This hot buttered rum recipe is giving straight-up cozy vibes y’all! Think creamy rich butter, smoky sweet molasses, and warm spices all mixed with some toasty rum. It’s the perfect drink to cuddle up with on a chilly night and serve up for a holiday party. Hot buttered rum ain’t your average cocktail boos. This is pure comfort in a mug!
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The holidays are truly my fave time of the year! But, it doesn’t quite feel like it until I’ve cozied up on the couch with my hubby, thrown on a classic holiday playlist, and shared a mug or two of this hot buttered rum. It’s basically butter beer for grown folks. Warm, boozy and sweet, its an OG drink that can be served up for a small gathering or a super large holiday party.
What is Hot Buttered Rum?
Hot buttered rum is an old school cocktail usually made with rum, hot water, sugar, butter, and spices. Folks love to serve it during the fall and winter when the weather cools down. It’s super comforting and cozy and couldn’t be easier to make.
The Lowdown of This Hot Buttered Rum Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Classic American vibes
Primary Cooking Method: Quick Brewing
Dietary Info: Rich and decadent. Contains Dairy and Alcohol.
Key Flavor: Buttery Sweet Rum Spiciness
Skill Level: So Easy (No Sweat Fam!)
Ultimate Comfort Drink
Nothing thaws a chilly night like a mug of hot buttered rum y’all. It’s like a cozy blanket for your insides.
It Gets The Party Started Right
Serve this at your next gathering, and watch the room light up. It’s a true crowd-pleaser that impresses.
Super Flexible
Prefer it less sweet? Want more spice? This recipe can be adjusted. Do you boo!
Ingredients you’ll need to make hot butter rum recipe
- Butter: This is giving that rich flavor and creamy base that only butter can give boos.
- Granulated Sugar- This is gonna sweeten up that drink just right.
- Molasses: It gives more depth of flavor and sweetness that’s a bit more robust and smoky.
- Spices: Ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves are gonna bring all the warm cozy vibes to this cocktail.
- Rum: I love using a spiced rum here. Spiced rum is typically a dark rum that has been flavored with caramel and other spices so it kicks this drink up a notch.
- Hot Water: Water just thins out the drink a bit and helps warm up the rum and melt the butter y’all.
How to make hot buttered rum
How to serve butter rum
- Classic Vibes: It’s all good on its own boo. Add a cinnamon stick and a sprinkle of nutmeg and serve it up in a beautiful mug.
- Dollop and Drizzle: Adding a dollop of whipped cream with a drizzle of easy caramel sauce is the move if you wanna get super decadent boos.
- Pair with Dessert: A nice warming mug of this with a slice of apple pie or pumpkin pie is EVERYTHING.
- Cocktail Party: Keep it cute for when you have your boos over and pour this along with wassail or spice apple cider and serve up apps like pomegranate honey wings and bbq meatballs.
- Holiday Gathering: Have crockpots filled with this hot buttered rum drink, french hot chocolate, white chocolate hot cocoa and eggnog.
Recipe Substitutions
- Granulated Sugar: If you’d like to add a more caramel-like flavor to your butter rum, try subbing half the sugar for light or dark brown sugar.
- Molasses: You can swap in maple syrup, honey or a dark corn syrup to get that same consistency and flavor profile.
- Spices: Mix up the spices with some cardamom and allspice or keep it super low fuss with a pre-made pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice.
- Spiced Rum: If you wanna keep it low key, try a dark rum with no extra spices instead.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Get Aromatic: Switch up the flavor and give a bit more depth by adding some vanilla to the mix.
- Brighten It Up: Just a hint of fresh lemon or orange juice can provide some bright citrus acidity.
- Add Coffee: Replace the water with a cup of coffee for a nice caffeinated remix.
- Brown the Butter: Those nutty flavors will make this drink even better if you can believe it boos.
- Vegan: Swap the butter with your fave plant-based butter substitute to make it friendly for all your veggie homies.
Expert Tips and Tricks for making the best warm buttered rum
- Use Quality Butter: When you have butter in your name, you gotta make sure it’s on point. Get the best butter you can find so that rich flavor shines in each sip.
- Adjust: If you want less or more sugar or less or more spice, you can do you. Make this recipe your own based on your personal preferences.
- Hot Not Boiling: Make sure your water is hot enough to melt the butter but not too hot that it causes the alcohol to evaporate y’all.
- Serve Immediately: Don’t let this baby cool down. It’s called hot buttered rum for a reason so it’s best served up fresh and hot.
How to store & reheat
I like to make individual drinks so I can store the butter mixture in the fridge. Add any leftover butter mixture to an airtight container. When you are ready to serve it up, just scoop and add your hot water and rum.
If you have leftover prepared butter rum, cool to room temp and add to an airtight container in the fridge.
How long will hot buttered rum last in the fridge?
You can store the butter mixture in the fridge for up to a week. Prepared leftovers will be kept up to 2 days.
Can I freeze butter rum?
For sure boos! You can freeze the butter mixture in portioned amounts using ice cube trays. Those cubes will last for up to 3 months plus it makes it easy to serve up.
Frequently asked questions
Yes! We love a recipe the whole family can enjoy! For a non-alcoholic version, just drop the rum and replace with apple cider or just add more hot water. You’ll still have a delish festive and fun drink.
To serve about 24 people with a mug per person, pull out that slow cooker boo. Add all of the base ingredients in the slow cooker and turn up the heat on high for an hour.
Add about 3 cups of your rum. Each serving should contain 1 ⅓ ounces of rum. Adjust the measurement according to your own needs/taste. Fill the remaining space in the crockpot with boiling water, then set the pot to warm.
For sure boos! You can make the butter mixture up to a week in advance then scoop, pour the water and rum and serve it up when you are ready.
Y’all when you need all the cozy vibes, get into this hot buttered rum. It’s got everything, and it IS everything. Those flavors pop and soothe your soul. Get into it.
More Cozy Drink recipes
- Sugar Cookie Martini
- Peppermint Eggnog White Cocoa
- Chocolate Martini
- Homemade Eggnog
- French Hot Chocolate
- Spiced Apple Cider
Hot Buttered Rum
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- rum
Instructions
- Beat together ingredients and keep refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to serve.
- To serve, add a tablespoon of refrigerated butter mixture to a mug, add 1 1/3 oz of rum then fill with hot water and stir until melty and mixed together.
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Absolutely love this drink! So creamy and comforting. this hot-buttered rum is the ultimate cozy vibe for a holiday drink!
I DIDN’T HAVE RUM, SO I HAD TO USE APPLE CIDER INSTEAD, IT TURNED OUT GREAT!
Yassss! There’s a reason hot buttered rum is a classic, fall and winter bevvy. we make these often and sip them in front of a roaring fire. Is there any other way to enjoy them?!
Can’t wait to try this!
Quick question.. do you usually prefer to use salted or unsalted butter for this? I can’t imagine the salt content in butter being enough to make the whole batch taste “salty”, and I’ve seen both presented elsewhere, but I’m not sure and I’m afraid to risk all that rum! What do you prefer?
I use salted for most things outside of baking.
lovely, thank you, what could be better in the middle of January? Love this cocktail, it’s been awhile since I’ve had one so thank you!
Wow–what a perfect winter drink!! I love the flavor from the molasses! This one is a keeper!
I’ve never tried hot buttered rum until now! Wow! This is my new favorite winter cocktail. Warm, and creamy! Yum!
Oh yum! Such a cozy and comforting drink! Definitely perfect for the cooler weather this time of year.
What a warm and cozy drink! Perfect for cold weather.
My kind of winters cocktail! Thanks for the recipe, it was delicious!