Recipes: Rum-tastic Summer Cocktails!

This summer I am obsessed with any delicious concoction featuring RUM!  Rum is the ultimate summertime beverage, calling to mind those amazing tiki bar/beach party movies like Gidget (circa 1959) with Sandra Dee and her dreamy leading men The Big Kahuna and Moon Doggie...and Beach Blanket Bingo with Annette Funicelo and Frankie Avalon!?

Summer always takes me back to those classic "The Brady Bunch go to Hawaii" re-runs or any episode of Gilligan's Island, The Love Boat or Fantasy Island! Besides...wouldn't any of those tv shows or movies be much funnier with a few fresh & fruity cocktails made with rum?! ;)

My current favorite is the Mai Tai...created by the legendary Trader Vic (Victor Bergeron) in 1944 and introduced to the Hawaiian islands in the 1950s. Mai Tai is Tahitian for "out of this world" as declared by his guest when creating this new drink for her. I love this quote about Trader Vic: "His pungent vocabulary and ribald air made him a popular host, as did his potent tropical cocktail concoctions and delicious Americanized adaptations of Polynesian food." Visit Trader Vic's website, you will learn the story behind this adventurous man and his penchant for making the world's best rum cocktails!

                                                         

Trader Vic's Original Mai Tai

• 2 ounces 17-year-old Jamaican rum
• 1/2 ounce orgeat (almond syrup)
• 1/2 ounce orange curacao
• Juice of one fresh lime
• 1/4 ounce rock candy syrup or Simple Syrup
• Lime slice for garnish
• Sprig of mint for garnish
• Shake ingredients and pour into an ice-packed glass. Garnish with lime and a sprig of mint.
• Makes 1 serving.

Mel's Raspberry Lime Mojito

This is a staple at my house in the summer time! So easy to make...and very few calories! Enjoy!

• 1.5 ounces Bacardi rum (clear)
• Seltzer water (flavored raspberry or lime)
• 1/2 ounce of Simple Syrup (or omit to save calories)
• 1/2 lime, cut into wedges
• A few sprigs of fresh mint
• A small handful of fresh (or frozen) red raspberries
• Pour the rum into tall metal shaker (or pint glass).
• Add in the fresh mint, raspberries and lime wedges, muddle with rum in the bottom of the glass with a wooden spoon.
• Shake ingredients and pour into an ice-packed glass.
• Add in simple syrup & fill the glass with Selzter.
• Garnish with lime and a sprig of fresh mint.
• Makes 1 serving.

Planter’s Punch

  

•1-1/2 oz. dark Rum
•1/2 oz. lime juice
•1/2 oz. lemon juice
•3 oz. orange juice
•1 teaspoon white sugar
•Dash of grenadine syrup
•Ice to fill
•Fill a tall glass with ice.
•Combine all ingredients in a shaker, and strain into the glass.
•Garnish with a fancy umbrella, a cherry & orange slice.
[Source: Tastings.com]