Hot Buttered Rum

Name: Hot Buttered Rum
Ingredients: 12 oz (3 sticks) unsalted butter, divided; 3-4 pieces star anise; 1-2 cinnamon sticks; 1 tbsp whole allspice berries; 1 cup rum; 1-2 tbsp Noble Saltworks Maple Smoked Turbinado Sugar; 2 oz brown butter washed rum; 4 oz hot water; 1 tbsp cold smoked butter; Cinnamon stick for garnish

Dec 31, 2021 • Tom jackson

Sample the extraordinary flavor of Hot Buttered Rum with a recipe crafted by Chef Tom with Cold Smoked Brown Butter Washed Rum. Experience the perfect blend of warm spices and rum, creating a truly unforgettable taste!

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE

Running the smoker fans without lighting the grill: Powering on just the fans (without "starting" the grill) lets the tube smoker do all the work at ambient temperature, so the butter smokes without any risk of melting from grill heat.
Keeping ice pans in the grill during the smoke: Placing foil pans of ice inside alongside the butter actively fights any heat buildup over the 2-3 hour cold smoke, keeping the butter solid the entire time.
Browning the butter with whole spices simmering in it: Cooking star anise, cinnamon, and allspice directly in the butter as it browns infuses those warm spice flavors right into the fat, rather than steeping them separately.
Freezing the rum-butter blend to separate the fat: Freezing lets the solid fat and liquid rum separate cleanly, so you can pour off just the infused liquid and discard the fat — a cleaner separation than straining while everything's still liquid.

Hot Buttered Rum

Tom Jackson

Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users

Chef Tom makes Hot Buttered Rum with Cold Smoked Brown Butter Washed Rum!

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Brown Butter Washed Rum:

12 oz (3 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
3-4 pieces star anise
1-2 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp whole allspice berries
1 cup rum

Hot Buttered Rum:

1-2 tbsp Noble Saltworks Maple Smoked Turbinado Sugar
2 oz brown butter washed rum
4 oz hot water
1 tbsp cold smoked butter
Cinnamon stick for garnish

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Directions

To cold smoke the butter, power on the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to run the fans. Do not “start” the grill. Fill an A-MAZE-N Tube Smokers with smoking pellets. Place the tube smokers on the main cooking grate of the grill. Light the pellets with a torch. Blow out the flame to allow the pellets to produce smoke. Place foil pans filled with ice in the grill to keep the temperature down. Place the 3 sticks of butter on a sheet of parchment paper and place on the second shelf of the grill. Cold smoke for 2-3 hours. Remove from the grill and store in the refrigerator.
To make the spiced brown butter, place two sticks of butter in a Lodge 8” Cast Iron Skillet. Add the star anise, cinnamon sticks and allspice berries. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer. Cook until the butter foams, then begins to brown, taking care not to scorch the butter.
Strain the spiced brown butter into a blender. Hold back the spices. Add 1 cup of rum to the browned butter in the blender. Blend the rum and butter. Transfer to a jar. Add the spices back to the liquid. Place in the freezer.
After the fat and liquid freezes and separates out, cut a hole in the solid fat and pour out the liquid, straining it through a cheese cloth. Discard the solid fat. The strained liquid is your Brown Butter Washed Rum.
To make the cocktail, place your Noble Saltworks Maple Smoked Turbinado Sugar in a neat glass, along with one tablespoon smoked butter. Add a couple ounces of hot water and stir to dissolve. Add two ounces brown butter spiced rum, then top off with more hot water. Serve with a cinnamon stick garnish.

Recipe Note

Recipe FAQ

Why run just the grill's fans instead of actually starting it for the cold smoke?
Running only the fans lets the tube smoker generate smoke at ambient temperature. If the grill were actually lit and running, the heat would melt the butter well before it had time to absorb any smoke flavor.

Why keep pans of ice inside the grill during the smoke?
The ice actively counters any heat buildup over the 2-3 hour smoke, keeping the butter solid the entire time so it never melts and pools on the parchment.

Why simmer the whole spices directly in the butter instead of steeping them separately?
Cooking star anise, cinnamon, and allspice right in the butter as it browns infuses those warm spice flavors directly into the fat, building more concentrated flavor than steeping the spices in a separate liquid.

Why freeze the rum-butter mixture instead of straining it while it's still liquid?
Freezing lets the solid fat and the rum separate cleanly into two distinct layers. Cutting a hole in the frozen fat and pouring off just the liquid underneath gives a cleaner separation than trying to strain everything while it's still combined and liquid.

Why smoke the butter separately from the rum instead of smoking the finished cocktail?
Smoking the butter on its own gives you a concentrated smoky ingredient you can use by the tablespoon, rather than trying to smoke a liquid cocktail directly, which is harder to control and doesn't pick up smoke flavor as effectively.

How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
2 out of 5 — mixing the cocktail itself is entirely indoor-friendly, but cold-smoking the butter requires an outdoor grill setup with a tube smoker; there's no easy stovetop substitute for that step.

Recipe Highlights

Fan-only cold smoke: Infuses the butter with smoke flavor without any risk of melting.
Ice-cooled smoking chamber: Keeps the grill's interior cold throughout the multi-hour smoke.
Spice-simmered brown butter: Builds warm spice flavor directly into the fat as it browns.
Freeze-separated rum: Cleanly isolates the infused liquid from the solid fat.

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Hot Buttered Rum

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE

Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients

Brown Butter Washed Rum:

Hot Buttered Rum:

Directions

Recipe Note

Recipe FAQ

Recipe Highlights

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