Hot buttered rum
 |
| Cocktail | |
|---|---|
 Hot buttered rum in a mug | |
| Type | Mixed drink |
| Standard drinkware |  |
| Commonly used ingredients | rum, butter, hot water or cider, sweetener and spices |
Hot buttered rum is a mixed drink containing rum, butter, hot water or cider, a sweetener, and various spices (usually cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves). It is especially popular in the fall and winter and is traditionally associated with the holiday season. In the United States, the drink has a venerable history which dates back to colonial days.[1]
History
After molasses began being imported to Colonial America from Jamaica, and distilleries opened in New England in the 1650s, colonists began adding distilled rum to hot beverages such as toddies and nogs, creating beverages such as hot buttered rum and eggnog, among others.
Spiced rum drinks are especially popular during the winter months. Charles Coulombe, author of Rum: The Epic Story of the Drink that Conquered the World, writes that rum has always been an "important component of American holiday celebrations", and given the Puritanical ban on outright celebration of religious holidays, hot toddies and spiced rum drinks share an association with American civic holidays, such with New Years and Thanksgiving.
Hot buttered rum is made by blending a buttered rum batter with dark rum - rum which has been barrel aged for a considerable length of time to retain a deeper, molasses flavor. Use of light rum or spiced rum is also an option and may be preferred by those who appreciate the mild or spicier taste, respectively. Recipes for buttered rum batter, dating at least as far back as a 1917 publication of The Ideal Bartender, include butter, nutmeg and sugar at the very minimum. Commercial hot buttered rum batters often add powdered sugar, rum flavor, and other mulling spices.[2]
