No, not this:





or this:





…even if it rocks in a mid-80s power ballad sort of way.

Nope, tonight’s Rule 37 comes courtesy of BarNoneDrinks.com, a site I stumbled upon while looking to see if last week’s Rule 37 had a name. I was searching for drinks that combined white rum and brandy, and found several other options. While we did the rum/brandy thing last week, with great success (after some tweaking), this recipe seems quite tasty, and a tad more summery. Though it’s hard to beat a Daiquiri variation for a warm weather drink, the use of orange, lemon and lime juice, with some grenadine, makes for a very pleasant tipple. I did find numerous online references to the drink, (and strangely, they all actually agree on the ingredients) but I couldn’t find any specific history, or why its got that name. It could very well be named for the Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty, but could also just be some random name. Let’s give it a whirl.


Mister Christian
From BarNoneDrinks.com

– 1 1/2 oz white rum (here comes the Bully Boy again)
– 1/2 oz brandy
– 1 oz fresh orange juice
– 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
– 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
– 1 tsp real grenadine

Shake it up, strain it out. Use a chilled cocktail glass. No garnish specified, but I was feeling fancy and added a big ‘ol orange swatch, which I flamed over the top.


Here’s a tip: if you don’t keep cocktail glasses in the freezer (like I do) you can quickly chill one down while you make the drink. Fill a cocktail glass with ice, then pour in some cold water. Let it sit there while you mix and shake your ingredients. When you’re ready to serve, dump out the ice/water, and pour in your drink.


Well, thanks to the flamed orange peel, it smells orangy, mixing with the sugary goodness of the Bully Boy. It has a creamsicle aroma, and is quite inviting. The taste, however, is not so creamy. Bully Boy up front, with a slight touch of that dark, raisin sweetness from the brandy, though as with last week, I’d like to taste more of it. The medley of citrus fruits bounce between varied levels of tartness, with the lime adding a snap, the orange sweetening and rounding the drink, and the lemon playing a referee in their midst. I went with a healthy squeeze of grenadine from my bottle, which certainly changed the hue of the drink over towards a solid orange, but the taste isn’t very apparent. There’s already plenty of flavor going on, and the grenadine is content to sit quietly in the background. Overall the drink is tasty, but too sweet, and thus, not as thirst-quenching as a good Daiquiri, Tom Collins, or G&T would be. It could honestly use a bit more bitter/tart, or booze, to counteract the juices. It would probably be lovely served in a collins glass and topped with soda to even things out.

The Lady Friend expected it to be really sweet, and it was more tart than she expected. That might be due to a slightly overripe lime. “I’m really curious to taste what it would be like without the Bully Boy.” A valid point. “A less-sweet rum might work better with this, but it wouldn’t be as fun without the Bully Boy.”


UPDATE: So, I made another one. Tried the Collins version, which means basically making hte original recipe, pouring into a tall/chimney/highball/Collins glass filled with ice, and topping with soda water. Disclaimer… the recipe makes rather a lot of liquid. Two ounces of booze and another two ounces of fruit juice, plus a splash of grenadine and some water (water is added to a cocktail through dilution when you shake or stir a drink. It’s pretty important). So in my ice-filled collins glass, it came pretty much to the top. No problem… just take a heavy quaff and make some room for the soda water. I took the level down by about 1/4 to allow for some bubbly fizzy wizzbang water. Another big swath of orange peel (trim off as much of the white pith as possible) for a garnish and a straw. Yes, Rule 48 of the 86 Rules of Boozing states that “Men don’t drink from straws. Unless you’re doing a Mind or Face Eraser” though I take that rule with a bit of flexibility for tall drinks which need the straw to a) stir occasionally and b) drink the bottom depths of the drink without getting a face full of ice.


The Mister Christian Collins noses with a light orange aroma. Not quite the creamsicle sensation of the straight version, but very nice and light. The taste is about what you’d expect… Bully Boy, citrus fruitiness, and a carbonic fizz. It’s not bad at all. Again, I’d want more brandy for an added flavor component, and the lime, lemon, and orange resume their previous roles, though somewhat diminished by the bubbling dilution. The soda water does add a liveliness to the drink, and it helps lighten up that previous sensation of cloying sweetness. It’s quite nice. I like both versions, but the Collins variation is a touch more summery, with the same booze kick.


How do you like that? As with last week, it’s like getting two drinks in the same post! Pick your poison, or try each one and see what works.