Hot Buttered Rum, Camp Version
A spiced butter paste, hot water, and rum. Made in a mug at the end of a cold day.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 2.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 145
- protein
- 0 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 3 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 180 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Drink
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Unsalted butter | 2 tbsp | softened at home; keeps for days out of the sun in cold weather |
|---|---|---|
| Dark brown sugar | 2 tbsp | muscovado if you have it |
| Ground cinnamon | 1/4 tsp | |
| Ground nutmeg | 1/8 tsp | |
| Ground cloves | a pinch | cloves take over fast |
| Dark rum | 2 oz | decanted into a flask |
| Boiling water | 180 ml | |
| Cinnamon stick | 1 | optional, doubles as a stirrer |
Method
- At home, mash the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together until it is one smooth paste. Pack it in a small screw-top jar.
- In camp, spoon a heaped tablespoon of the paste into your mug.
- Boil 180 ml of water and pour about a third of it over the paste. Stir until the butter and sugar have gone into solution.
- Add the rum, then the rest of the water. Stir again.
- Drop in the cinnamon stick and drink it while the fat is still floating.
The paste is the whole recipe. Butter, sugar, and ground spice creamed together at home dissolve into hot water in seconds; the same ingredients added loose in camp leave you with gritty sugar on the bottom and a slick of plain butter on top. Make it once, carry it in a jar, and each mug is a spoonful and a pour.
The fat is not decoration. It floats and holds heat in the mug longer than water alone, and it gives the drink enough weight to count for something after a cold day. Add the water in two stages so the first splash can do the work of melting the paste before the mug is full and hard to stir. Butter travels fine in winter but not in a hot car, so this one stays a cold-weather recipe.
Packing
The spiced butter goes in one small jar with a gasket lid, made at home. Rum in a flask. Nothing gets measured in the dark, and one jar makes six to eight mugs.
Variations
- Swap the butter for coconut oil and the drink goes dairy-free, though it separates faster.
- Leave the rum out and it is still a hot spiced drink for anyone who is driving.
- A strip of orange peel in the mug cuts the sugar.
https://www.baldhiker.com/hot-buttered-rum-recipe-a-winter-warmer