Hamilton Rum

HBG’s Spiced Daiquiri

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

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Howdy y’all! As you’ve probably noticed from the photo, I didn’t make this drink at my Home Bar cause these days, I’m a busy lady! The beautiful backdrop for this drink is Duke’s Liquor Box in Greenpoint, Brooklyn where I work as “The Captain” several days a week.

Today I’m suuuuuuuper pumped to be talking about two totally delicious bottles from Ed Hamilton (aka the Minister of Rum) and how well they go together in this seasonally appropriate Daiquiri.

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Firstly, let’s talk Rum cause this IS a Daiquiri we’re making. Hamilton Navy Strength Rum, like the rest of Ed’s Rums is totally stellar. With a blend of Demerara Rum from Guyana and Jamaican Rum from Worthy Park, this 57% offering is a knockout. Huge nose and flavors offer both that fruity funk and a big deep body to support said funk. It’s epic, it’s my new fave Rum and it makes Smith & Cross seem anemic in comparison.

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As incredible as Hamilton Navy Strength is, Hamilton Pimento Dram is on a whole other level. It’s literally Jamaican Gold Rum from Worthy Park Estate + Pimento (aka Allspice) + Cane Sugar and it is the most complete thing I’ve ever tasted. I literally just want to drink it on the rocks all the time. Sublime, possibly perfect, it’s hard to say. Swooooooooon.

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Clearly these two are asking to go into a flavorful, funky, spiced drink together.

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Squeeze that lime gurrrrrrrrrl.

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HBG’s Spiced Daiquiri

  • 1 1/2 oz Hamilton Navy Strength Rum
  • 1/2 oz Hamilton Pimento Dram
  • 3/4 oz Lime Juice
  • A couple barspoons Granulated Cane Sugar or 1/4 oz Cane Sugar Syrup*
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  • Garnish: Lime Wheel and/or Nutmeg

Combine ingredients in shaker over ice and shake it like a rocket! Double strain into punch cup and garnish.

*Ok, so my gurrrrl Shannon (the Rum Queen of NYC) is always making her Daiquiris with Granulated Sugar instead of syrup. I thought I’d give it a try and I kind of dug it. It gave a nice texture to the drink and by not adding extra water (in the way of syrup) makes this Daiquiri feel more intact. Also, don’t go too heavy on the sugar or syrup cause you want the drink to be on the dry side.

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Easy peasy and ohmygod soooooo delicious. This Spiced Daiquiri would be perfect for all yer holiday parties cause of the spice. Ask your local liquor store to carry Hamilton Rums if they don’t already have them, you won’t be disappointed!

Cheers!

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#RumForTheHills: HBG Rum Blend 1

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

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Y’alllllllll. I did it, I decided to make a Rum blend to use in Punches, Swizzles, and other large format Tiki drinks and today, I’m pretty pumped to present it to you.

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Ok, let’s talk.

  1. “Whuuuuuuut gurl? Why do you need to make a blended Rum when you can just use a split base in a cocktail?” Excellent question! I did it for a couple of reasons: Firstly, I love having a premade Rum Blend on hand so I can just use it without thinking about the specs. Secondly, when things sit together in a bottle for a few days/weeks, the flavors “marry” together and groove a bit more.
  2. “Ok Cool gurl, which Rum made you start thinking about making a blend?” Hamilton 86 cause I’m obsessed with it. Hamilton 86 is very dark and has notes of leather, tobacco, fruity goodness and I’m digging it for these colder months.
  3. “Hamilton 86, got it. Then what?” Well, despite what I just said about loving the darkness of Hamilton 86 I wanted to add some top notes of potent funkiness and immediately thought, “RUM FIRE!” Yes, this overproof funky beast is super potent and great in long format cocktails.
  4. “Anything else?” I added Plantation Barbados 5 cause it’s an easy Rum and would add some length. Then added Denizen Aged White to further lighten and dry out the blend.

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I’m gonna give the recipe to y’all in parts not ounces/ml so you can make as much or as little as you want.

HBG Rum Blend #1

  • 2 parts Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum
  • 1/2 part Plantation Barbados 5 Year Rum
  • 1/4 part Denizen 3 Year Aged White Rum
  • 1/4 part Rum Fire

Combine ingredients and bottle. Use this blend however you like but I’d recommend in a Swizzle, Punch or large Tiki drink.

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Cheers and happy blending!

Hamilton Tiki Takeover at Glady’s: Photo Essay

/ Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

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On July 28th, my girlfriend, some friends and I went to the best event ever: Hamilton Tiki Takeover at Glady’s Caribbean restaurant in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Shannon, the beverage director and Rum Kween, invited me a few days before and I was beyond excited.

Ministry of Rum tasting! Ed Hamilton in Brooklyn! Tiki drinks with some of the best Rums ever! WOOOO!

Instead of saying millions of words about how marvelous this event was, I’m gonna do this Photo Essay style. Thanks to Blueprint Spirits for hosting the tastiest Rum event ever.

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The supreme menu for the evening: Kill Devil Grog, Bird of Paradise, Reanimator, Ministry of Rum Flight.

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Lil birdies waiting to contain the fabulous Bird of Paradise cocktail.

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Reanimators waiting for Tiki flames!

Hamilton Rum Reanimator Flame

FLAAAAAAAME!!

Hamilton Rum Reanimator

Note the Jerk Pork next to this Reanimator. Yummmm. 

The Carmelized sugar and charred lime smell on the Reanimator was legit out of sight! So was the drink itself. Definitely one of the most smooth, yet complex, yet refreshing, yet mind-blowing Tiki drinks I’ve ever had.

Here are the ingredients.

Reanimator

  • Rhum Agricole Ambre
  • Hamilton Jamaica Rum
  • Hamilton 151 (RIP Lemon Hart)
  • Honey
  • Falernum
  • Grapefruit Juice
  • Lime Juice
  • Absinthe
  • Bitters

Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold

Next, I asked Shannon if we could go off menu and make a Daiquiri with Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold Rum, Lime and Giffard Banane du Bresil Liqueur. It was so much tastier than I could have hoped!

Shannon Gladys Hamilton Rum

Shannon, master of measurement.

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The specs for this totally righteous Daiquiri were:

  • 2 oz Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold Rum
  • 3/4 oz Giffard Banane
  • 3/4 oz Lime Juice
  • Lime wheel in coupe

Shake it like a rocket, double strain. Slurp.

Gladys Rums

Now, Glady’s already has a killer selection of Rum. This was probably 1/4 of their total collection. Needless to say, I wanted to check out their regular menu.

Gladys Painkiller

But instead of checking out the whole of their menu, we just ordered as many Painkillers as we could handle! Best coconut drink ever and Pusser’s Rum really makes this drink. Piña Coladas ain’t got nothing on the Painkiller!

I wasn’t able to photograph Ed Hamilton (he was a busy busy man!) but I did get to chat with him for a minute.

Me: “Hi! My name is Dani and I’m a really big fan!”

Ed: “Hi Dani, you don’t look very big!”

Me: “Well, no, I’m kind of small.”

Ed: “You see (stands up and towers above me), I’m very big! Haha!”

Then I tasted the Hamilton 151 and damn, it really is 100x better than Lemon Hart. I told him so and then said, “well it’s ok that Lemon Hart is dead.” And he said, “Lots of people have told me that they like Hamilton 151 more and yes, Lemon Hart is dead.”

From the lion’s mouth!

Hope you enjoyed this photo essay and be sure to get some Ministry of Rum in your collection!