Late last year, I hosted a cocktail craft-o-rama party with bugheart where we made made a series of bitters and syrups. Whilst the participants were peeling fruit for the bitters, I was serving them signature cocktails that featured the fruits of their labor. Since they were making falernum, I had to find an easy to make cocktail that featured it. That is when I came across the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club cocktail (RBYC). I can safely say I was drawn to the “Royal” and “Yacht” aspects, with pleasant association of Magnum P.I. and his tony island haunt; the King Kamehameha Club.
Although no connection to the show or Hawaii exists, it is loosely affiliated with the tiki cocktail genre (though a real RBYC exists no doubt with a bar and signature cocktails). Given its tiki affiliation the brand of rum you use IS important. Over my many attempts to approximate rum substitutes when making tiki cocktails, I have always been most satisfied and impressed when I used the exact one prescribed. Unfortunately in my tweaking of this recipe (the original specifies Barbados rum!), I found the best to be a 7 year old Cuban rum that I got during a recent trip to Mexico. Unless you have access to a foreign liquor store, a domestic search for this is fruitless. I felt a real Bermuda rum was a nice substitute.
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail
(adapted from A Dash of Bitters blog)
-2 parts dark rum (Havana Club 7, or Goslings Dark Seal 80 proof version)
-3/4 parts fresh squeezed lime juice
-1/4 part homemade falernum
-1/4 part simple syrup
-1/4 part Cointreau
-Dash of homemade grapefruit bitters
Combine in shaker with a bunch of cubed ice. Shake vigorously for about 10 seconds, then double strain (filtering out both the pulp and small chunks of ice) into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime peel.
The darkness of the rum, the seasoning of the falernum with the lime juice as their foil, make this both a comforting winter cocktail and refreshing summer one. I’m sure if Higgins knew of its existence, it would be on the menu of the club in paradise.
