Learn how to make the best hot buttered rum with this quick and easy recipe hot drink recipe, including how to make the butter batter which you can store in the fridge for when you want a drink later.
Hot buttered rum is a hot alcoholic drink made with boiling water, butter, sugar, spices, and alcohol (rum, as the name indicates). You may notice a few ice cream-based hot buttered rum recipes, which is not the traditional, typical way of making this hot beverage. This recipe is for the classic hot buttered rum from scratch, made from a butter batter, not ice cream.
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Ingredients
To make hot buttered rum, prepare a butter batter in advance, which you store in the fridge for when you want to make the hot beverage. Here's what you need:
- butter—use unsalted butter because salted butter may be too salty for this drink
- sugar—use brown sugar (light or dark) because the molasses notes will give your drink so much more flavour
- spices—use your favourite warm spices. I like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves, but you could also try a little ginger, for example
- rum—I like to make hot buttered rum with spiced or dark rum.
- water—you will need boiling water when it's time to make the drink
Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
This classic drink is very simple to prepare, but here are a few places you may decide to modify the recipe:
- sugar: I love brown sugar (light or dark) in this recipe, but you could also consider using maple sugar or a muscovado-type sugar that has even more flavour. For extra sweetness, you can adjust the drink to taste with a splash of maple syrup while preparing individual drinks.
- spices: as mentioned above, you can play with the spices. I love to start with a strong cinnamon base, adding nutmeg, cloves, and allspice to add to it, but you can also consider ginger, mace, or any other warm spices. Cardamom may be a fun option to explore.
- rum: while spiced or dark rum is commonly used in this drink (don't use white rum here!), you could conceivably try a different alcohol entirely (though it won't quite be hot buttered rum), like bourbon, whiskey, brandy, or even a sweet liqueur like Kahlua (coffee liqueur) or Amaretto (almond liqueur). Both of these will make a sweeter beverage.
- optional garnishes: the classic hot buttered rum is stirred with a cinnamon stick and doesn't have any fancy garnishes (aside from a little grated nutmeg). Some may like to top this drink with whipped cream or even ice cream, turning it into a dessert drink.
How to Make Butter Batter for Hot Buttered Rum
To make the winter drink hot buttered rum, you first need to make a butter batter ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Then, when it's time to make a drink, place a piece of the butter batter in a mug and add rum and boiling water.
The butter batter is essentially a paste of butter, sugar, and spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Here's how it's done:
Step 1: make the butter batter, starting with softened butter (image 1) to which you add brown sugar and spices (image 2). Cream together the ingredients until everything is evenly mixed (image 3). Then, shape the butter batter into a log, using parchment paper to tighten and shape the log (image 4). Wrap it tightly. Store it in the fridge for later.
Step 2: When it's time to make a hot buttered rum drink, slice the log of butter batter into 8–10 pieces (image 5), roughly 20 grams per piece, more or less, depending on how sweet you like your drink. Add a piece of rum batter to a large mug along with spiced or dark rum and a cinnamon stick (image 6). Fill the mug with boiling water (image 7), then grate a little nutmeg to garnish the hot beverage (image 8). Serve hot.
This drink is warm, festive, and cheery. And as I mentioned, feel free to tweak the spices and the amount of sugar in this recipe. I tested this recipe using plain boiling water, and also boiling maple water (which made the drink slightly sweeter). Boiling apple cider would also taste great with these spices, but then I guess it wouldn't be a hot buttered rum anymore...
Other Drinks to Try
For another fun and festive drink to get you through the winter, try this eggnog milkshake or any of the following:
If you tried this hot buttered rum recipe (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Hot Buttered Rum
Ingredients
For butter batter
- 115 grams unsalted butter softened
- 100 grams light brown sugar
- 5 mL ground cinnamon
- 1.25 mL ground nutmeg
- 1.25 mL ground allspice
- 0.625 mL ground cloves
For each hot buttered rum serving
- 45 mL spiced or dark rum more or less depending on how strong a drink you would like
- 23 grams butter batter recipe above
- 300 mL boiling water more or less depending on the size of the mug
- 1 cinnamon stick(s)
- ground nutmeg
- 15 mL pure maple syrup optional, if you like a sweeter drink
Instructions
- First, prepare the butter batter. Cream together all the ingredients for the butter batter. Roll into a log and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Store it in the fridge.
- For every serving of hot buttered rum, in the bottom of a heat-proof glass or mug, add spiced rum and a piece of butter batter (~20–30 grams). Fill halfway with boiling water and stir vigorously with the cinnamon stick to melt the butter and dissolve the sugars. When everything is melted and well stirred, top with more boiling water. Adjust the sweetness with a splash of maple syrup. Sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg and enjoy.
Notes
- Use light or dark brown sugar, or for a more flavourful butter batter, consider using maple or muscovado sugar.
- You can try different combinations of warm spices in the butter batter, but I prefer mostly cinnamon with a little allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. A pumpkin spice mix or apple pie spice mix could work here instead!
- The classic hot buttered rum drink is made with spiced or dark rum. You can get creative and try a completely different liqueur, like brandy or cognac, or even a sweet liqueur, like Kahlua or Amaretto.
- The simplest garnish for this drink is a cinnamon stick, which you can use to stir and decorate it. For a dessert drink, you can top the beverage with whipped cream or even a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This will melt, creating a creamier dessert beverage.
El says
It looks like a great recipe. Happy Christmas!
Liz says
This is decadent! I have decided I like rum at Christmas and have it with my eggnog, but this is even better!
Janice Lawandi says
I agree! Rum at Christmas is great, but the rest of the year, not so much... Merry Christmas, Auntie Liz!