Bumbo

Bumbo is an old drink, dating back to the 18th century at least. George Washington served bumbo to voters in Virginia in 1758, and prior to that the drink was a favorite of Caribbean pirates.

Originally, bumbo was a mixture of rum, water, sugar and nutmeg and/or cinnamon, served straight up. Ice was uncommon, so bumbo was likely drunk at cabin temperature.

The modern bumbo keeps the rum and spices, but replaces the sugar and water with grenadine and lemon juice. I made two versions, the current iteration and a variation on the original.

Bumbo (modern)
2 oz. rum (gold or dark; I used Brugal gold)
1 oz. lemon juice
½ oz. grenadine (homemade)
pinch nutmeg

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The modern bumbo is a nice drink, especially for the summer months. The only downside to it is that the nutmeg doesn’t dissolve in the liquid, and tends to collect at the bottom of the glass. I suppose you could fine-strain the drink, but that might also remove most of the flavor of the spices. The best solution would likely be a tincture – cinnamon and nutmeg soaked in alcohol to extract the flavor. A spritz of each on top of the drink would add the spice components without the grit.

For my variation on the original, I used 2 oz. rum and ½ oz. cinnamon syrup, stirred for a long while with ice and served over fresh ice in an old-fashioned glass. The melting ice provides the water, and the syrup gives a spicy note to the drink without the grit that results from using ground spices. This is a great drink, a simple variation on an old-fashioned that would be nice any time of year.