It’s colder than Rudolph’s nose out there. Who couldn’t use a warm drink? I’m a Michigan native who rode my bike to work one winter through the frigid streets of Northern Michigan. My time freezing my booty off in the mitten-shaped state taught me that surviving winter requires a warm hat, a thick sweater, wool socks, a blazing, popping fire and hot boozy drinks.
Hot buttered rum at Smokehouse Provisions
I began my quest for warm, liquored-up goodness with this drink. Smokehouse is known for its smoked meats, but its craft cocktails are equally marvelous. This hot rum concoction is an unlikely pairing for ribs. Who cares about pairing when a drink goes down this smooth and makes you feel warm and toasty all over?
Hot buttered rum has been tippled from heated vessels since the colonial era. Its popularity has brought haters. David Embury, in his 1948 book, “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks,” threw down the gauntlet (or hot mug) when he declared that this was the worst hot drink and that the lump of butter is “the final insult.”
Bartender Audrey Logan added this drink to the menu as a cure for cold and nasty winter weather. To build this toasty cocktail, she mixes butter, brown sugar, honey and spices (cinnamon, clove and nutmeg). She adds the butter mix to rum in a coffee or tea cup with hot water, a cinnamon stick, cream and nutmeg. If Embury had Smokehouse Provisions’ hot buttered rum, he may have reconsidered his strong opposition to this luscious hot potion.
