Spiced rum is a classic. It’s like a warm and fuzzy blanket for your insides and your emotions. Making your own is as easy as pie. Or actually, it’s easier than pie. 

You need the following items (use a vanilla bean pod instead of the paste if you want, it’s a bit pricier though):

You can also use aged golden rum to start with to give the final product a bit more depth. I decided to go with white rum so that I would have a cleaner flavor base to allow the different notes of the spices to really shine through. Ppppft. Buuuullshiiiiiit. I’m lying. They only had white rum at the store and I was NOT about to make another stop. You almost believed me though? Riiightt???

Oh ya, and you need these spices. You can play around with the proportions if you particularly like a certain spice.

From top left: Nutmeg, allspice, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon sticks and lonely little coriander seed at the bottom.

Ok. Let’s begin spicing up the rum. First thing you wanna do is take out your frustrations by beating the shit (ew or the flavor) out of your spices.

Observe:

Ahh. I feel better just looking at all that crushing and cracking. It’s therapeutic. 

Ok, now put all your crushed spices into an airtight container large enough to hold the spices and the rum. I find that a quart sized mason jar works perfectly.

Next, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste (or vanilla bean pod, split open) to the spices.

Add the rum.

Seal the container and shake it a little to begin the process. It’s fun to see it begin to change color. 

Let it steep in a cool dry place for about two days. Taste it everyday until it reaches desired taste and color.

This is how it looked after one day:

The next day it looked a bit darker and tasted perfect. So that’s when I strained it.

Some close ups of the rum on Day 2, right before I strained it:

Yum. It’s like hard liquor and chai had a baby.

Time to strain:

I double-strained (not to be confused with double-fisted).

Store in the fridge and enjoy on the rocks or in a cocktail.

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