of the gin, we’ll kick off with some cocktails which use both gin
and rum.
And vermouth.
Okay, so they both
use gin, rum and dry vermouth and nothing else. So it’s actually the same
drink, right?
Well… no.
B.V.D.
An abbreviation that stands for
Bacardi, Vermouth and Dry gin. Using Bacardi rum is an option, but there are
plenty of other rums out there of course.
Some sources note that the original B.V.D. was actually made with
Brandy, Vermouth and Dubonnet. That might be, but both The Savoy Cocktail Book and the Café
Royal Cocktail Book already have this supposedly ‘modern’ version. So this new-fangled
version is classic enough for me.
1 part light rum
1 part gin
1 part dry vermouth
glass: cocktail
Stir with ice and strain into the
glass.
A martini with a rum
touch.
This recipe just begs
for some experimentation with bitters, although colour is an aspect to consider
here. Tainting this extremely clear cocktail would be a waste, but subtle
bitters such as orange bitters would work fine.
In this case I put
these two bottles to good use that were both a gift: Dutch gin (Dutch Courage)
and Dutch rum (Flying Dutchman), both of the Zuidam distillery. A very fine
combination.
K.O.
Same basic idea, but by using
Jamaican rum this cocktails gets some extra punch. Invented by Heini Schmidt and
found in the Café Royal Cocktail Book.
2 parts gin
1 part dark Jamaican rum
1 part dry vermouth
glass: cocktail
Stir with ice and strain into the
glass.
Yes, this is
certainly different. Switching gins is a subtle business, but switching rums
can be enormously effective in changing the character.
To really hit home, I
used Myers’s rum here. According to Ted Haigh it’s the strongest-flavoured Jamaican
rum on the market.
