Breakfast Club
Stir; Shake ∙ 4 min ∙ 19% ABV ∙
The Breakfast Club is a rum cocktail built on orange marmalade and honey, lengthened with cold Lapsang souchong tea. Smoky black tea meets bright marmalade and a soft honey sweetness, finishing dry and faintly woodsy — a slow-sipping, brunch-hour pour.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- In the base of the shaker stir: Honey 1 bspOrange marmalade 1 bsp and White rum 60 ml until dissolved
- Add Lapsang souchong tea 30 ml and shake with ice
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Stir the marmalade and honey into the rum in the base of the shaker until they fully dissolve, before the tea goes in — otherwise sticky pockets sink to the bottom of the glass.
- Brew the lapsang souchong strong and let it cool completely before measuring, since a warm tea will melt ice too fast and over-dilute the stir.
- Add the cooled tea, then shake with ice: the marmalade needs the agitation to carry through rather than settling out.
- Express the lemon twist over the drink's surface to release its oils, then rest it on the rim so the smoky tea aroma isn't masked.
History
The Breakfast Club is a rum-based riff on the Breakfast Martini, the marmalade cocktail created in 1996 by Italian-born bartender Salvatore Calabrese at the Library Bar of the Lanesborough Hotel in London. Calabrese devised his drink after his wife persuaded him to eat orange marmalade on toast one morning; he took the jar of marmalade to work and worked it into a gin sour, a formula later noted to echo the Marmalade Cocktail Harry Craddock had published in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, though Calabrese said his own inspiration was the breakfast itself rather than that earlier recipe. This variation swaps the Breakfast Martini's gin and citrus for white rum and cold-brewed lapsang souchong tea, trading its lemon-forward sour profile for a smoky infusion alongside the marmalade and honey. The recipe was popularized online by the cocktail site DrinkBoy.com in 2008.
FAQ
What is in a Breakfast Club cocktail?
White rum, orange marmalade, honey, and cold-brewed Lapsang souchong tea, stirred together and served up in a martini glass with a lemon twist. The smoky tea stands in for the citrus or bitters found in many rum cocktails, giving it a distinct campfire edge.
Is a Breakfast Club cocktail shaken or stirred?
Stirred. The marmalade and honey need gentle stirring to dissolve into the rum and tea rather than the aggressive aeration of a shake, which would make the drink cloudy.
What glass is a Breakfast Club served in?
A martini glass, served up with a lemon twist for garnish.
What's a good breakfast cocktail?
A good breakfast cocktail leans on morning flavors like citrus, tea, coffee, or egg rather than heavy spirits. The Breakfast Club fits this mold by using orange marmalade, honey, and cold Lapsang souchong tea alongside white rum, echoing a British breakfast table in a stirred, up-served drink.
Is the Breakfast Club cocktail sweet?
It is only lightly sweet. The honey and marmalade add a gentle sweetness, but the smoky Lapsang souchong tea and the lemon twist's oils keep the finish dry rather than dessert-like.
