Rum Ginger Beer: A Refreshing Summer Beverage (Adults ONLY!)

I fell in love with this Rum drink about five years ago when I found it in a copy of Gentleman's Quarterly Spring of 2009. I became a bit of a lush that summer while we were living the lives of ex-patriots in our own town of Albuquerque, NM as we remodeled our 1940's home. We are NOT commuters, and that summer and fall we were as we found ourselves living at the edge of town in a sweet neighborhood in the foothills of the Tijeras Mountains. The house belongs to dear friends and we were very happy in our little cocoon of their well-tended home, except we had to commute. Try not to laugh but commute to us means 15 minutes or more!

We moved here for Graduate School at the University of NM, loved University life, UNM campus and the lovely old neighborhoods that surrounded it. We biked and walked to school, outgrew or rental house next door to dear friends and bought an old Victorian in Downtown Albuquerque just five minutes from campus. Later we got married, had a kid and decided to upgrade to a beautiful Modern Ranch-style home in a rambling old neighborhood in the SE Heights called Ridgecrest--another five minutes in the other direction, but within biking, busing or walking distance. We love it here and still walk, bike, scooter, etc our way around our area of town.

Back to our new, old house. It had great bones as they say, but it needed updating. Belonging to an aging Bishop and his wife, for many years it had gone untended. We started by reclaiming the yard from Mother Nature. Then we remodeled the Main Bathroom. Several years later we tackled the backyard and pool. To our immense pleasure, our backyard became a sanctuary of leisure and beauty. That left the kitchen and another bathroom, A laundry room, major electrical upgrades and various and sundry other time-consuming and deeply inconvenient renovations still to make. It took years--- almost another ten of them---before we were ready to do it.

That brings us to the drink: Deeply required, refreshing and easy to assemble. I discovered this drink and was instantly transported to a island far, far away. Try it for yourself and see.

Postscript: our Remodel was completed in the Spring of 2009. Moving back in to our beautifully remodeled home was one of the greatest joys of my adult life--- aside from marrying my husband, and having my two children---but I still LOVE this drink!

Rum Ginger Beer


Ingredients:
Any Good Quality Dark Rum ( I have several favorites: Stroh, Meyer's, Kraken)
Jamaican Ginger Beer or Ginger Ale (like Reed's)
Fresh Mint
Limes, cut into wedges
Ice
Cold Pint Glasses


Fill pint glasses with ice. Pour 1-2oz of Rum over ice. Fill to the rim with Ginger Beer. Squeeze liberal amounts of lime into glass and top with a several leaves of bruised mint. Adjust to taste. That's it. Drink up. 

Let me know where you end up. Someplace tropical, on a beach, is always my favorite spot.
Love and light,
Holly