Beach in a bottle

I am only back from the beach a few days when the craving for the hot, golden sun on my skin and soft sand beneath my feet, the smell of tropical fruit, of ocean, and coconut sunscreen — that unmistakable beachy smell — overwhelms me.  The beach, this year, has somehow taken hold of me, settling deeply within my soul.  A desire to be there won’t leave me alone.  The more I am there, floating in the sea thick with salt, the more I look up into those rustling palms, the more I long to return.  At the beach, all is forgotten with the real world.

We read, we swim, we walk, we swim again, and in between we have long, lazy conversations that the work and noise of the outside world would never allow.  Mostly, though, we sip something fruity.  And rum-filled.  Something that, no matter the beach, always arrives in a tall, festive glass, looking heavenly and frosty, always with a hunk of fresh fruit – pineapple, or possibly lime, teetering on the rim.  Beads of condensation hang slowly and then drip from the bottom of the glass, chilling my chest, my belly.

Just the smell of rum transports me to the islands; it epitomizes the carefree vibe of the beach, of summer no matter where you drink it. Rum is the ideal thirst quencher.  I am sorry Wine Country, but sometimes (many times) summer situations simply call for rum.

Drinking rum in Wine Country has always felt worrisome, ordering it out, I’m afraid I might offend the winemaker more than likely sitting at the bar next to me.  But thanks to the clever folks at Sonoma’s Prohibition Spirits a gal can get her tiki cocktail fix with a bit of Wine Country goodness thrown in.  The team that first brought us a modern, Northern California version of the Italian liquor lemoncello, with HelloCello Lemocello di Sonoma, and then my go-to winter sipper, Hooker’s House bourbon, has now, happily, launched Sugar Daddy rums.

The rum’s cute name refers to Adolf Spreckels, a sugar baron, industrial tycoon, and long-ago Sonoma resident.  The trio of rums — light, amber, and dark — were concocted in the Caribbean and then finished in true Sonoma style with aging in used wine barrels.  The light rum appropriately lingers briefly in oak barrels that once matured Carneros chardonnay resulting in rich, surprisingly, tropical flavors of banana, coconut, and pineapple.  The barrel adds an additional bouquet of yumminess that suggests citrus, pear, and flowers all the while adding a pretty straw blonde color.

I can’t help but crave a Mai Tai every time I glimpse the Sugar Daddy Amber rum sitting innocently atop of the little red Chinese cabinet that doubles as my cocktail bar.  Its glowing, burnished hue is the result of a lengthy aging in charred French oak chardonnay barrels.  This more intense caramel and vanilla-soaked rum is scrumptious simply over ice, but I am addicted to a version of the aforementioned Hawaiian cocktail heavy on the almond liquor and light on the not-from-concentrate version of Trader Joe’s pineapple juice.  The very same amber rum resulted in a killer, über boozy dessert of Bananas Foster, dramatically set afire and served at a recent dinner party at my casita.

It was in Bimini, at a shanty of a bar perched at the end of a terrifyingly creaky dock the very first time I drank a dark rum and pineapple juice.  Little did I know that this very drink would become my ‘beach drink’ for maybe the rest of my life.  I can’t tell you what about this combination is so utterly perfect.  Dark rum has these exotic hints of burnt sugar and dark honey, vanilla bean and spice.  And pineapple?  Fresh pineapple tastes solely of sweet honey, of lychee, of sun, and pineapple… it just tastes of the beach.  I am transported to that day, on that dock, overlooking the pale, see-through sea no matter where I sip a dark rum and pineapple juice.  Sugar Daddy dark rum is the ideal rum and pineapple sort of dark rum.  Prohibition Spirits ages it two years in emptied Hooker’s House bourbon barrels.  Dark rum perfection, Wine Country style.

Find Prohibition Spirits rums locally at Sonoma Market, Whole Foods, and Plaza Liquors, or Prohibition-spirits.com

Sugar Daddy Mai Tai

• Serves one
• 2 oz. Sugar Daddy Amber Rum
• 5 oz. POG juice (pineapple, orange, guava)
• Fun garnish

This is probably the fastest, easiest and most delicious pool cocktail for summer.  Combine Sugar Daddy Amber Rum and POG juice in an ice filled glass. Garnish with fruit, flowers, mint an umbrella or anything fun. Okole maluna!

Kristin Jorgensen is one of Sonoma’s most passionate, food obsessed residents. In this weekly column, she covers all the delicious happenings, foodie events and restaurants in Sonoma, the rest of Wine Country and beyond.  Email her with comments, questions, or your food related events at [email protected].