Coming around to a starboard tack to run before the freshening gale with topsails reefed, hatches and gunports sealed and hammocks stowed it’s Lo-Fi Lush Hour no. 64, and ain’t she a sight to behold! 
For Today’s Toast, I figured on freestyling a little aperitif in the key of rum, perhaps with a fortified wine supplying the harmony. Since that reads “sailors” to me, let’s christen ‘er the Brigantine, a sort of ship once crewed by men whose hands were a lot dirtier than yours.
Now, it seems to me there are two ways we can go: 50-50, with a strong, funky rum such as these (which range from 57 to 60% abv), or whatever else you’re hoarding that fits that description...
...or we can go 2:1, with a blend of somewhat less-strong rums, such as this dry, tangy Clément agricole and thus rich, juicy Plantation pot-still Jamaican.
For the fortified wine, it kinda depends on whatcha got. These are my three likely candidates, but I could throw a blended or Oloroso sherry in there without causing qualms.
With this sort of thing, I like to add a little aromatic liqueur as an accent, these are aromatic. Yellow Chartreuse and the ever-present Bénédictine are also good candidates.
Love this lil guy.
Bitters. Essential.
The implements. Stirred, of course. A person who would shake a drink like this would tack into a gale.
So. I’m gonna go with the two-rum plot. An ounce of each of these characters.
And just because it’s lovely stuff and nobody mixes with it, I’ll go with the “Bronte Madeira,” as Marsala used to be called. The Lazzaroni is more off-dry than dry and has an excellent acidity and an alarmingly darkncolor.
Cool.
Cool.
And a quarter-ounce of—what the hell—Strega (I’ll save the Prussian penguin for making Silver Bullets; stay tuned). You could go to a third or even a half here.
A couple of dashes of @dsoneil’s sublime Abbott’s Bitters (Angostura will work fine, too; not to fret), and we’re ready to set sail.
Ice, cracked. Lots of it.
Now stir, me hearties, stir—stir like the very devil held your windward gage.
[sorry; twitter issues] Now choose your target, dead in the water in beneath your guns and covered in frost.
And pour!
And there stands the glass. I’d hit it with an orange twist but the Brigantine laughs at garnishes.
Today’s Toast was brought to you by the National Distilling Co. “The gin house of America.”
And I meant to thank @BouldinBourbon for connecting us with our sponsor. Much appreciated!
