Air Mail Recipe

By
Paul Clarke
Paul Clarke
Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
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Updated August 09, 2018

Sure, you could make mimosas on Mother's Day. But if you're looking for something a little more adventurous to make with your bubbly--or, perhaps the idea of spending an afternoon at your mother's place requires a little extra fortification--you can send your greetings via Air Mail.

Bar manager Thad Vogler at Beretta in San Francisco likes these with the dry, floral taste of Barbancourt rum from Haiti, but the gentle, vanilla-y richness of Bacardi 8 also works well. And you'll want to use a dry Champagne or sparkling wine here; something sweet will overshadow the rum, and you can adjust the sweetness of the drink by tinkering with the honey. The important thing is, the Air Mail is flexible while being suitably celebratory, and the potency can be dialed up or down depending on your mother's tastes--and the day's situation.

Recipe Details

Air Mail Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Total 5 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces amber rum
  • 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons honey, to taste*
  • Dry Champagne or other sparkling wine

Directions

  1. Add everything except champagne to a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake well and strain into chilled coupe glass or champagne flute; top with 1-2 ounces chilled sparkling wine.

  2. To make mixing easier, mix equal parts honey and hot water and stir until well mixed. Keep refrigerated. Use double the amount of honey syrup as the amount of honey called for in the recipe.

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