First off, the name is misleading. This isn’t a drink you’d find at a club at Jenkinson’s, Elements, or any of the clubs down the Jersey Shore. It’s nothing sanctioned by the E Street Band, and it’s certainly not any blue-collar steelworker’s hard-living drink that you’d hear about in a Springsteen song. Sorry. Born to Rum is just a breezier version of the mojito, fairly bursting with lime with a hint of mint and some fresh apple juice for depth.
We named it when creating a house drink for our Bruce Springsteen-themed Super Bowl party a few years back. (Yes, that one—the game where the Steelers won their sixth ring and Bruce played the halftime show—a watershed night in our house.) It seems incongruous that I developed this quintessentially warm-weather drink in the dead cold of January, but maybe my mind was on other things, like the hot sun beating on the blacktop, or girls in their summer clothes, or a pretty little place in Southern California down San Diego way….
As usual, I do have a specific liquor choice for my drink. This time, it’s the lime rum made by Brinley Gold, a small family-owned company that specializes in flavored rums. (More on them next month!) Don’t be tempted to sub in lime-flavored vodka in its place. Even if you’re not a rum drinker, give me the benefit of the doubt with this one—there’s a subtle sweetness that comes from the rum that you don’t get with vodka, and it does significantly contribute to the smoothness of the drink.
Born to Rum
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To make one pitcher:
- 1 cup Brinley Gold Lime Rum (or a white rum)
- 1 cup fresh lime juice (from 5-6 limes)
- 1 Gala apple, juiced (about 1/2 cup fresh apple juice if you’re not a crazy person with a home juicer like me)
- 1/2 cup lime-and-mint-simple syrup*
- lemon-lime seltzer to fill the pitcher
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or just to make one drink:
- 2 oz lime rum
- 2 oz lime juice
- 1 oz fresh apple juice
- 1 oz lime-and-mint-simple syrup*
- lemon-lime seltzer to fill the glass
Pour all ingredients except the seltzer over ice, stir to mix, and add seltzer to taste. That’s it!
*When making simple syrup for this drink, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water with the zest of 1 lime and a handful of coarsely torn mint leaves. Heat until the sugar dissolves and the liquid begins to simmer, then cover, remove from the heat, and let steep for 15 minutes before straining.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I Love Rum! With plenty of fresh mint growing in the garden and some simple syrup left over from Derby Mint Juleps in the fridge I’m going to whip up a batch of these. The apple Juice is an interesting twist!
Apple juice! Very curious…
You have better make me one of these the next time I am in NJ.
Yum! thanks for remnding me of this great drink that I had forgotten about..since that great Super Bowl Party!…First, I’ll have to find some Brinley Lime Rum. The rest will be easy!
Yeah, I just thought the drink needed *something* to push it beyond mojito-land, and I happened to have an apple in the fridge… plus, I get weirdly obsessed with my juicer from time to time. A good white grape juice might also work?