Holiday Drink Guide: Hot Buttered Rum

Seeing as the holidays are fast approaching, I'll be devoting these next entries to drinks suitable for sipping, curled up by the fireplace or for serving to your friends and neighbors at that annual holiday party:

The past few days in Boston have been very cold. I should know since the inside of my apartment has been approximately the same temperature as the outside (minus the windchill, of course.) Saturday we spent the day wrapped in wool sweaters and blankets. By Monday our toes were going numb if we sat in one place for too long. Tuesday we ran into our superintendent:

"Oh yah!" He remarked in thick Bostonian accent.
"The broilah's been off since Satahday."

Well, that would explain it. Fortunately, the broiler has since been repaired and the space heaters have been pumping out a steady supply of heat. Listening to the loud whistling sound of steam and roasting in the now sub-tropical temperatures of our apartment, we naturally had a craving for something warm to further enjoy the near-suffocatingly-warm moment.

hot buttered rum
Adapted from House & Garden Drink Guide | November 1973

Serves 1.

ingredients
2 or 3 ounces DARK rum (preferably Puerto Rican!)
tablespoon brown sugar
twist of orange peel
cinnamon stick
ground cloves
nutmeg
sweet cider or water
1 tablespoon sweet butter

preparation
Add the rum, sugar, orange peel, cinnamon and spices to a mug. Heat the cider or water to the boiling point and pour into the spiced rum. Add a pat of butter and stir well.

This would probably taste very good with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Then again, nearly everything would probably taste very good with a dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy!

~flutterbyblue