- Mike Sula
- Mike Ryan’s Teacup River
This week in Omnivorous I wrote about Ed Hamilton, the onetime Caribbean rum runner now recognized as the world’s foremost expert on sugarcane spirits. And this week, thanks to him, Chicago will see a new shipment of Lemon Hart 151, the once endangered overproof demerara rum that Hamilton now imports from Guyana (via Newfoundland). It is an essential ingredient in many classic tiki recipes, but bartenders are doing original things with it all the time.
Sable barkeep Mike Ryan says the first time he tried Lemon Hart 151 “was out of a brown paper bag in Wicker Park at 11 am with some of my then-Violet Hour coworkers a couple of years ago. Made for an interesting day.” His buttery, creamy horchata-based Teacup River, named for a Guyanese children’s song, is a much gentler pick-me-up.
At first.
If I woke each morning at the Hotel Palomar, this would be my breakfast. It’s a good thing I don’t.
Recipe after the jump: