This Year’s Holiday Cocktails are the 2021 Rum Trends
You’re a trendsetter. Keep that in mind when designing your special holiday cocktail menu. How about getting innovative and serving up the 2021 cocktail trends at your small gathering this year?
FoodBev keeps a keen eye on what people will be eating and drinking every year and for 2021 cocktails, it’s the resurrection of rum! Maybe it’s because most of us won’t be taking our Caribbean vacation this year, yet yearn for the flavor of the islands. Or, perhaps we want the comfort of seasonal, traditional drinks like rum spiked eggnog.
According to the Wine & Spirits Trade Association, the flavored and spiced rum category saw an almost 80 percent increase in bottle sales this past year compared to its last count five years ago! With that, rum makers are releasing more premium, high-quality rum styles.
The second cocktail trend is minimalism.
While we loved our elaborate cocktails at home this year, the predicted trend next year is drinks with few ingredients. Keeping it simple means less shopping trips! It’s all about quality. With all the rum cocktails out there, the simple Dark & Stormy is in demand. Rum, Ginger Beer, lime wedges, crushed ice, it’s easy! Also, the simple El Floridita is high in Google search rankings (Thank you Ernest Hemingway for discovering it in Havana, and bringing it to the states). Rum, lime, sugar, maraschino.
If you want to keep your holiday drink super festive with a twist -Chai Eggnog is a great choice spiced rum, a banana, dashes of spice. Make it Vegan with Vegan Nog found at any health food market.
Here are the recipes! Enjoy – and, of course, drink responsibly!
Dark & Stormy by Liquor.com
1/2 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed
2 ounces Gosling’s Black Seal rum or any dark rum
Ginger beer, to top (about 5 ounces)
Garnish: lime wedge
Directions: In this order: Add rum and lime juice to a tall glass filled with ice. Top with the ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wedge. The dark rum is “the dark” the ginger beer poured over it is the storm!
El Floridita by WineMag.com
1 teaspoon sugar (for a more “Americanized version, add an extra half tsp. sugar)
1½ ounces white rum
½ ounce lime juice
⅓ teaspoon maraschino liqueur
1 cup ice
Add ingredients into a blender for about 1 minute or until slushy. Pour into martini glass. Serve with a paper straw (no more plastic!
Chai Egg Nog
1 quart egg nog
1.5 Ripe Banana
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinches of ground nutmeg and cinnamon (for extra zip, a very SLIGHT pinch of cayenne)
2 shots of spiced rum Captain Morgan’s Calypso or Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum
Directions: Blend eggnog, rum, banana, nutmeg, (cayenne if you want extra spice) and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Pour into a glass tumbler and add ice cubes, sprinkle w cinnamon on top. Enjoy!