Okay, you are probably thinking, rum and coke, that is not very imaginative. How about when it is made with homemade cherry rum? So, I have you back with me; right!
When I was in my teens, my friends and I would walk to the Krazy Kone after school, where we would drink sugary vanilla cokes and eat salty fries that were dipped in special sauce, while we waited for that “cute guy” we were hoping to grab a glimpse of. These cute guys were in high school, and we were only in 8th grade; they were definitely our first crushes. I am not sure what I enjoyed more, the creamy vanilla cokes or when that “cute guy” smiled my way. Either way, that was the first time I was really introduced to flavored cokes. We are not soda drinkers at home, but, when I do occasionally grab for a sugary drink it is usually a black cherry soda. Slightly nostalgic of my
Remember the eight pounds of cherries, well, I had to do something with them besides stuffing them into our mouths and baking desserts. I have been playing with vodka and different citrus for a couple of years, so I figured why not do something with cherries. The thought of cherry vodka just was not that exciting, so I dug through the booze stash and grabbed a bottle of rum. The process is simple and only takes a week. Wash the cherries, pit them (now I am thinking I will try it with pits next time), toss them into a large jar and pour in the rum. Put the jar into a cool and dark cupboard and forget about it; except to flip it over every couple days. In a week, you have cherry rum.
Now the cola part. I tried three brands of cola, two natural unnamed brands and the standard Coke. The unnamed brands while they were good on their own, just did not work with rum and lime. They were too flat, not enough fizz. Eventhough, I wanted to keep the sugar low on this recipe, it wasn’t working for me, so I grabbed a good ole, sugary Coke. This worked, just enough sugar to cut through the rum and plenty of fizz to keep the drink refreshing, and interesting. Where does the vanilla come it? Just a dab of vanilla paste is swirled in the glass of rum, right before splashing with coke.
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Recipe: Cherry Rum
- fresh cherries, enough to fill a quart sized mason jar
- bottle of your favorite rum
Wash and dry the cherries. Pit the cherries.
Fill the mason jar with the pitted cherries, pour the rum into the jar to cover the cherries; give a couple good shakes and then put the jar into a dark but cool cupboard.
Every other day, give the jar a good shake and then put it back on the shelve.
After a week strain the cherries from the rum.
Enjoy with your favorite rum drink or make our cherry vanilla rum coke.
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Recipe: Cherry Vanilla Rum and Coke
*makes one drink
- 2 ounces of cherry rum
- 1/2 can coke
- lime
- vanilla bean paste
- ice cubes
In a small cocktail glass put a couple ice cubes; add the rum and stir just a drop of vanilla bean paste into the rum.
I use the tip of a knife to get the amount of paste I want to use.
Pour the coke over the rum and ice, squeeze half a lime into the glass and give a quick stir.
I use the squeezed lime and rub it around the rim of the glass.
Garish with a piece of lime.
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If you like this recipe, check these out:
Cute glasses. Adore all of your cherry recipes!
This could lead to some interesting experimentation. I’m debating on the style of rum to use for my first one. I’m leaning heavily towards a dark rum like Gosling’s or Myers.
As far as the Coke goes. Here in Texas, Coke bottled in Mexico and still made with cane sugar (though not for long) is available in most supermarkets. Costco sells it by the case. I did a taste test with it and U.S. Coke in a Cuba Libre (rum and Coke with lime) and there was a big difference in taste in favor of the Mexican Coke.
YUMMMM!!! I’ll have to try this.
You would have had me either way, my friend. Really. But since you’ve decided to go ahead and make your own homemade flavored rum…. well, I love you just a little (ok… A LOT) more.
Hi Randy
Thanks for leaving some crumbs over at Chez Us. I did use a white rum for this particular batch as that is all we had in the house; it is flavorful. But, I was thinking of going gooey, and dark next time, which will be next week! If you can get Coke bottled in Mexico, that will be even better than the Coke I was able to get. I am jealous that you can get your hands on that!! Let me know what you think! ~ Denise
fabulous! I just put this on my facebook page with “favorite new blog” by it
Made these for the inaugural party at my new house! Goes down super easy and I loved it. Cherries are on sale this week, I may need to stock up. 🙂
Hi ! I have a jar full of cherries and El Dorado White rum sitting in the shed now and waiting for maturing. I was wondering if you could add a vanilla pod to the jar with cherries instead of adding some paste every time making the drink- or would you use cherry rum for other recepies as well and not want it vanilla flavored ?
Great site by the way : )
Paul
HI Paul! Thanks for the kind words – always appreciated. Chez Us is a sweet labor of love. I would definitely toss in a pod of vanilla – most likely I would have done so if I had it on hand when making. I haven’t used the cherry rum for other recipes – yet – but it could happen. It is a great summer drink! Let us know how you like it. ~ Denise