The Butter Baby

The Story Behind The The Butter Baby

Creamy and indulgent, Hot Buttered Rum is a warm seasonal delight best enjoyed while cozying up by a fire. This variation from Monkey Thief’s head bartender David Muhs takes the drink to new heights with both housemade butter batter and a housemade spiced rum blend.

The spiced rum blend begins with a golden rum that’s been sous vide with baking spices such as star anise, cardamom, cinnamon and clove. For a bit of balance, the mixture also contains orange zest, sliced ginger, and long pepper. To round things out, combine the infusion with a dark, molasses-rich aged rum, which provides pops of burnt sugar, coffee, and dark chocolate.

The robust spirit blend makes for an ideal complement for Muhs’ homemade butter batter, which sees many of the same aromatics added to a creamy base of butter, maple syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. There’s vanilla, cinnamon, and allspice dram, but also a touch of white miso paste, which brings an unexpected savory, umami edge. It’s a labor of love on the front end, but once your spiced rum batch and butter batter have been prepared, feel free to store them all month long to enjoy a Butter Baby whenever the moment strikes.