I just travelled back home from Boston, Massachussetts, and this trip for a few days made me think of the power and history that surrounds Boston and New England as a whole. This is where our whole country was founded. More importantly, Massachusetts and the rest of New England is where RUM was given a whole new identity.
New England was the hub, and arguably the origin, for rum drinkers in the United States. This was the place where most of the import and export was taking place during the building of the country. Around the time of Independence, almost everyone was drinking rum. This is due in part because the English colonized the Caribbean before they came to the American colonies.
The focus was originally on the Caribbean to compete with Spain, France, and the Dutch, to produce sugar cane. Refined sugar had swept the world entirely around this time, the early 1600s. This allowed for some pretty interesting libations for the colonists when they arrived in New England to begin to build the country we now know as the United States of America.
There were many different drinks that were made around this time, as the people needed to find a way to drink the rum in a more palatable way. As the rums from most of the Caribbean islands, are in the English style of production. Therefore, these rums were very pungent in nature, and were a hard dram to stomach at the time. This was mostly because of the fact that the distillation methods weren’t exactly the most pristine. The distillers of the time did not clean out their copper pot stills very thoroughly; therefore, the rums that came from the still had a pungent, funky taste to them (imagine burnt sugar). Since the pot stills had residual molasses from the previous batch, that leftover would further heat up and create the aromatics and flavors that, in all honesty, would not be as desirable in today’s standards of drink.
SO WHAT IS THE “FLIP”?
With what was aforementioned, the colonists were growing fond of the burnt-molasses taste in their everyday drinking habits. And so, the flip was born to accommodate that new found taste.
The flip is a cocktail that originally mixed beer with rum and sugar. Simple, right? Well, not so much. There was another key part of the flip that really brought the drink to a “sizzling” popularity.
The flip was prepared with rum, sugar and beer in a large pewter mug. However, even with all of the ingredients in place, there is one final mixing ingredient…
The LOGGERHEAD.
The loggerhead is a long iron rod used in the 1680s to heat tar. Of which, tar was used to cure the masts of ships and prevent rotting.
Side note: At the time, the ships were all made of wood, and needed tar to ensure that they would survive long voyages at sea. Tar from pine was the most common. The heaviest consumer of tar? You guessed it, the British Royal Navy.
This rod was shoved into hot coals and left until the rod became blistering hot. Then, the bartender would dip the loggerhead into the pewter mug with all of the ingredients. This would cause the drink to erupt and bubble like a volcano. If people think lighting orange peels and smoking glasses with cedar is cool and stunning to watch, imagine watching the making of a truly classic flip!
Sometimes, an egg was added to the drink for added flavor and viscosity (or maybe the colonists didn’t have eggs at breakfast and were finding a way to fit it into their diets!).
This is by far, one of my most favorite drinks to study and look at. The flip is the original colonist cocktail. Here is the original rendition of the recipe enjoyed by many, and became famous at the time. So much so, that it was even called a recipe for good health:
Classic Colonial Flip (without the loggerhead)
1.5oz Rum (brandy was also used very often at the time, as an alternative)
1.5oz Demerara simple syrup (1 part water to 2 parts raw brown sugar)
1 whole egg
6-8oz dark brown ale, or a stout/porter (I like using a sweeter-style porter)
Makes: 1 serving
Since we will not be using the loggerhead in this cocktail (I do NOT recommend using this at home. can be very dangerous), we will be heating the ingredients up on a conventional stove at home.
Mix the rum, cream, sugar, and egg separately in another saucepan/pitcher using medium heat. Heat the beer in a metal pitcher (the ones used to make hot chocolate) or medium saucepan. DO NOT let the beer boil, just simmer slightly.
Then, pour in between the two pitchers to begin to emulsify the ingredients together. Once the mixture is extra frothy, pour into a safe, heat-proof mug and garnish with both grated nutmeg and cinnamon. Then enjoy!
Cheers!
Jonathan Echavarria 