This rum sour has a complex, rich depth of flavor. You initially get the rum and a flush of sweetness, but then you lose yourself in warm, West Indies spices. The texture – due not only to the egg white, but to the rich, 1:1 syrup – is downright luxurious.
Note that the sirop d’épices must be made at least one day in advance. This recipe will make enough syrup for 4-6 cocktails.
Ingredients
- For the Sirop d’épice:
4.625 oz. (4⅝ oz., or ⅔ cups) sugar
5.375 oz. (5⅜, or ⅔ cup) water
1½ oz. (¼ cup) golden raisins
1 oz. (a 2½-inch piece) fresh ginger, unpeeled, sliced thinly
1 vanilla bean sliced in half lengthwise
1 star anise, roughly crushed, plus another (uncrushed) for garnish
1 cinnamon stick, roughly crushed
- Per Cocktail:
2 oz. dark rum
1 egg white
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1½ oz. sirop d’épices
Lime wheel, for garnish
Directions
- For the sirop d’épices:
- Heat the sugar and water over a medium-high flame (setting 4 of 9), stirring until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to lowest heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Off heat; let cool.
- Transfer to a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Strain the liquid into a small mixing bowl, discard the solids. Return the liquid to the jar. Add an anise star, just because it’ll look nice when you later open the jar. The syrup will keep for at least a week or more.
- For the Cocktail:
- Combine the rum, egg white, lime juice and sirop d’épices in a cocktail shaker. Shake for about 10 seconds to froth the egg white.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake until very cold, about 20 seconds.
- Strain into a chilled martini glass. (You can also serve the drink over ice in a rocks glass.) Garnish with lime wheel.
Notes
- An easy way to crush the anise and cinnamon is to place them in a Ziploc and smack them with the bottom of a heavy cup or the like.
- To me, this doesn’t seem like an especially sweet drink, but I tend to like cocktails to be on the sweeter side – so I have a clearly biased opinion. A true cocktail aficionado might prefer it less sweet than it is; in that case, I suggest that you start out with half the syrup, taste it before straining it out of the cocktail shaker, and adjust to taste.
- If you want to make a double, triple, or even quadruple batch of syrup, it’s unnecessary to multiply the vanilla bean; one will do.
- This cocktail would love a pineapple spear – especially a grilled one – instead of or in addition to the lime wheel.
This recipe comes from Blue Kitchen – a blog written by a fellow Chicagoan! I barely tweaked it to reflect my preferences, so if you like it, I suggest you head on over there to see what else might be cooking.
Social Learning
Syrups used for cocktails are often made with a 2:1 water-to-sugar ratio, and so are thinner and less sweet. Interestingly, bees prefer a 2:1 ratio in the spring, and a 1:1 ratio in the fall. I had no ideas bees drank cocktails.
You can make this cocktail without the egg white, but it’s far less special … still quite a fine cocktail that I’d happily serve to anyone, but a bit more of an everyday cocktail. In the absence of egg white, I strongly suggest stirring rather than shaking (only because it’s easier and involves less cleanup), serving it on the rocks, and topping it off with a good bit of seltzer.
You can also swap out tequila or whiskey for the rum, with predictably good results. The rum is the most interesting of the three. Then I’d say tequila, and then whiskey, in that order.
This spiced rum sour has been the “house cocktail” at many parties I’ve thrown. You can mix up four or more of them in a pitcher in advance and shake them to order. When I do this, I often like to make a second cocktail, as an alternative, and since this one’s sweet, I like to pair it with an Irish Rose, which is a whiskey cocktail that’s on the drier side (at least according to my tastes, and in comparison, to the rum sour). Rather than detailing the precise ingredients in each of the cocktails, I’ll mention that one of them is “rum, and sweet” and the other is “whiskey, and dry.” Of course, it’s only polite to inform your guests of the raw egg white in the rum sour. This combination of cocktails has been a huge success.
It makes sense to crush up the cinnamon stick and anise to get more flavor out of it. However, it seems like such a waste to toss out the raisins and ginger once you’ve strained out the syrup. Consider this instead: don’t do any crushing. Once you strain out the syrup, remove the cinnamon stick and anise. Return the rest of the solids to a saucepot, add a half-cup of sugar and half-cup or water. Toss in some minced orange peel. Bring to a boil, then simmer over a very low flame for about an hour, adding water if neccessary to prevent it from boiling dry. Increase the heat to high, and boil the syrup down to nearly nothing. Off heat, stir in a few tablespoons of butter. Use this the way you’d use a caramel or butterscotch sauce: on cake, on ice cream, stirried into your oatmeal, etc.
Spiced Rum Sour
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Thank you, Kesor and Proper Circle. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything.
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I am not a cocktail drinker, but your description of this cocktail has me definitely want one now 🙂
angiesrecipes recently posted…Spring Salad with Cod Liver and Toum
Haha! It is delicious.
Sounds like a delicious drink.
Thank you, Lori!
This is fascinating! The syrup sounds wonderful; I’ve seen a date syrup made before, but this is on a totally different level with the spices. One question about using egg whites. Pisco sours, at least my recipe, uses egg whites, and the liquid always separates. The other night for fun I used gin in my pisco sour recipe, and it separated as well. Your cocktail looks perfect. Ideas?
Chef Mimi recently posted…Stuffed Zucchini
Hmm. The only trick I used here was to shake the ingredients first without the ice – what’s called a “dry shake,” and then add the ice and shake again. The dry shake has to be entirely athletic, up tempo, and sustained for at least a full minute. It’s downright exhausting. The second shake, with the ice, is “normal,” which to me means about 30 seconds long, and something like a samba tempo.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a cocktail make with egg white. I’m so intrigued. I love the thought of making that flavored syrup, I’m sure it’s so wonderful with the rum! You’re right about the texture – it looks elegant and lush. This is definitely on my list!
Laura recently posted…Chicken Mango Salad with Lime Poppy Seed Dressing
Thanks, Laura. A lot of the frothy drinks that you might get at a bar – like a sloe gin fizz – are traditionally made with egg white. OK, who am I kidding? No one orders a sloe gin fizz at a bar. But you could. And I have. I do wonder, though, if there’s maybe some substitute that they use for the egg whites, or if you can generally find eggs behind a bar.
Well you certainly have my attention now, Jeff! I do love a good cocktail, and this one sounds fantastically unique. I might have to try it with bourbon. Also, fascinating about bees wanting different amounts of sugar based on the time of the year. I wonder if that means the honey changes flavors throughout the year, too? I’m guessing it does…
David @ Spiced recently posted…Classic Pound Cake
I don’t know, but that’s a great question about the honey.
I’m all over any cocktail served in a sexy martini glass! I usually go for the less sweet one (‘cause I’m sweet enough 🤪) but I think I’d love this one because of the sour element.
Eva Taylor recently posted…Polenta Bites with Mediterranean Tapenade inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi
Nicely put, Eva!
What a gorgeous drink Jeff! The color alone is so enticing, and those West Indies spices sound delicious. Beautiful presentation!
Thank you, Shannon!
My husband and I are teetotallers however I can imagine how good this must taste (the ingredient list says it all!!)
Easyfoodsmith recently posted…NO BAKE MANGO CHEESECAKE JARS & TARTS – Skinny version
Thanks!
Over the years, I enjoyed whisky sours as well as daiquiris so I do believe I would enjoy your spiced rum sour. The syrup must give it a nice flavor.
Karen (Back Road Journal) recently posted…A Maine Summer Getaway
Thanks, Karen. It does!
The Sirop d’épice looks excellent. And of course the cocktail looks excellent! Fun drink — thanks.
John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Mushy Peas with Mint and Lemon
Thanks, John!
What a beautiful cocktail, so elegant, warming yet fresh. I must admit I had me at this syrup Infused with raisins, ginger, and vanilla – cool idea!
Ben | Havocinthekitchen recently posted…Spring Vegetable Orzo Risotto
Thanks, Ben!
Love this, Jeff! It sounds perfect for our dreams (already) of fall weather.
Truth be told, I first started toying with the recipe at Christmas!
I’ve never had a cocktail like this. It sounds really, really delicious! The raisin ginger mix alone sounds like something I could use in several of my refreshing summer sodas. This is great!
mjskitchen recently posted…Giant Royal Corona Beans – How to Cook
Yes! I found the syrup quite useful. I even poured some on my morning oatmeal.
This is a drink that my husband would love to have. I may have to tell our daughter to make a trip into town and make him one for Father’s Day.
Theresa recently posted…Mocha Ice Cream Pie
I hope you do!
Oh My goodness! My husband would love this drink! Love all the ingredients in this one. Easy too!
Thanks!
What a delicious and pretty cocktail, Jeff. I love finding new fun drinks as we start to entertain again. So thank you! 🙂 ~Valenitna
Valentina recently posted…Cucumber Avocado Salad with Grapefruit
Thanks! Me too!
I’m a fan of rum and this cocktail looks DELICIOUS. Perfect for when friends come over on the deck this summer..
I hope so! Enjoy!