For VodkaPundit and anyone else suffering from the flu, here's my recipe for Hot Buttered Rum, which I got from the now-defunct Little Campus Inn in Annapolis:
Boil a cup or so of apple cider (not the hard kind) or apple juice. Be careful not to let it boil over: for some reason it can go from not even bubbling to splattered all over the stove in under a minute.
Put the hot cider in a large mug with a slug of rum, a pat of butter, three whole cloves, and a cinnamon stick. The last can be used to stir it, as well as adding flavor. Indian groceries are good places to find whole cloves and cinnamon sticks at reasonable prices. Powdered spices will do in a pinch.
Very tasty and warming, this is also pleasant when you've been shoveling snow. Mt. Gay Eclipse, with a map of Barbados on the bottle, is a good choice for the rum.
I append a cautionary anecdote:
I once made this for a friend with a cold, who liked it a lot. (This is the same friend who's been to boot camp three times, once each for Army National Guard, active duty Navy, and Air Force reserves.) A smallish woman, she immediately went out and bought the ingredients and started making her own. Two days later, she complained that it was "knocking her on her ass", putting her to sleep hours before her normal bedtime and making her late for work in the morning. It turned out that she had inadvertently bought 151 proof rum, so the drinks were roughly twice as strong as she thought they were. I hadn't known that you could actually buy the strong stuff in stores. In fact, I somehow thought that 151 proof rum was only available through wholesalers to restaurants with flaming bananas on their dessert menus. This was a college town (Charlottesville), so I suppose it's also popular with frat boys testing their manhood by drinking the stuff straight.
Posted by Dr. Weevil at October 16, 2002 06:08 PMA dash of nutmeg on top is also a nice touch. Bacardi 151 has been readily available for decades.
Posted by: CGeib on October 16, 2002 06:27 PMThanks. I'm sure it has, I'd just never noticed. And I still think it's odd that the Virginia state 'ABC' store put it on the shelf with the other rums, with no indication that it was different except the color of the label (red, I think). Of course, the proof was listed on the label, but as usual the print was very small. Normally the exact proof is trivial -- do you really care whether your bourbon is 70 or 76 or 80 proof? I would have thought that the 151 proof rum would have had a more prominent warning about its strength. It sure fooled my friend Diane. And I think 190 proof grain alcohol generally comes with a very prominent label.
By the way, one of my favorite things in the Virginia state store is the legal (tax-paid) moonshine. It comes in a mason jar, and tastes like vodka with a teaspoon of motor oil added for flavor.
Posted by: Dr. Weevil on October 16, 2002 09:49 PMAh yes...Bacardi 151 Rum, known to my youthful self as "Bat Juice" (for the little bat on the label). Something wonderful about a beverage that you can use to clean your carb, degrease engine parts, and start small fires with-and yes, even drink.
I'd say that the name brings back good memories, but for some reason I don't...really remember...much about those days.
Everclear!
Any beverage that has multiple fire warnings on the label along with a bold warning against excessive consumption lest ye die, has got to be good stuff.
I drink it when I get really sick, because it knocks me on my ass and makes me forget I'm sick for 12-16 hours. Wake up, drink, pass-out. Repeat as necessary until virus has passed.
Posted by: Paul on October 17, 2002 04:12 AMIs having the flu worse than having a crashing Everclear hangover? I forget the last time I had either.
Posted by: David Perron on October 17, 2002 07:53 AMYou only get hangovers when you stop drinking. If you haven't ate anything, then you don't normally puke, plus a good portion of the hangover's effects are a result of dehydration, so you chase everything you drink with double the water.
1 Shot Everclear = 2 Shots Water
Also, it helps to be in the aircraft business, as pure oxygen cures hangovers. Put on the O2 mask, flip the switch to 100% and suck rubber for ten minutes. The hangover's gone and you feel ten times better. I managed to globetrot for 3 years thanks to liquid oxygen.
Posted by: Paul on October 17, 2002 04:21 PMGet Pusser's Navy Rum (the Dark) its 92 proof. One of the best rums around.
Posted by: Richard Cook on October 18, 2002 10:54 AMThis brings to mind my favorite cure for a hangover, learned when I was in college and worked as a forklift driver.
I worked for Price Club, and they have those big drive-in coolers. Nothing beats taking a nice nap in a giant refrigerator.
[Stupid message deleted, author's name altered, IP banned.]
Posted by: Arlen 'Pinhead' Smithers on October 18, 2002 01:30 PM