Arawak

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (10 ratings)

Glass:

Photographed in an UB 1910 Old Fashioned 10.5oz

Ingredients:
2 oz Jamaican-style aged blended rum with funk
12 oz Lustau San Emilio Pedro Ximénez Sherry chilled
2 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

  1. Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

How to make:

  1. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  2. STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).

Garnish:

  1. EXPRESS orange zest twist over cocktail and float as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10

Review:

The original recipe calls for aromatic bitters, but this deliciously sherry-infused Rum Old Fashioned is better with the zesty freshness of orange bitters. And don't skip the twist.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from Victor Bergeron's 1946 Trader Vic's Book Of Food And Drink where this is denoted as being a Trader Vic original. "Arawak" refers to the family of Arawakan languages and the Indigenous peoples who speak them, historically found in South America and the Caribbean.

ARAWAK COCKTAIL
Approach with caution and prepare for action.
1½ ounces Jamaica rum (Red Hart of Myers's)
1½ ounces sweet sherry
Dash of Angostura bitters
Stir in a mixing glass with cracked ice; strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's Book Of Food And Drink, 19446

Nutrition:

One serving of Arawak contains 139 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.5 standard drinks
  • 27.83% alc./vol. (55.65° proof)
  • 21 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

Join the discussion

Showing 2 comments for Arawak.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment
Matt’s Avatar Matt
10th December at 03:12
Initially made with Plantation Dark - the PX displaced the rum in leading the flavor. I remade with Coruba and now I get the Trader Vic vibe - loads of potent burnt sugar notes from Coruba dominate the taste - definitely a tiki-type (notwithstanding the nod to the Caribbean region in the name) cocktail from post WWII era.
I note that this is only 2 dashes of Bolivar bitters and a twist on rum selection away from being identical to the "Black Mesa". Maybe the Black Mesa was derived from this, or maybe it was a very similar cocktail that emerged independently - I found the formulation for the Black Mesa to be slightly more interesting (I think that is nearly all due to the rums I selected - Appleton 8 and Smith & Cross, I believe).
Gary Walther’s Avatar Gary Walther
20th September at 01:42
A fascinating and intense drink. It is definitely more than a sum of its parts. It starts with cocoa and coffee notes which leads to some rum funkiness and then on to orange flavors. It mellows nicely over time with some dilution from the ice. I think someone would be hard pressed to guess the ingredients. I made with Smith and Cross rum.