Hot Buttered Rum
Build; Warm up ∙ 4 min ∙ 16.8% ABV ∙
A Hot Buttered Rum is a warm, built cocktail of aged Caribbean rum, honey, and butter topped with boiling water and grated nutmeg. Steam curls off the glass as the first sip coats the tongue with a silky, faintly sweet richness, warming slowly with a spiced, mellow finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-heat a toddy glass
- Add the Honey to the warmed glass using a bar spoon
- Add the remaining ingredients: Unsalted butter 1 knobCaribbean aged rum 60 mlFreshly grated nutmeg 2 pinchesBoiling water 60 ml
- Stir until the honey and butter are dissolved
- Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a lemon slice (studded with cloves)
Tips
- Pre-heat the toddy glass before building so the boiling water doesn't shock and crack cold glass.
- Add the honey to the warm glass first, then the butter and rum, so the honey doesn't seize when the butter melts.
- Stir until the butter and honey fully dissolve into the water and rum — a greasy film on top means it needs more stirring.
History
Hot buttered rum traces to colonial America, where rum imported and distilled from Caribbean molasses became widely available by the mid-1600s. Colonists already favored hot spiced drinks like toddies and flips, and adding butter turned these into a calorie-dense, warming mixture suited to cold winters, since butter was a prized source of richness and fuel during the season. The drink was mostly a home and tavern tradition, passed along through family recipes rather than formal bartending.
Its earliest known written recipes appear in Jerry Thomas's 1862 guide, How to Mix Drinks: Or, The Bon-Vivant's Companion, which gives two versions of a hot rum drink made with sugar, Jamaica rum, butter, and hot water, one spiced with cloves and allspice and the other simply garnished with grated nutmeg.
The drink saw a revival in the mid-20th century as part of the tiki movement, when Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron popularized a premade batter of butter creamed with sugar and spices in his Bartender's Guide, and other versions appeared around 1950 at Hawaii's Volcano House Hotel and a Chicago restaurant. Its association with cozy, cold-weather drinking was reinforced by its mention in Kenneth Roberts's 1937 novel Northwest Passage and later in the film White Christmas.
FAQ
What is the difference between a hot toddy and a hot buttered rum?
A hot toddy is typically spirit, hot water, honey or sugar, and a citrus or spice garnish, while a Hot Buttered Rum adds a knob of butter melted into the mix. That butter gives it a richer, silkier body than a standard toddy, turning a simple hot drink into something closer to a warm, rum-based dessert.
What kind of rum is best for a Hot Buttered Rum?
An aged Caribbean rum works best, since its caramel and spice notes hold up against the honey once diluted with boiling water.
How do you make a good Hot Buttered Rum?
Pre-heat a toddy glass, spoon in honey, then add a knob of unsalted butter, Caribbean aged rum, grated nutmeg, and boiling water, stirring until the honey and butter fully dissolve. Finish with a cinnamon stick and a clove-studded lemon slice; warming the glass first and stirring thoroughly keep the butter from separating into an oily film.
What do you mix with Hot Buttered Rum?
It's built directly in the glass with honey and boiling water rather than mixed with other cocktail ingredients, then stirred until dissolved and garnished with a cinnamon stick and lemon slice.
