Not to be mistaken with the proto-tiki drink, Grog, Navy Grog is one of the strongest original tiki drinks. Originating at Trader Vic’s, the drink contains not one, not two, but three shots of rum. Intended to be manly and to entice those with manly visions of the Navy, this drink is anything but easy going. That said, this drink was made in the 1940’s, and today you should drink whatever you damn please, regardless of its strength or delicate nature.
Navy Grog
Navy Grog is powerful and bright with notes of each rum that joins in the concoction. Allspice and notes of tropical fruits and rum ethers come forward, followed by notes of oak barrels used in aging. A slight tropical funk begins to join in at the end. While the drink is sweet, it requires the sweetness to bring it back toward balance from the combination of rum and citrus. The spice notes amazingly don’t overwhelm the rest of the drink, and it speaks to sunken treasure and pirates on the high seas.
Drink Notes and Recommendations
Sometimes it takes more than one attempt to get the drink right. Navy Grog is one of those drinks where there’s subtle variations depending on which individual’s recipe you look at. In our case, we identified that based on testing we wanted a little more sweetness to balance out the drink. Some of the sweetness is also due to be adjusted by whether or not you use an ice cone in your service of the Navy Grog. We purposely have not used one here due to the time to make one and the complexity of doing it.
- Lightly Aged Overproof Rum – For this we’ve use Smith and Cross, but a navy strength rum should do just fine.
- Lightly Aged Rum – We used Appleton Signature to add to the funk, but feel free to use something like El Dorado 3 or Plantation 3 Star in it’s place.
- Aged Rum – We focused on Bacardi 8 for our Navy Grog, but Kirk and Sweeney 12 or Don Q Anejo would work well depending on the flavors you’re looking to impart.
- Demerara Syrup – Combine 2 parts Demerara Sugar to 1 part water and bring to a simmer stirring over high heat. Remove from heat once the sugar has completely dissolved. Allow to cool and bottle. Refrigerate. The high sugar content will work to inhibit bacterial growth for an extended duration – throw out if any clouding or mold develop.
- Rich Honey Syrup – Combine 85 g water and 200 g honey in an 8 oz mason jar and seal. Sous vide at 145 degrees for 2 hr. Remove from the water bath and allow to cool. Once cool, bottle. If desired, add 15 g of 150+ Proof Neutral Grain Spirit or vodka if desired. Shake gently to combine. Refrigerate.
- St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram – Other alternatives here include Pimento Dram – which also has the strong allspice flavor required. If you can’t find it, feel free to omit it as this is not a prototypical element of a Navy Grog.
- Lime Juice & Grapefruit Juice – Use fresh squeezed for best results.
- Club Soda – Your local grocery store generic will work just fine here.