1. Start with a tall glass.
2. Choke it with ice.
3. Squeeze in a big hunk of lime.
4. Add booze & mix.

Notes:

• Regarding booze selection, as it is a Rummer, use rum.  Being on vacation, Mount Gay is pretty much the only thing I bother with.  However, it is always best to mix a couple of different rums in a drink.  Lamb’s Navy Dark is a good choice, but being a dark rum, any fruit juice based drinks will appear dark.  Rum selection is a personal choice (between you and the owner of the local rum shop.)  That said, I’ve never knowingly set foot on a boat with spiced rum.
  
  
• After the previous point and the name Rummer, one may be tempted to think that the essential ingredient is rum. You’d be wrong.  The essential ingredient is in fact lime. You simply must have fresh limes.  Scurvy is a terrible plague upon sailors.  Lime is the tried and true method to avoid the problem.  Although it would be helpful to discuss how the Round Man got the nickname Scurvy Dog #4, the matter is still under investigation by Interpol. Suffice it to say that the health and well being of the crew is foremost in the mind of the galley crew.  However, most crews will not take their lime rations unless it is drowned in sufficient rum to wash it all down.
  
  
• I usually try to get a selection of fruit juices. On The Usual Suspects, we usually work from a base of pineapple.  Other juices include: any citrus (orange, grapefruit or tangerine (always a treat)) as well as mango, passion, soursop, etc.
  
  
• On The Usual Suspects we start by opening a pineapple and any other juice. They are mixed in any proportion that pours into the glass.  When the pineapple runs out, open the next pineapple.  When the “other” runs out, replace it with any other “other”.
  
  
• On Meleo, the pineapple base is not used.  Thus, any two juices are opened for starters. When one is empty, open the next one.  This technique has been developed through experimental error resulting from a horrid North Atlantic Gale that along with some other problems washed all the labels off the cans.  This too gave rise to the menu planning technique called Dealer’s Choice, which is best discussed elsewhere.
  
  
• Part of going on a vacation is to avoid life’s ruts.  Thus, it is important over the week to keep changing the mix both in types and proportions.
  
  
• Diet Coke (sometimes called Choke) tastes better than Coke (classic) in a Cuba Libre.   Apologies to our readers in the US State Department, who may prefer to think about this as a rum and coke, or more generically, rum and cola.
  
  
• Ginger beer needs a sweet dark rum - Goslings Black Seal is the best choice with Lambs Navy Dark as a back up.  This is an excellent choice for issuing the crew with a double lime ration.
  
  
• If making for a photo, do not leave the squeezed piece of lime in the drink, but garnish with another lime wedge on side of glass.

Tiny
November, 2000