National Hot Buttered Rum Day

When Bob Wallace, played by Bing Crosby, reflects on the winter season in Vermont in the 1954 film White Christmas, he references snow-covered slopes, skiing, snow, and "hot buttered rum, light on the butter." Indeed, hot buttered rum is a favorite during the winter and holiday seasons, and also today, on National Hot Buttered Rum Day.

Hot buttered rum is essentially a hot toddy with butter and rum. A hot toddy has whiskey, sugar, hot water, and often winter spices like nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice, while hot buttered rum swaps the rum for whiskey and adds in butter. Ice cream, cream, or milk can be used instead of butter, and cider can be used instead of water. Vegans can use coconut oil or vegan butter instead of butter. A batter made of butter, sugar, and spices may be made in advance and kept frozen.

Hot buttered rum was first served during colonial times, becoming prevalent in taverns in New England in the mid-1700s. Recipes from this time called for stirring a pat of butter into hot rum, sweetening it with sugar, adding winter spices, and diluting it with water. Fruit, cream, or eggs were sometimes added.

Whiskey gained ground on rum in the United States in the late nineteenth century, when taxes on rum were greatly increased. But recipes for hot spiced rum and hot rum were found in The Bartenders Guide, an 1887 recipe manual from well-known bartender Jerry Thomas. There also was renewed interest when Trader Vic's Book of Food & Drink, which focused on rum cocktails, was printed in the 1940s, and Trader Vic's Bartender Guide, from the same era, included a recipe for hot buttered rum batter. Other tiki drink versions of the cocktail were being made by around 1950. Today, on National Hot Buttered Rum Day, glasses of hot buttered rum are raised and then imbibed, bringing warmth to all who partake.

How to Observe National Hot Buttered Rum Day

Have some hot buttered rum! Make the drink at home or have it at a bar. You could even invite some friends over and have a hot buttered rum party. Make sure to share pictures of your drink and celebrations on social media with the hashtag #NationalHotButteredRumDay.

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