Don’t hate me because I’m warm…

by Jacqueline Segal
I’m currently in the land of sun and sand, and lucky to have picked such a crummy week—weather-wise—to have missed in Toronto. You know it’s pretty bad when a good friend sends an email with the subject line “Jerks,” with that day’s weather report as the embedded message. When we spoke earlier today, that same friend suggested that she just wanted something to heat her up. Or, something to remind her of hotter days—she couldn’t decide which.

So, in honour of my weather-jealous friend, and in honour of the beautiful country I get to visit and unwind in, and with the hopes of warmer weather to come, I present two cocktails. The first: A Bajan rum punch (arguably, the best in the islands). And the second: a hot rum toddy—similar to the first, but better suited for the Canadian, Kodiak-booted state of mind. Both are delicious, and both are guaranteed to make your insides warm, regardless of wind-chill.

Bajan Rum Punch
Don’t let the taste fool you, there’s plenty of trouble in this cocktail. Watch yourself – you’ll hardly know what hit you.

There’s a simple rhyme for the traditional Bajan rum punch:

“One of sour, Two of sweet, Three of strong, And, four of weak."

• 1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

• 2 cups Bajan raw cane sugar syrup (brown sugar syrup or raw sugar syrup would work too)

• 3 cups Bajan rum (Bajan brands available in Canada would include Cockspur and Mount Gay)

• 4 cups water

• A few dashes Angostura Bitters

• Grated nutmeg

To make a simple sugar syrup, a good thing to keep handy for sweet cocktails, mix one part sugar, with one part water in a sauce pan. Over medium to low heat, combine the two until the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture reduces by half. The clear, sweet liquid that remains is simple sugar syrup – a veritable mix-drink staple.

In a pitcher, combine the lime juice, syrup, rum, water, and bitters and stir well. Pour into glasses filled with ice, and sprinkle the nutmeg over the top. Add a cocktail cherry to each glass, if your heart desires. This recipe provides 8 to 10 healthy (high-ball) servings.

This is a simplified version of what many bars on the island take serious pride in—everyone’s got their own recipe: some add cinnamon, others add lime zest, and some serve the cocktail chilled, straight up. You can even add a cocktail cherry, if your heart so desires.

Hot Rum Toddy

Not unlike the punch, this heart-warmer combines heat with sweet. Incredibly straightforward, this recipe is for one mug, as opposed the previous, more suited for a pitcher.

• 2 oz rum

• 1 tsp sugar*.

• boiling water

• slice of lime or lemon

• grated nutmeg

*handy, not-so-known, yet obvious-in-retrospect fact: one tsp sugar = one sugar-cube = on sugar packet. Good to know, when you’re mixing on the fly.

Place a sugar cube or equivalent into a medium-sized coffee cup or mug. Fill 2/3 full with boiling water. Add rum and stir. Garnish with a slice of lemon or lime, dust with nutmeg, and serve. Just like the punch, only much warmer.

Now go forth, chilly ones. Think toasty thoughts, channel balmy beaches and warm your insides. And, don’t be weather-jealous—when I return in a few days my sunburned nose will look ridiculous, and I’ll look like a fool as I try to negotiate the snow-banks amassed in my absence.