Craft stuff, yeah. But the bar manager puts out some simple, straightforward and dead solid perfect fun cocktails too.
Take, for example, the Boot Strap Buck, a seriously tasty rum drink that embodies the casual fun of the Caribbean. You can almost hear the tinny echo of the steel drums in the background beating out their irresistible rhythms. Or maybe it was the pots and pans furiously clashing over on the kitchen side. Hard to say. (Note: a Buck, or a Mule, is the bartender’s name for any drink that features an icy combo of spirit, ginger beer and citrus juice. A vodka version is a “Moscow Mule”; a rum version is a “Rum Buck.”)
In any case, at our table things got festive at the first sip of the Boot Strap Buck. ‘Twas suddenly the season.
The Boot Strap Buck is a tall collins glass filled with crushed ice, laced with molasses-driven Cruzan Blackstrap Rum, thick and treacly, lime, spicy ginger beer, malty and earthy demerara brown sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. Rich and sweet, but balanced by the sour lime and hot ginger spice, it was a slurpy delight.
My wife delicately tasted the Buck, flashed an open-eyed grin of delight, and plunged in for a larger sampling. Almost bouncing in her seat, she exclaimed, “It tastes like a Maple Bar! Exactly like a Maple Bar!!!”
And it actually did taste like a Maple Bar. Enough that I had to protect my drink from my own loving wife (she's merciless with Maple Bars, Nanaimo Bars, and potato chips.)
Thing is, this is way simple to make at home. Crushed ice, Cruzan Blackstrap (or Goslings if you wish) Rum, lime, ginger beer (Cock 'n Bull is the best), demerara brown sugar and nutmeg. Mix everything up, pour it over ice, enjoy.