We’re back! Fresh off a 3-week trip tasting and stumbling our way around Europe for March and all I can say is WOW. It was tough coming back to reality, back to work, back to doing our own laundry! But to be honest, the toughest part of being back stateside has been adjusting to the time. Three weeks of living six, seven, and eight hours ahead of our usual timezone really hit me fast when I got back. Imagine struggling to stay sleep longer than 3 am, or worse, falling asleep on the couch or at my work desk daily around 7 pm. After the first couple of days, I knew I would need to bring in reinforcements so I can stay productive!
Coffee Please! The question was do I coffee in the morning or do I coffee in the afternoon? Honestly, I’ve never been a big morning coffee person. It gives you a good spike but then when it wears off it hits you hard! Plus, I’m a big fan of spiking my coffee to give it a little something extra, and it might not be the best idea to go boozing early in the morning before you head into work… You’ve probably heard of the term Irish coffee before; a little Irish whiskey and Irish cream in your cup of Joe but if you haven’t, just know that if you work in a cubicle farm most of your coworkers are drinking one while you’re working on spell checking your office memo for the sixth time. I like Irish coffee, except the Irish part. In fact, rather than whiskey, I usually go for rum, and instead of creamer or whipped cream, I go with something else…
So last year if you remember, we shared some recipes featuring RumChata, a cream liqueur made with Caribbean rum and dairy cream, and to be honest, we kind of got ourselves hooked. So I started playing around with it in everything: white Russians, milkshakes, desserts and of course COFFEE! Don’t worry, we’re planning on sharing them all soon but for today I thought I’d share my spin on an Irish coffee that I’ll call a Caribbean coffee instead. I like to compliment a strong black coffee with rich Haitian rum, one of our favorites, that adds to it notes of butterscotch and vanilla. Then we tie it all together with RumChata’s vanilla, cinnamon, and real dairy cream and top it off with our own RumChata infused whipped cream. So yea, it’s kind of amazing, too amazing to keep to ourselves. So if you’re struggling to get through your day, or even if you aren’t but you’re a fan of coffee + booze, I suggest you try this and let us know what you think!
RumChata Caribbean Coffee
- 6 oz Strong black coffee
- 1 ½ oz Rhum Barbancourt 4 year [or any Caribbean rum]
- ¾ oz RumChata
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- Caramel Syrup [Optional]
- RumChata Whipped Cream [directions below]
Directions: Fill your coffee mug with your hot coffee and then stir in your rum. Next add in your brown sugar and let it dissolve. Pour in RumChata and stir to mix it in. Finally top with your whipped cream, and optionally you can garnish with syrup toppings, we chose caramel!
RumChata Whipped Cream
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 Tbsp RumChata
Directions: Add whipping cream and RumChata to a chilled bowl. Beat with a mixer for 1-2 minutes until desired consistency.
