Cocktail of the Week: Project #173 Rum special

Rum flavours you’ve never experienced but always wanted to taste await in our selection of cocktails made with new bottlings like Salted Caramel and Smoked Chilli from Project #173 Rum!

Project #173 is a crowd-pleasing, smart-looking, easy-drinking selection of Caribbean rums that have been flavoured with all kinds of natural tasty things. They’re all just £19.95, which is outrageously good value. Oh, and the names come from the fact that the boiling point of alcohol is 173.1 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Right now flavoured rum is more in vogue than a TikTok star doing a dance… or, whatever (ok, I don’t know contemporary references) and so to help you explore the wide range of tastes and styles out there, we’ve put together some cracking cocktails. That’s right, this week’s Cocktail of the Week is actually Cocktails of the Week because there’s a serve for five new expressions. 

The creative minds behind Project #173 have been very busy, launching a series of new flavours to its already-impressive range. Starting with Salted Caramel, made ingeniously with silky sweet caramel and a touch of salt, then Hazelnut, which has all the roasty, toasty goodness you’d expect, and finally Smoked Chilli, which benefits from chipotle chilli maceration and cherry wood smoke to bring full-bodied fruity and fiery flavours. There’s also Lime, created with a hearty base of good quality rum is accompanied by layer upon layer of zesty, natural lime, as well as Passion Fruit likewise naturally flavoured, this time with the bright and sweet creaminess of the mighty passion fruit. 

Hazelnut: Mai Tai Plus

Hazelnut adds some real oomph to the orgeat in this classic tiki crowd-pleaser.

60ml Project #173 Hazelnut Rum
15ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
15ml Monin Orgeat (Almond) Syrup
15ml fresh lime juice
10ml Depth Charge Spiced Rum

Shake the first four ingredients over ice, strain into a tumbler 3/4 filled with fresh ice, drop the cherry in, and float the spiced rum on the top using the back of a spoon.

Passionfruit: The President’s Neck is missing

A build on the ‘El Presidente’ cocktail – the passionfruit makes its presence known, and is elevated by the floral notes from the Vermouth.

50ml Project #173 Passionfruit Rum
30ml Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Dry
10ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
5ml Antica Formula Carpano Vermouth
5ml Bols Grenadine Syrup

Stir over ice, serve up in a Martini glass with a maraschino Cherry, and an orange twist (discarded)

Lime: Hemingway Snackquiri

A pepped-up version of the classic Daiquiri twist – the lime works brilliantly with the Maraschino

60ml Project #173 Lime Rum
20ml fresh pink grapefruit juice
25ml fresh lime juice
15ml Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1 shake Angostura Bitters
10ml simple syrup/Monin Gomme

Shake hard, and serve up in a coupe glass with a lime wheel (ideally dried).

Smoked Chilli: Maid hotter in Cuba

A spicy remix of the modern classic. The freshness of the cucumber pairs perfectly with the chilli heat here.

60ml Project #173 Smoked Chilli Rum
20ml fresh lime juice
10ml simple syrup/Monin Gomme
Small bunch of fresh mint
Splash of St. George Absinthe Verte
A thin slice of cucumber
Chilli flakes

Combine the first four ingredients in a cocktail shaker with a heap of ice and shake hard until the shaker frosts up. Splash the absinthe into a coupe glass, and rinse the inside of it thoroughly with the absinthe before discarding it. Fine-strain the cocktail into the absinthe-lined glass and float the cucumber slice on top of the drink, before sprinkling a few chilli flakes on top of the cucumber.

Salted Caramel: There’s Always Money In The Banana Stand

A naughtier version of the incredibly delicious Banana Daiquiri. Make sure to use a banana which is if anything, far too ripe. You should be able to pour it out of its skin. This one also has the best cocktail name in the business, frankly (no touching!)

1 over-ripe (think totally black skin) banana
60ml Project #173 Salted Caramel Rum
30ml fresh lime juice
15ml simple syrup/Monin Gomme

Put all ingredients into a beaker and blend using a stick blender until combined. Pour the mix into a freezer bag, zip it up, and leave it alone in the freezer for at least six hours to freeze solid. Remove, squeeze into another beaker, and blitz again to bring it together before pouring it into a cocktail glass, and serving with a sturdy straw.