The New Orleans Buck: A Summer Drink for Dad
You know what? Dad’s been working hard for you (pretty much your whole life is my guess). Which means that this Father’s Day he deserves to be able to just kick back in an easy chair, maybe one outside, and have you bring him a nice, refreshing, drink. My suggestion? The New Orleans Buck. For one, it has a lot of history, being a part of the Buck family of drinks, a family whose patriarch, the Gin Buck, traces back at least until the 1920s. And serving up a bit of history is always good. Second, the New Orleans Buck has both a relaxing-but-invigorating nature and a bit of a kick, a bit of lime, a bit of ginger, and underlying dark rum accents that mix together perfectly. I used Nicaraguan-made Flor de Cana Grand Reserve 7-year-old dark rum when whipping up one last night, and it tasted dreamy (this rum has a caramel-nutty-full-bodied-ness that dad will dig).
As mentioned, this is part of a family of drinks, so you can alter it easily if you think dad’s going to like one of its siblings better. For an Orange Buck, just substitute old pal gin for rum, and for a Nordic Buck, substitute a good un-flavored vodka. If you want to serve up the classic Gin Buck, make it with gin and no orange juice (and a little more ginger ale). Also, some folks tend to think I have a slightly heavy hand with my rum pour here, so you could reduce it to 2 ounces. But definitely keep the ginger ale and orange juice on equal footing, or expect dad to give you one of those looks.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
3 ounces dark rum (or a little less, as mentioned)
2 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice
2 ounces chilled ginger ale
Lime wedge for garnish
Lime slice for garnish
Directions:
1. Fill a highball glass three-quarters full with ice cubes. Add the rum.
2. Carefully add the orange juice and the ginger ale at the same time. Stir briefly.
3. Squeeze the lime wedge over the glass and drop it in. Garnish with the lime slice.
Hijo on June 17, 2009 at 11:22 AM
If you like Flor de Cana, you should try Ron Zacapa Centenario (23 years old). It makes Flor de Cana seem like grog.
Spanno on June 17, 2009 at 02:42 PM
Sounds awesome. I'm going to buy some OJ tonight.
phismi on June 19, 2009 at 01:52 PM
I fully expect you to be at my house this Sunday (say around 2:00?) to make me one (or more) of these. I don't care that I am not your father.