It's cold out, a few people are on their way over, and there's a rum in the cabinet you're not sure about. If it's dark, aged, gold, or spiced, it will make a good hot buttered rum. The batter takes about ten minutes, and each mug about two.
In a hot buttered rum recipe, the batter does most of the work. Butter, brown sugar, and warm spices get beaten together ahead of time, so they melt smoothly into hot water.
The bottle you pour from our rum shelf, or your own cabinet, decides whether the drink leans toward caramel, vanilla, or baking spice.
Hot Buttered Rum Recipe: Batter and Mug
This batter makes enough for roughly 12 to 16 mugs at 2 tablespoons each. Plan on about 10 minutes for the batter and 2 minutes per drink.
1) Batter Ingredients
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1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, plus a pinch of kosher salt (or use salted butter and skip the salt)
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1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark; dark brings more molasses and suits aged rum)
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1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
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¼ teaspoon ground cloves
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¼ teaspoon ground allspice
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½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
For a softer sweetness, swap 1 to 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar for honey or maple syrup.
2) Per-Mug Ingredients
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2 tablespoons batter
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2 ounces aged, dark, or spiced rum
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4 to 6 ounces water, just off the boil
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Cinnamon stick and freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish
3) Step-by-Step Method
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Beat the softened butter, brown sugar, spices, salt, and vanilla with a hand mixer or a sturdy spoon for 2 to 3 minutes. Stop when the mixture is fluffy and an even color, with no streaks of plain butter.
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Warm a heat-safe mug by filling it with hot water, then pour that water out.
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Add 2 tablespoons of batter and 2 ounces of rum to the mug, then top with hot water.
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Stir until the batter melts completely and you can't see any flecks of butter.
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Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a little fresh nutmeg, and serve right away.
Four ounces of water gives you a stronger, richer mug. Six ounces makes it lighter and easier to sip through a long evening.
Choosing the Right Rum for Hot Buttered Rum
The batter supplies plenty of sugar and spice. The rum needs to bring body and enough molasses character to stay noticeable through the heat and a few ounces of water.
Most dark, aged, and spiced rums manage that. What changes from bottle to bottle is how sweet the drink ends up and what you'd adjust in the batter.
Proof plays a smaller part. Most rum is bottled at 80 proof, which is plenty. A higher-proof bottle stays present in a 6-ounce pour, while a lower-proof one does better with 4 ounces of water.
1) Aged and Dark Rum
Aged and dark rum is the traditional choice, and you can taste why: caramel, toffee, and oak line up with brown sugar. Our guide to white rum vs. dark rum covers how the two styles differ. In a mug, each one shifts the drink a little differently.
- Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva is rich and already sweet, so it pushes the drink toward dessert. If it's your bottle, drop the brown sugar in the batter to about ¾ cup or use a bit less batter per mug.
- Diplomático Mantuano is lighter and drier, with more dried fruit, and works with the batter as written. Both sit on our Diplomático page.
- The Real McCoy 5 Year goes the opposite direction. It's a drier Barbados rum, so the cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg come forward and the mug tastes more spiced than sweet. Keep the full cup of sugar with this one.
- Ron Zacapa 23 brings raisin and toffee notes that pair well with dark brown sugar. It makes a slow, rich mug for after dinner.
- Bacardi Gold is lighter in body and makes an easygoing drink for a crowd. Keep the water near 4 ounces so the rum still comes through.
- Jamaican rum is the historical pick, with a heavier, funkier molasses note than the rums above. Myers's Single Barrel Select, a Jamaican dark rum finished in rye whiskey casks, fits the batter as written.
2) Spiced Rum
Spiced rum works well with one adjustment. The batter is already spiced, so a spiced rum doubles up on cinnamon and clove. Cut the cloves and allspice in the batter by half, or use 1½ tablespoons of batter per mug instead of 2.
Is Captain Morgan good for hot buttered rum? Yes. Captain Morgan Original Spiced is sweet and vanilla-forward, and it makes a friendly, casual mug that most guests will like. It's bottled at 70 proof, so keep the water closer to 4 ounces than 6.
At 94 proof, Kraken Black Spiced is darker and stronger, and it holds up to a full 6 ounces of water. Sailor Jerry is drier and bottled at 92 proof, with vanilla and cinnamon up front. If that's your bottle, trim the cinnamon in the batter along with the cloves and allspice.
Our ranking of the best spiced rum compares these bottles neat, on ice, and in other cocktails.
3) Rums to Skip
White and unaged rum gets lost under the butter and spice, and the drink ends up tasting like sweet hot water. Flavored rums clash with the cinnamon and clove, especially coconut and fruit flavors. Coffee-flavored rum is the exception, since coffee and brown sugar already work together.
Overproof rums around 151 proof are hard to balance in a hot drink. The alcohol rising off the mug drowns out the spice before you take a sip.
4) Splitting the Pour
You don't have to pick one bottle. One ounce of aged rum plus one ounce of spiced rum gives you the body of the first and some built-in spice from the second. If you go this route, trim the batter spice slightly.
Swapping ½ ounce of the rum for brandy or bourbon adds a drier, oakier warmth. Both have a long history as holiday drink bases.
Fixing the Butter Slick and Other Texture Problems
The most common complaint is a greasy film on top, and it comes from butter that never fully combined with the sugar. A pat of butter dropped straight into a mug melts and floats. When you beat the batter until it's fluffy and evenly colored, the butter and sugar dissolve together when the hot water hits.
Water temperature matters as much as the batter. Water just off the boil melts the batter cleanly, while lukewarm water leaves clumps. Stir hard until no butter flecks remain, and drink it while it's hot, since the fat starts to separate as the mug cools.
If you still see a slick, add dairy. The ice cream batter below, or a splash of hot milk in the mug, keeps the fat suspended and gives the drink a smoother texture.
A drink that tastes too sweet needs less sugar and more contrast. Cut the brown sugar to ¾ cup in your next batch, add another pinch of salt, or reach for a drier rum like the Real McCoy.
When the mug tastes flat, grate fresh nutmeg over the top and add a pinch of salt to the batter. A darker rum also gives the drink more depth.
Hot Buttered Rum Variations
1) Ice Cream Batter
Beat softened vanilla ice cream into the butter batter, using roughly as much ice cream as butter. The drink comes out creamier, and the dairy keeps butter from pooling on top.
Store this version in the freezer, where it stays soft enough to scoop straight into a mug. If you'd rather skip ice cream, the classic batter above works fine without it.
2) Hot Buttered Rum With Apple Cider
Use hot apple cider in place of the water. Cider is already sweet, so cut the brown sugar in the batter to about ½ cup, or use a little less batter in each mug. Aged rum and cider pair especially well, with the apple brightening the caramel.
3) Creamier Versions
Replace half the water with hot milk or half-and-half for a richer, softer drink. A spoonful of whipped cream on top melts into the surface as you sip, and it looks good in a clear glass mug.
4) Coffee Version
Hot brewed coffee can stand in for half the water, which makes the drink closer to an after-dinner coffee. For more coffee flavor, swap 1 ounce of the rum for Grind Espresso Shot Rum and keep 1 ounce of aged rum for body.
5) Non-Alcoholic Hot Buttered "Rum"
Stir 2 tablespoons of batter into hot water or hot cider, then add ¼ teaspoon of rum extract or a little molasses for depth. Since the batter is the same, one batch covers both versions at a party.
Batching, Storing, and Serving a Crowd
Roll the batter into a log in plastic wrap or pack it in an airtight container. It keeps up to about three weeks in the fridge or three months in the freezer. For quick mugs later, freeze 2-tablespoon scoops on a sheet pan, then move them into a freezer bag.
A jar of batter makes an easy holiday gift. Add a tag with the mug build (2 tablespoons batter, 2 ounces rum, hot water), and tell the recipient to keep it refrigerated.
For a party, a slow cooker saves you from playing bartender. Combine 1 cup of batter with 32 to 48 ounces of hot water, set it to low, and stir until the batter dissolves. That's enough for about 8 mugs.
Set the rum and a jigger next to it, and guests pour their own 2 ounces. Everyone picks their own strength, and anyone skipping alcohol takes a mug straight from the slow cooker.
Eight mugs take about 16 ounces of rum. A 1.75L of Captain Morgan Original Spiced covers a bigger gathering with room to spare.
Store-bought batters show up in grocery stores around the holidays, and they're handy when time is short. Making your own lets you set the sugar and spice to suit the rum you're pouring.
Hot Buttered Rum vs. Hot Toddy
A hot toddy is whiskey (or another spirit), honey, lemon, and hot water. It's lighter and citrusy, with no fat. A hot buttered rum is richer, with butter, brown sugar, and warm spices, and it drinks closer to dessert.
Reach for a toddy when you want something lighter before bed, and a hot buttered rum after dinner or in place of dessert. If the toddy is what you're after, our guide to the best whiskey for a hot toddy covers styles and bottles.
Where Hot Buttered Rum Comes From
People in England were drinking hot buttered ale and beer long before rum came along. In colonial New England, distillers made rum from Caribbean molasses, and hot rum drinks became a tavern staple through the long winters.
Jerry Thomas's 1862 bartender's guide includes a hot spiced rum made with Jamaica rum, spices, and butter. It's one of the earliest printed recipes for the drink.
In the 1940s, Trader Vic urged bartenders to make a batter, since a loose pat of butter left bits floating on top. Today the drink has its own day: National Hot Buttered Rum Day falls on January 17.
Which Bottle Goes in Your Mug
The rum in your cabinet will probably work. If it's spiced, cut the cloves and allspice in the batter. If it's a sweet aged rum, cut the sugar.
Make the batter ahead, beat it until it's fluffy, and use water just off the boil. A batch keeps three weeks in the fridge, so you can make it once and pull from it all through a cold stretch.
