How to Drink Old J Spiced Rum with 3 Cocktails
Old J rum has been a bartender favourite for as long as I can remember.
Now it’s time for me to spread the joy of Old J. guess you could say I’m spreading the Old Joy…
Recently it’s been world bartender day. Which takes place yearly on February 24th. Old J reached out to me to create a few cocktails with some of there extensive range. I went with the classic Old J, Old J cherry and the ultimate favourite of the bar, Tiki Fire.
Now I’m going to share those serves with you to recreate yourself and hopefully inspire some of your own Old J creations.
Oh, and whilst on the subject, if you do create any Old J cocktails, don’t forget to share them with me on here, my Instagram, or with Old J on there own Instagram so we can see your cocktail craftsmanship at work.
Old J Cherry
The first cocktail I have for all you rum lovers is one with Old J cherry.
What I love about this expression is that its not a cherry liqueur. As the good people at Old J say and I can vouch for, it’s very much a spiced rum with the flavours of cherry. Perfect if you’re a classic rum and coke drinker because let me tell you, cherry rum and coke is not to be underestimated.
It also works great with sweet treats. Fill a bowl with chocolate ice cream and drizzle (or glug) over some Old J cherry rum and oh my god are you in for a treat.
For me, I like to pair it with something fiery and sweet - ginger beer.
So for this serve, we’re going to serve it tall, sweat, and sparkling.
White chocolate and cherry garnish
The cocktail is made easy, the garnish is the only prepping you will need for this. But the pay off is great.
All you need to do is stick some white chocolate in the microwave, heat it up in batches till its fully melted then dip some cherries half way into the chocolate. Stick them all in the fridge and wait for the chocolate to harden.
Now, if you want to elevate it, you can make them boozy with some Tiki fire. We’ll be using some tiki fire in the next cocktail so I’d recommend picking some up and trying this out.
Rum soaked cherries
What you’re going to do is use a toothpick to prick little holes all over your cherries, then soak them in a jar with Old J Tiki Fire overnight. That Tiki fire will soak into the cherries making them brilliantly boozy.
Then melt the chocolate, half dip them, sit them in the fridge and enjoy.
It puts a whole new spin on how to enjoy rum.
Where to buy
You can pick up Old J Cherry as well as any of the others from the range from this link here.
If you’re UK based, you can also shop for Old J on amazon here.
Fiery Cherry
Ingredients
Instructions
- Muddle the lime and blackberries into a Collins glass.
- Top with crushed ice and add the rum. Churn, then top with ginger beer and garnish with sage leaves and a white chocolate dipped cherry.
Notes
For the white chocolate dipped cherries
Melt white chocolate in the microwave then dip your cherries in half way. Store in the fridge
Crushed Ice
If you can't get hold of crushed, flaked, or pebbled ice then make your own. Wrap regular cubed ice in a towel and bash it with a rolling pin to crush it. You can do this in bulk and store it in a zip lock bag in your freezer.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
38.35Fat
0.21 gSat. Fat
0.02 gCarbs
11.2 gFiber
2.54 gNet carbs
8.64 gSugar
5.12 gProtein
0.8 gSodium
1.23 mgCholesterol
0 mgThe nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Old J Tiki Fire
Now for a personal favourite of mine, Old J Tiki Fire.
Tiki fire comes in at 75.5% ABV so it’s got quite the kick to it. It’s at this point that I’m reminded to tell you to drink responsibly.
Now we’ve covered that, let’s talk about Old J tiki fire…
Pour yourself a shot of tiki fire and prepare because it burns so good! But also… cocktails. And I’m not just talking about a glass wash or a little drizzle for aroma. It works great for that but I mean as the spirit base of a cocktail.
The thing about having something so high in alcohol (other then using it to flavour cherries) is that it can stand up to big flavours and balance perfectly.
Such as the sweetness of honey and pineapple and acidity of lime.
Fire
Another notable aspect of overproof rum is the fact that you can set it on fire. And oh look, it’s time for another warning. Don’t mess around with overproof rum and fire if you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s dangerous and I will not be held liable.
…But if you do know what you doing, here’s what I suggest.
For this cocktail we’re going to use both the pulp and juice from half a lime. We’re also going to use that left over lime shell to fill with lemon sorbet.
The sorbet cuts through the fiery rum.
We’ll also float more tiki fire on top of our cocktail so we can set the whole thing on fire then sprinkle over some cinnamon.
I want to tell you this is to add the subtle hint of spice to the cocktail which yeah, it totally does, but mainly, its because it looks cool… video for reference
Old J Flambé
Ingredients
Instructions
- Shake everything, fine strain over cubed ice.
- Garnish by filling half a lime shell (the one you used for the pulp and juice) with lemon sorbet and 1 mint sprig.
- float tiki fire on top of cocktail and sorbet.
- Light on fire and dust with cinnamon
Notes
The sorbet is a great addition in this cocktail. It balances perfect by cooling your mouth after the fiery drink. Lemon sorbet in particular works great because of the acidity but you can also try coconut sorbet which I find to work great.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
106.85Fat
0.08 gSat. Fat
0 gCarbs
28.18 gFiber
0.51 gNet carbs
27.67 gSugar
23.9 gProtein
0.62 gSodium
53.23 mgCholesterol
0 mgThe nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Old J Spiced Rum
Finally we have the classic Old J, the OG.
Which we will be mixing in a cocktail honouring Mr admiral Old J himself called the Admiral’s day off.
Just like the Cherry rum and Tiki Fire, this here classic Old J you can pick up from this link here.
As well as on amazon UK here.
The Admiral’s Day Off
Ingredients
Instructions
- Shake everything vigorously until the ice cream is fully incorporated. Strain into a tiki mug.
Notes
Swap the vanilla ice cream for coconut ice cream and you have a new way to make a Pina Colada.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
469.71Fat
14.7 gSat. Fat
8.97 gCarbs
50.41 gFiber
1.22 gNet carbs
49.19 gSugar
42.91 gProtein
5.16 gSodium
109.1 mgCholesterol
58.08 mgThe nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
If you’d like to learn more about Old J and the the other rums in the range, check out there official website here.
They also have a silver, dark, and gold rum which work perfectly mixed and a pineapple rum which if you want to see some cocktail suggestions for, just reach out to myself and I’ll be happy to talk all things rum with you.
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