Rum is the king spirit at Joe Squared, the popular Station North pizza restaurant.
General manager Okan Arabaciouglu said the staff is always trying to get people to think of rum as more than just the base for sweet, fruity "island cocktails."
Arabaciouglu said he came up with the Blood Orange Old Fashioned, his rum-based variation on the classic Old-Fashioned, in part as a way of introducing guests to one of his favorite new rums, Mount Gay Black Barrel.
Introduced last year, Black Barrel is finished in "deeply charred" bourbon oak barrels, which results in a rum with just enough woody flavor to make it a worthy substitute for the traditional bourbon or whiskey in a classic Old Fashioned, Arabaciouglu thought.
"Rum is a very malleable cordial that you can make work with anything," Arabaciouglu said. "I wanted to get whiskey lovers to try something different."
It's different, all right. The cocktail's vivid color makes you expect sweetness. But the first sip gives you a jolt of flavor, mixed in with a pleasant bitterness.
You have to remember you're drinking a rum cocktail. Just at the finish of your taste, there's a moment of sweetness — just enough.
The Blood Orange Old Fashioned is one of the more challenging drinks I've come across lately, and the longer I sipped it, the more I liked it. By the end, I wanted another.
As for blood oranges, Arabaciouglu said their addition was purely personal. "It's the perfect season for blood oranges, and quite frankly, I love them," he said. "Also, I wanted to give my own twist to a classic drink."
How to make the Blood Orange Old Fashioned
1 cube of sugar
1 dash of Angostura bitters
1 teaspoon Stirrings blood orange bitters.
1 thick slice of blood orange (half of the meat taken out)
3 oz. Mount Gay Black Barrel rum
Cherry and orange zest for garnish
Put sugar cube in a rocks glass. Add Angostura bitters and the blood orange bitters in the glass, over the sugar cube and wait till the cube absorbs the bitters. Then add the orange slice. Muddle the blood orange slice, bitters and sugar all together. Pour rum over it and gently stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Fill a separate rocks glass with ice and, using a strainer, pour over the rum, sugar and bitter mix. Stir gently again and garnish it with a cherry and blood orange zest.
Where to get the Blood Orange Old Fashioned
Joe Squared
133 W. North Ave., Station North
410-545-0444
$7