Maple Hot Buttered Rum

December 17, 2015

Warm Up With The Maple Hot Buttered Rum

It's official: winter is in full effect. We've busted out the jackets and snow boots to combat the chill, but at the end of the day, there's no better way to warm up than with a hot cocktail. Insert the Maple Hot Buttered Rum, our take on a classic cold-weather cocktail.

Many of us have heard the term "Hot Buttered Rum" but most don't actually know what it is, how to make it, or whether it actually has butter in it (hint: it does.) The Hot Buttered Rum cocktail originated in colonial America. Rum was a popular alcohol choice because it originated the New World, specifically the Caribbean where there were an abundance of sugar cane farms. Molasses is a by-product of sugar, and when fermented and distilled it becomes rum. Colonists were big fans of the liquor and crafted a number of cocktails using it, including the Hot Buttered Rum.

The process behind making a Hot Buttered Rum is simple. Add aged rum (our go-to is Ron Zacapa from Guatamala), a sweetener (we use deeply flavorful maple syrup), a pinch of cinnamon and a small knob of unsalted butter to a mug (check out these beautiful stoneware mugs from Mazama). Fill the mug with hot water, sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg and you're done!

The Maple Hot Buttered Rum
makes one cocktail

  • 1 shot dark rum
  • 1/2 shot maple syrup
  • 1 tsp unsalted butter
  • 1 pinch freshly grated cinnamon
  • Hot water
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
  1. Add the dark rum, maple syrup, unsalted butter and cinnamon to a mug.
  2. Fill with hot water and stir until butter has melted.
  3. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon.

Want more recipes like this one? Check out our book Shake: A New Perspective on Cocktails