Rum and Coke

Happy National Cocktail Day!

 

I don’t usually drink alcohol, but since perfect ingredients were in my pantry, I thought I should make some boozy drink. 

 

When I turned 21 years old, the legal age for drinking, (that was a long time ago btw) I always asked my fellow friends “what are you drinking?” to learn what is the name of delish boozy drinks. 

 

The legal age of being able to drink is 20, yet back then I was already in the US so I “visited” Japan for vacation and tried their drinks…how crazy it sounds like! In Japan, there were drinks made with Sho-chu at grocery markets or Japanese style bars called Izakaya. They had a variety of flavors, so I didn’t even need to know each name but asked “I’d like some blah-blah(fruit name) sour” and I was good to go. On the other hand here in the US, ordering drinks seems so complicated. Every time I went to a restaurant or bar, mixologists asked me what liquor I wanted. As a drink beginner, I didn’t know what kind of hard liquor was available and what they taste like, so I needed some time to learn about booze. 

 

One day, one of my coworkers told me he was drinking rum and coke, and coke was of course familiar to me, so I tried it and loved it. After several years passed, my dinner buddy and I switched from drinking any sugary drinks to seltzer water, so having a coke was very rare to us. But my local grocery was giving away a limited edition of coke, so let’s make some rum and coke and enjoy National Cocktail Day!

 

<Today’s Recipe>

Rum and Coke

<Ingredients>

*May contain Amazon Associate links. By clicking the links, they will take you to the specific Amazon.com product page and you’ll see what ingredients/tools are recommended for making the food of the day. As an Amazon Associate I will receive a very small commission from qualifying purchases.

• Coke – I used starlight coke, a limited edition!
• Rum of your choice
• Optional – fresh mint

 

<Directions>

Mix them and top with some fresh mint. 

 

<Cooking Tips>

Adjust rum and coke ratio depending on your preference. But keep that in mind…drink responsibly!

So have you seen this limited edition of coke, a starlight coke? It was my first time, but I loved the cherry-red color and a touch of vanilla flavor. Since it’s a limited edition, I wonder if it’s going to be available at fast food restaurants…anyone has a clue? Also I was surprised that they sell it for $12 on Amazon…the question section and review section was full of angry comment! If you’re interested this Starlight coke, try hitting your local groc…ahem!!

 

A little culture talk here…the first pour-on-your-own style drink system in Japan started in 1992. Before then, no refills were allowed even though the Japanese cup size was so tiny. I was so shocked it’s basically a bottomless thing here in the US. Today, we can see pour-on-your-own style in so many franchise restaurants

 

But! We have an all-you-can-drink style. The selection depends on the price and the bars(based on my experience, it’s about $15~), but around 2 hrs of time, you can order whatever you want, anytime you feel like. I loved plum wine and sour made with plum wine back then, but I don’t know if I can drink more than what I paid…I’m not a huge drinker so my tolerance of alcohol got weak year after year. 

 

Are you jealous of this all-you-can-drink? Even if you’re not a big drinker, Japanese izakaya is a must-go!

 

Cheers to National Cocktail Day, everyone!

 

<Other Refreshing Cocktail(Mocktail & Smoothie)>

Are you feeling like Cantaloupe? Cantaloupe Cocktail

Add a shot! Citrus Smoothie

If you like sweet tangy…add a shot! Pineapple Berry Smoothie

Enjoy home cooking and your own creation of homemade food:)