Rum Runners

Rum Runner! No, it's not a sorority girl squealing at the top of her lungs for a berry-flavored fruity beverage. "Mmmmm. This is soooooo gooooood! I can hardly taste the alcohol."

Rum runner is a popular drink in tropical places and beachtowns. Judging by it's name, you could guess what its primary liquor is. This drink has it's roots in rum and the act of "rum-running" or smuggling alcohol over water to avoid prohibition or taxes. The term "rum-running" was coined in the 1920's during the days of American Prohibition. When the act is taken on land, it is commonly referred to as bootlegging. During this time, ships in the Caribbean began smuggling rum from the islands to Florida speakeasies.

So today, a rum-runner is a fruity beverage made with rum that usually consists of berry flavors such as blackberry and raspberry. The interesting part about a shaken rum runner is how it is finished off. (they teach you this in bartending school). To make a true rum runner, you add two straws into the drink at the end. Then you take a bottle of rum and place the tip over the straws and pour straight rum down the straws and into the very bottom of the drink. So when the drinker takes that first drag from the straw, all they get is rum. Nice, huh?

The picture here is of the frozen rum rummers we made the other night in our smoothie maker. It's not like the recipe is complex or so complicated that a caveman couldn't do it. I just wanted to show you how beautiful they look, especially having used my new fancy BAck-to-Basics Smoothie Maker (aff).

Ingredients
- 1 can Bacardi brand rum runner mix
- 1/2 can rum
- Ice

Combine the first two ingredients into the blender or smoothie maker and then a few handfuls of ice. You may need to adjust ice levels depending on how much liquid you got from the mix and rum. Blend!