By Paul Nelson –

It isn’t that I haven’t been drinking, I just haven’t taken the time to do anything compellingly different in a while. However Billie kindly provided me with an amazing bottle of aged dark rum for my birthday, and it seemed only fitting to find a good use for it (other than just sipping it straight and smelling it!). This led me to the Acapulco, which is quickly becoming a go-to alternative to the Manhattan  for my wife.

As with most drinks, there are plenty of variations. Generally the recipe calls for light rum but I used the delicious dark rum instead.  It adds a more complex, mellow tone to the drink rather than the crispness of light rum. I think it has a similar flavor to the pisco sour, but the dark rum really adds a different tone from pisco, which is usually unaged.

• 5 oz dark rum
• .75 oz Gran Marnier
• .5 oz fresh lime juice
• .5 oz simple syrup
• 1 egg white
• mint sprig for garnish

Place all the ingredients together in a shaker and shake vigorously for at least 90 seconds. If, like me, you run out of simple syrup and just add equal parts water and granulated sugar, then you want the sugar to dissolve completely. You also want to make sure that the egg white becomes nice and foamy and takes on the flavor of the other ingredients.  Pour the drink over ice (there should be a nice foamy head on it) and garnish with a sprig of mint.

This is a top shelf version of the Acapulco. You don’t need to use Gran Marnier – most recipes just call for triple sec. You can use white rum instead of dark – whichever you prefer. Adjust the lime and simple syrup proportions to your particular sour/sweet preferences.  Most importantly, enjoy!