Liquid Sunshine

Recipe

1.5 oz dark rum (I used Casa Bacardi 8 years old)
1.25 oz Cointreau
.5 oz lime juice
1/2 tsp oleo saccharum
Juice from 1/2 ” piece of turmeric

Shake with ice and strain into chilled coupe glass.

Garnish with lime wheel.

Rum is one of my favorite spirits, so it’s odd that it’s taken me this long to post a rum cocktail. Then again, I reach for it most often in the summer, and it has felt nothing like summer around here lately. It hasn’t even felt like spring, at least, not DC spring. Seattle or Scotland, maybe. But not here.

It’s gotten so bad that last week a friend wore a shockingly bright Hawaiian shirt to the office, which he considered something of a divining rod for the sun. He puffed out his chest and stood defiantly next to the printer, daring the gloom to persist. And you know what? It worked. But only for a little while. So, I busted out the rum to pick up where that Hawaiian shirt left off. Still, it’s been so grey out that I thought the rum might need an assist, so I turned to fresh turmeric.

Turmeric is a Southeast Asian rhizome which, among other things, figures prominently in curries, is rubbed on the bride and groom in traditional Bengali weddings and was associated with the sun in ancient Tamil mythology. If anything’s going to magically rouse the sun, this is it. As far as flavor, it hints of orange, ginger and pepper and has a bitter, medicinal quality. Two notes of caution — 1) Turmeric is used to dye the robes of Hindu monks. It will do the same favor to your white marble counter tops or anything else it touches, and 2) adhere closely to recipe amounts. Too much turmeric will make for a bitter cocktail. Trust me. Take-one of this recipe was completely undrinkable.

To make the turmeric juice, choose a piece of fresh turmeric that’s about 1/2″in diameter, use a spoon to peel the skin off a 1/2″ piece on the end, then finely grate the peeled portion onto a small square of cheesecloth. Gently wrap the cloth around the turmeric and squeeze the juice out into your ice-filled shaker. Add the rest of your ingredients, shake it well, then serve in a chilled coupe and garnish with a lime wedge.

Now, grab your sunglasses. You’re gonna need them.