I recently painted myself into a corner. While preparing to teach a cooking class, I added a Blueberry Rum Cocktail to the menu. I hadn’t actually developed the drink yet, but it sounded like something easy to create in five ingredients. And then, well, I forgot about it.
A few weeks before the class, I rushed to create a tasty cocktail. Blueberries. Rum. Three more things – go! I spent a Friday evening, muddling, crushing and pureeing fresh blueberries to get the most out of them. I mixed them with light and dark rum, citrus, lavender, Chambord, soda water, ginger ale, ginger beer… Nothing wowed. The rum overpowered the delicate blueberries. To bring out their intense flavor, they really need to be cooked.
It was time to try something else – blueberry juice. There are a few different blueberry juice blends, but I found a bottle of pure juice (R.W. Knudsen Just Blueberry Juice) at my local grocery, and it packed the blueberry punch I was after. Creme de cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur, gives the drink a little boost, and throwing everything into the blender makes a refreshing, not overly sweet seasonal cocktail.
This recipe took years off of my life and made me question my skills, but I can proudly say that this is a fine drink, my friends. And be careful: they go down easy!
Blueberry Rum Slush
4 servings
2 cups ice
2 cups blueberry juice
12 oz. ginger ale
1 cup white rum
½ cup creme de cassis
4 sprigs fresh rosemary to garnish
• Place the ice, blueberry juice, ginger ale, rum and creme de cassis in a blender and blitz until frothy. Pour into 4 large serving glasses.
• Slap the fresh rosemary between your palms to release the oils. Garnish each drink with a rosemary sprig and serve with a straw.
Dee Ryan is a longtime contributor to Sauce Magazine and regularly pens Make This.
This article appears in May 2017.