Mixology Monday LXVIII - Humbug!

Mixology Monday has come around again. This month's event his hosted by Rated R Cocktails with the theme of 'Humbug'.

"Lets face it the holidays suck, yeah I said it. You put yourself in debt buying crap people will have forgotten about in a month. You drive around like a jackass to see people you don’t even like, or worse they freeload in your house. Your subjected to annoying music, and utterly fake, forced kindness and joy. Plus if you work retail your pretty much in hell, so don’t we all deserve a good stiff drink? So for this Mixology Monday unleash your inner Grinch. Mix drinks in the spirit of Anti-Christmas. They can be really bitter and amaro filled. They filled with enough booze to make you pass out in a tinsel covered Scrooge heap. They could be a traditional holiday drink turned on it’s ear. Or they could be a tribute to your favorite holiday villain. If you celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa then you still suffer through the holidays, so feel free to join in with your Anti-Holiday drink as well. Whatever it is add a hearty “Humbug!” and make your drink personify everything annoying or fake about the holidays."

With that in mind, I set out to create a drink using most of the bitter and funky ingredients in my collection, to make something that just looks foul on paper, exemplifying the most crotchety aspects of the season.

The Jamaican Jerk
1.5 oz Jamaican rum
0.75 oz sweet vermouth
0.5 oz grapefruit juice (white is best)
0.25 oz Swedish punch
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice, then strain into a rocks glass.

The nose is dominated by smokey tea notes from the Swedish punch and spicy grapefruit, which come together in a rather savory fasion. The sip begins smoothly with a hint of grape, which segues into bitterness from the grapefruit, vermouth, and bitters along with esters from the rum and Swedish punch. The finish is astringently tannic.

Word of note, this drink is actually a bit more interesting with some Campari, but I felt that that made the drink too sweet up front. Campari also kind of dominates the other ingredients, so a dash or two should be enough.

Thanks to JFL for hosting. Here's to many more MxMos to come.