Cocktail Recipes
There’s a moment every English summer when the garden finally earns its keep. The barbecue is lit, the table is dragged out onto the grass, and somebody asks the only question that matters: what are we drinking?
This year, we’d like to make the case for rum.
Rum has a reputation as a winter spirit on this side of the Atlantic. Something dark and warming for harbour-side pubs and long nights. But in the Caribbean, where it was born, rum has always been a sunshine drink. Bright with lime, lengthened with soda, shared from a pitcher. It might just be the most versatile bottle you can have on the table between June and September.
Below are five rum cocktails we keep coming back to at the winery, built around our Lugger Rum and Golden Rum, both crafted here in East Devon. Every one of them is genuinely easy. Most need three or four ingredients. Two don’t need a shaker at all.
And with Father’s Day landing on Sunday 21 June, there’s no better excuse to get the bottles in early.
First, meet the rums
A quick word on which bottle suits which drink, because they’re two quite different characters.
Lugger Rum is named for the swift smuggling luggers that Jack Rattenbury, the notorious Devon smuggler, used to run contraband ashore along this stretch of coast. Unlike most spiced rums, it isn’t drowned in vanilla. We age Caribbean rum in bourbon-charred oak barrels here at the winery, then spice it with nutmeg, cloves, orange peel and just a hint of vanilla, so you get a proper, rounded spice profile rather than one sweet note. That makes it brilliant in long drinks and big-batch serves, where all that character carries through the mixer.
Golden Rum is the slow one. A blend of rums from Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Panama, each aged for eight years, then finished in ex-bourbon casks. The result is a gorgeous sipping rum with wood notes on the nose, a smooth front palate and a long, gently warming finish. It picked up a Silver at the London Spirits Competition 2023, and it’s the bottle for the drinks where the rum itself is the point.
One of each and you’ve covered every recipe on this list.
1. The Smuggler’s Punch (pitcher for 6 to 8)
Every good summer gathering needs a drink you can make once and forget about. This is ours. The nutmeg, clove and orange peel in the Lugger Rum do half the flavour work for you, so the punch tastes far more involved than it actually is. Make the base in the morning, keep it in the fridge, and add the fizz when people arrive.
You’ll need: A large pitcher or punch bowl
Ingredients (serves 6 to 8):
- 10 oz Lyme Bay Lugger Rum
- 8 oz fresh orange juice
- 4 oz fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
- 3 oz honey syrup (equal parts honey and warm water, stirred together)
- 500ml soda water or sparkling lemonade, to top
- 1 orange and 1 lime, sliced into wheels
- A handful of fresh mint
- Plenty of ice
Method:
- Combine the rum, juices and honey syrup in a large pitcher and stir well
- Add the citrus wheels and refrigerate for at least an hour
- Just before serving, fill the pitcher with ice and top with soda water
- Add the mint last
Tip: Taste before you top with soda. If your limes were on the sharp side, another splash of honey syrup brings it back into balance.
2. The Golden Daiquiri
The daiquiri is the great test of a rum, because there’s nowhere to hide: rum, lime, a touch of sweetness, and that’s it. Our Golden Rum was made for exactly this. Smooth enough to sip, characterful enough to stand up to the citrus. If you make one new cocktail this summer, make it this one.
You’ll need: A cocktail shaker and a chilled coupe glass
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Lyme Bay Golden Rum
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz simple syrup
- Lime wheel to garnish
Method:
- Add everything to a shaker with plenty of ice
- Shake hard for 15 seconds, until the outside of the shaker is frosted
- Double strain into a chilled coupe
- Garnish with a thin lime wheel
Tip: Put your coupe in the freezer ten minutes before you start. A daiquiri should be ice cold, and the glass does half the work.
3. The Smuggler’s Storm
A long, fiery rum-and-ginger highball that practically built itself for barbecues. Spiced rum and ginger beer is one of the great pairings, and the cloves and orange peel in the Lugger give it a depth that ordinary rum-and-ginger can’t match. Just add a good squeeze of lime and plenty of ice. Three ingredients, no shaker, ready in under a minute.
You’ll need: A highball glass
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Lyme Bay Lugger Rum
- 4 oz good ginger beer (the spicier the better)
- Half a lime
- Lime wedge to garnish
- Ice
Method:
- Fill a highball glass with ice
- Squeeze in the juice of half a lime and drop the shell in
- Add the Lugger Rum, top with ginger beer and stir once, gently
- Garnish with a fresh lime wedge
Tip: This one scales beautifully for a crowd. Set up the glasses with ice and lime in advance, then it’s just pour and go.
4. The Devon Mojito
The garden party classic, and far easier than its reputation suggests. The trick is to press the mint gently rather than pulverise it. You want the perfume, not the bitterness. Golden Rum keeps it smooth and easy-drinking, which on a hot afternoon is precisely the point.
You’ll need: A highball glass and something to muddle with (the end of a rolling pin works fine)
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Lyme Bay Golden Rum
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz simple syrup
- 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves
- Soda water, to top
- Mint sprig and a lime wheel to garnish
- Crushed ice if you have it, cubed if you don’t
Method:
- Gently press the mint leaves with the lime juice and syrup in the base of the glass
- Fill the glass with ice and add the Golden Rum
- Stir to combine, then top with soda water
- Garnish with a generous mint sprig and a lime wheel
5. The 8 Year Old Fashioned
If you ask what most dads want in their glass, the answer, year after year, is an Old Fashioned. Here’s ours. Our Golden Rum spends eight years in cask and finishes in ex-bourbon barrels, so it already speaks the Old Fashioned’s language: wood, warmth and a long finish. Swapping it in for whiskey keeps all the slow-sipping ritual of the classic, with a smoother, subtly sweeter landing. It’s the drink to hand over on Father’s Day afternoon once the barbecue tongs have been put down. One to make slowly, and drink even more slowly.
You’ll need: A mixing glass, bar spoon and rocks glass
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Lyme Bay Golden Rum
- 0.25 oz simple syrup or honey syrup
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Large ice cube
- Orange peel to garnish
Method:
- Add the syrup, bitters and Golden Rum to a mixing glass
- Fill with ice and stir slowly for about 30 seconds
- Strain over a single large ice cube in a rocks glass
- Flex an orange peel over the top to release the oils, then rest it on the rim
Tip: Don’t rush the stir. Thirty seconds feels like a long time, but that slow dilution is what turns three ingredients into a proper cocktail.
Making it a gathering
A few things we’ve learned from summers at the winery.
The punch and the Smuggler’s Storm are your crowd drinks. Both can be prepped or part-prepped in advance, so you’re not stuck behind a makeshift bar while everyone else enjoys the sunshine. The Daiquiri and Mojito are your “make a couple, properly” drinks. And the 8 Year Old Fashioned is the one for when the evening slows down and the conversation gets good.
Food-wise, rum and the barbecue are old friends. The Smuggler’s Storm cuts through anything smoky or charred. The punch is made for picking at a table of salads and grilled halloumi. And the Old Fashioned is surprisingly lovely alongside pudding, especially anything with toffee, banana or dark chocolate involved.
A bottle for Father’s Day
Father’s Day falls on Sunday 21 June this year, and a bottle of Devon made rum is the rare gift that’s both a present and a plan: hand it over in the morning, mix him an 8 Year Old Fashioned by the afternoon.
And if you’re nearby, our Cellar Door in East Devon is open Tuesday to Saturday. Bring Dad along, taste the range side by side, and make a proper day of it. The Jurassic Coast is close enough for a coastal walk before lunch.
The first round is on us
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