Sunshine’s Killer Bee Drink Recipe

Killer Bee Drink Sunshine’s Beach Bar

Sunshine’s Beach Bar
Pinney’s Beach, Nevis, West Indies
July 22, 2006

I can’t begin to guess how many times I have been asked for the famous…or infamous Sunshine’s Killer Bee Drink Recipe.  While this is not exact, it is damn close…after a few you won’t notice anyway :)  It is not a Nevis vacation without one of these.

Killer Bee Drink Ingredients:

Rum = 1/3 over-proof (151º or higher) and 2/3 “normal” rum (NOT SPICED)
Passion Fruit juice (Don’t use the crap with apple or grape juice!)

Assemblage Of The Killer Bee

Mix ahead of time:
1/3 rum mixture (above)
1/3 Passion Fruit juice (above)
1/3 club soda
honey to taste
lemon juice Fresh squeezed of course
(I personally suggest having all of the ingredients above kept COLD)

Just Before Serving The Killer Bee Rum Punch

pour over a glass 1/3 full of ice cubes
add bitters to taste (Angostura bitters).
a light grating  of fresh nutmeg to taste

Watch Out…The Killer Bee Is Aptly Named

About Rum:

Rum is a liquor made by fermenting then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Most rums are produced in Caribbean and American countries, but also in other sugar producing countries, such as the Philippines and India.

Rums are produced in various grades. Light rums are commonly used in cocktails, whereas “golden” and “dark” rums were typically consumed straight or neat, iced (“on the rocks”), or used for cooking, but are now commonly consumed with mixers. Premium rums are made to be consumed either straight or iced.

Rum plays a part in the culture of most islands of the West Indies as well as the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland, in Canada. The beverage has famous associations with the Royal Navy (where it was mixed with water or beer to make grog) and piracy (where it was consumed as bumbo).

Rum has also served as a popular medium of economic exchange, used to help fund enterprises such as slavery (see Triangular trade), organized crime, and military insurgencies (e.g., the American Revolution and Australia’s Rum Rebellion).

7 Different Types of Rum

1. Light Rums also known as silver or white rum, have little flavor, apart from a general sweetness. As a result, they are often used in cocktails due to their light taste.
2. Gold Rums also are known as amber rums, are aged for a longer time than lighter rums. Due to the types of casks used to age them, they have a darker hue and a woodsy flavor. They have a stronger taste than the lighter rums and are not as strong as the darker ones.
3. Dark Rums are known for their particular hues such as brown, red rums or black and this type of rum is a grade darker than the gold rum. They are aged in strong barrels, for a longer time to gives them a stronger flavor. There are small hints of spices together with strong molasses or caramel tinge. Dark rums are commonly used in cooking and are often produced in Haiti and Jamaica.
4. Spiced Rums are made by mixing different types of spices. Most of these rums are darker in color and are built on gold rums. Spices used on these types of rums include rosemary, pepper, and cinnamon.
5. Flavored Rums are infused with different fruit flavors. Fruits commonly used are bananas, orange, coconut, mango, citrus, lime or starfruit. Flavored rums are used to give taste to other drinks that have been similarly themed. They are either drank alone or mixed with ice. They have less than 40 percent alcohol.
6. Overproof Rums (This is what is used for the Killer Bee Rum Punch) usually has about 40 percent alcohol (80 proof); however, it’s common to find rums with over 75 percent of alcohol in the market (150+). The most common example is probably Bacardi 151.
7. Premium Rums are luxury rums available in the market. They cost higher than the regular rums because of the way they are produced. They are carefully aged and produced to meet high standards, are often drank straight without having to mix with other drinks, and they offer more flavor and character, given the way they are made.

Ode to Rum from “The Barbados Book” by Louis Lynch, 1964.

Ode to Rum
“The horse and mule live thirty years,
And nothing know of wine and beers.
The goat and sheep at thirty die
And never taste of scotch or rye,
The cow drinks water by the ton,
And at eighteen is nearly done.
The dog at fifteen cashes in
Without the aid of rum or gin,
The cat in milk and water soaks,
And then in twelve short years it croaks,
The modest, sober, bone dry hen
Lays eggs for nogs, then dies at ten.
All animals are strictly dry
They sinless live and swiftly die
But sinful, ginful, rum-soaked men
Survive for three score years and ten.”