A few weeks ago I was invited to spend the weekend with Sailor Jerry Rum to celebrate the birthday of Norman Collins “AKA Sailor Jerry.”
Collins was born on January 14, 1911. Before his name was stamped on every bottle of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Collins was putting his stamp on members of the navy. During WWII, Collins earned a name for himself in the world of tattooing. He’s responsible for sanitation standards that are used in today’s tattoo parlors, and the color purple being available in tattoo ink, amongst other things.
As part of the weekend, we got to check out “House of Machines” a new bar and motorcycle shop in Los Angeles, California and spend some time making cocktails with bartender Amanda Colom that highlighted Sailor Jerry.
We kicked things off making a Sailor Jerry Old Fashioned, which is what I recommend you start off with because boy, is it fantastic. Then we learned how to smoke a cocktail and played a little bit with fire, creating a “flamed absinthe rinse” that almost ended in me setting one of my neighboring journalists on fire.
To do an absinthe rinse you essentially spray the inside of the glass with absinthe and then set it on fire. That part isn’t hard. The difficulty came when we also tried to spray the absinthe directly through the flame, blow torch style. That… didn’t go as well for me.
Below are the three cocktails we made with Colom. Give them a whirl yourself at home. You won’t be disappointed.
Sailor Jerry Old Fashioned
Created by Amanda Colom of House of Machines LA
Ingredients:
2 oz. Sailor Jerry
.25 oz. Simple Syrup
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
3 dash House Chocolate Bitters
Smoked w/Cherry Wood
Orange Oil Garnish
Directions:Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and stir. Pour into an old fashioned glass and add a chunk of ice.
Dominican Maid
Created by Amanda Colom of House of Machines LA
Ingredients:
2 oz. Sailor Jerry
1 oz. Lime
.75 oz. Simple Syrup
Muddled Cucumber
Handful of Mint
Flamed Absinthe Rinse
Cucumber/Mint Sprig Garnish
Directions: Add rum, lime juice, simple syrup and muddled cucumber to shaker with ice and shake. Spray absinthe into an old fashioned glass. Add ice and strain cocktail into glass. Muddle with mint and cucumber.
Silver Screen Vixen
Created by Amanda Colom of House of Machines LA
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Sailor Jerry
.75 oz. Lemon juice
.75 oz. Turbinado Syrup
Muddled Blackberry
Handful of Mint
3 Drops of Vietnamese Cinnamon Tincture
Cinnamon Fog
Blackberry/Mint Sprig Garnish
Directions: Add muddled blackberry, rum, lemon juice and Turbinado syrup to a stirring glass and stir with ice. Strain into a coupe glass. Add cinnamon tincture and blackberry mint sprig for a garnish. For an easy “fog” effect, add a dry ice swizzle stick.