Grog

Difford's Guide
Discerning Drinkers (73 ratings)

Serve in a

Double old-fashioned

Photographed in a

Libbey DOF 14.25oz

Garnish:

Lime wedge

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass.

2 fl oz Navy rum (54.5% alc./vol.)
1/2 fl oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
1/2 fl oz Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water, 65.0°Brix)
1 1/2 fl oz Chilled water
2 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
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Review:

Strong, flavoursome navy rum with a splash of scurvy-inhibiting lime. Properly mixed at the right dilution, this is a great drink. However, too many and you'll be groggy in the morning.

Previously, I have chosen to use Muscovado or Demerara sugar syrup in this cocktail but on reflection and retrial, I now find the assertive flavours of dark sugar overly dominate the nuances of the Navy rum. Hence, I now favour bog-standard cane sugar syrup or even cane juice sugar syrup.

As per Chris Lamb's comment below, you may want to scale your daily tot back a tad to a mere 18.5 grams of alcohol, in which case, to fill a standard 12oz old-fashioned or rocks glass, shake:
40ml (1⅓oz) Navy Rum
10ml (⅓oz) Lime juice
10ml (⅓oz) Sugar syrup (2:1)
30ml (1oz) Chilled water
1 dashes Aromatic bitters

Variant:

Grogs were probably originally sweetened with honey, and you may want to try a Honey Rum Grog with honey in place of the sugar syrup. I've tried both and prefer sugar to honey in this cocktail, although I'm partial to a blend of both sweeteners in my Grog. Also also try the Tiki classic, Navy Grog

History:

For over 300 years the British Navy issued a daily 'tot' of rum, sometimes with double issues before battle. In 1740, as an attempt to combat drunkenness, Admiral Vernon gave orders that the standard daily issue of half a pint of neat, high-proof rum be replaced with two servings of a quarter of a pint, diluted 4:1 with water. The Admiral was nicknamed 'Old Grogram' due to the waterproof grogram cloak he wore, so the mixture he introduced became known as 'grog'. Lime juice was often added to the grog in an attempt to prevent scurvy, lending British sailors their 'limey' nickname.

The 'tot' tradition, which was started by the British Navy in Jamaica in 1665, was finally broken on 31st July 1970, a day known as Black Tot Day, although by then the 'tot' had been reduced to a meagre two ounces.

I hate to let the truth ruin a good story but drinks historians now say that grog emanates from an earlier period than Old Grogram.

Alcohol content:

  • 1.9 standard drinks
  • 19.61% alc./vol. (39.22° proof)
  • 26.6 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.

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Buy direct from
the_whisky_exchange store logo
£ -.--

Makes a minimum of ... cocktails
Just £ -.-- per cocktail*

* This list may not include all required ingredients.
Price per cocktail is an estimate based on the cost of making one cocktail with the available ingredients shown above and does not include any postage charges.
Buy direct from Difford’s Guide
Difford's Easy Jigger
£8.72 £8.72 exc VAT
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