Arr, Boozers. We’ve been plundering the Carolina coast this week, following in the legendary footsteps of Blackbeard. The folks are mighty friendly, especially the bartenders, so it’s no wonder that a pirate might stick his pegleg in the sand here and swill a cup or two of grog before sailing off in search of more booty.
You know how we feel about communing with the locals, and the fine inhabitants of Beaufort, North Carolina (not to be confused with Beaufort, South Carolina, which is surely a tasty watering hole itself) are the picture of hospitality. No wonder it was recently named The Coolest Small Town in America. We particularly enjoyed listening to the lore of Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s own ship, sunk just off the shore of nearby Fort Macon, while sipping on pineapple-and-ginger-infused rum at the Front Street Grill’s Rhum Bar. Nothing could be finer than being in Carolina, dozing on the deck of the Rhum Bar watching the dolphins cruise past Carrot Island.
And so we bring you Queen Anne’s Reward — an amalgamation of two staples of the pirate life: wine and rum. Call it a quick-and-dirty sangria if you like, but we’ve zapped a white rum overnight with fresh pineapple, then blended it with a slightly dry red wine for a snappy wine cocktail that will certainly save you from walking the plank. Sit back, Boozers — your treasure has arrived. Arr.
Queen Anne’s Reward
We looked high and low for a local rum, but arrived just a tad too early — next time we’re trawling along the Crystal Coast, we hope that North Carolina fledgling distilleries like Muddy River and Adam Dalton will have finished jumping through the many hoops of legality so that we can stay purely local, but Prichard’s Crystal Rum from Tennessee will do the trick, or any quality white rum of your choice. As to the wine, you can hardly spit in the breeze these days without hitting a vineyard, so look for a nice red in your own backyard. We opted for the locally-popular Chateau Morrisette, just up the road a piece in Virginia.
Semi-dry red wine
White rum
Several chunks of fresh pineapple, with natural juice
Small sprig of rosemary
Club soda
pineapple chunks and rosemary for garnish
To make the quick rum infusion: Put 1 cup of rum in a jar with several chunks of pineapple and the rosemary. Set aside for several hours or overnight, then strain, saving the pineapple chunks but discarding the rosemary.
Put one or two rum-soaked pineapple chunks in the bottom of a large wineglass and lightly crush. Add a teaspoon of reserved fresh pineapple juice and 2 ounces of pineapple-infused rum. Add a few ice cubes and 3 or 4 ounces of red wine and stir. Top with one ounce of chilled club soda and garnish with a few chunks of pineapple speared onto a rosemary stick.
Good Booze 