Captain's Grog (Smuggler's Cove Recipe)

There's a lot going on in the Captain's grog, the signature drink from the Captain's Inn at Long Beach, CA. It is really rich, a little sweet, and loaded with intense flavors. On the sweet side, there's maple syrup, falernum, and black rum. There's spice from the vanilla and almond extract, and a ton of citrus with lime juice, grapefruit juice, and dry curacao. I've used Vitae's Virginia hearty orange spirit with a rum base to substitute for the curacao.

Curiously, there an ounce of sparkling water thrown in, which is odd for a blended drink. I believe it is to help in the blending of the ingredients rather than to add fizziness. That all gets wiped out when you blend. But the sparkling water could help with spacing out the extracts and sugars. It also seemed to help create a smooth blend with a consistency in the size of the ice chunks.

• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz. maple syrup
• 3 drops vanilla extract
• 3 drops almond extract
• 1 oz. sparkling water
• 1/2 oz. falernum (homemade falernum used)
• 1/2 oz. dry curacao (Vitae orange liqueur used)
• 3/4 oz. black blended rum
• 3/4 oz. blended light rum
• 3/4 oz. blended aged rum

Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend and open gate strain into a double Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with swizzle sticks, umbrellas and fruit as you like.