Ingredients
- ¾ cupAlcohol-Free Rum
- 4 ozUnsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cupDark brown sugar
- 1 tspVanilla extract
- 1 tsp eachGround cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice
- 1 pinchSalt
- 2 cupsHot water
- GarnishCinnamon stick
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How to Make It
- Beat the softened butter, brown sugar, vanilla, spices, and salt together into a smooth batter.
- Heat the water to just below boiling.
- Divide the batter among mugs — about two heaping tablespoons each.
- Add the alcohol-free rum, then the hot water, and stir until the batter fully melts.
- Garnish with a cinnamon stick and serve immediately.
Why This Works
This drink is an emulsion in a mug. The butter carries the spices — cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and allspice are all fat-soluble, so they bloom in the batter in a way they never would stirred into water. When the hot water hits, the butter disperses and coats every sip with spice.
Dark brown sugar matters: its molasses content echoes the rum alternative's own molasses base, so the sweetness and the spirit taste related. This is a drink about richness and warmth rather than balance in the citrus sense — the pinch of salt is what keeps all that roundness from going flat.
The Alcohol-Free Swap
Alcohol-free rum was practically made for this drink — its molasses backbone is the through-line connecting the brown sugar, the spices, and the butter.