Commodore Cocktail

Another classic cocktail from the 1930's, the Commodore is Rum with various dashes of fruit and sugar to combine different flavours into a complex drink. Although it's not a sour, the Commodore Cocktail adds an egg white for a little bit of presentation and even more mouth feel. It's something a little different, but still a classic.

You'll notice that this cocktail is quite Rum forward, as the modifications from the sugar and lemon are quite low. Because of this, make sure you're using a good Rum. You want the taste of the Rum to shine through, and enjoy the other slight modifications.

Total Time 5

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

60 mL White Rum
1 dash Lemon Juice
1 dash Grenadine
1 dash Raspberry Syrup*
1/2 tsp White Sugar
1 Egg White

Instructions

Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker without ice and dry shake to mix the Egg White.
Add ice and shake again until cold.
Strain into a Coupe glass.
Enjoy.

Notes

*You can make Raspberry Syrup at home with the recipe here.

This cocktail is interesting because it uses small amounts of different juices and sugars, giving subtle flavours here and there, rather than one bold flavour profile. All the more reason to use a good Rum as well, it will be front and centre in this drink so will stand out.

With that in mind, the original recipe specified Bacardi Rum specifically. We, of course, don't suggest a specific Rum, but feel free to seek out Bacardi if you want the original.

Our Review of the Commodore Cocktail

What an interesting cocktail… it’s essentially just Rum with little bits and pieces added (not literally obviously). Don’t get me wrong, I’m big into my Rum, but one always expects more when having a cocktail. But perhaps I’m wrong. After all, a Gin and Tonic is just Gin mixed with Tonic. And a Martini is just Gin with a bit of Vermouth. Who’s to say that you need more than a dash of something.

My opinion is that there needs to be a line somewhere though. Adding a single dash of something to a neat spirit doesn’t really create something new. But something new is created with the Commodore Cocktail. Firstly, obviously more than just a single dash has been added to Rum, there’s a few dashes of different things actually. This kind of makes the recipe a lesson in restraint, not only in its invention but also in its making. For the creation of this recipe, may the inventor wanted to see how subtle he could get things. When making this cocktail for yourself, remember to restrain yourself from being too heavy handed with the ingredients. All you need is a dash!

All of this makes the Commodore Cocktail quite surprising. The Egg White really fluffs out the texture of the drink and allows the little bits of flavour to come through the Rum. But not too much. If you like Rum, you’ll like this cocktail for sure. But if you don’t like Rum, you may also find that you can enjoy the Commodore Cocktail; maybe the flavour has changed just enough that you can enjoy it.

In closing, I’m reminded that the rank of Commodore in the Navy sits below and Admiral but above a Captain, so it’s quite high. Is the Commodore Cocktail supposed to be the “special Rum” given to higher ranking officers on sea journeys, or is it a name designed to sound fancy.

This is a great cocktail, and one worth trying. However, it’s probably not going to become your favourite, nor is it one that you’ll come back to again and again.

6/10

Review by Bobby

Once you’re done with this cocktail, here’s a for more recipes for you

Whether it’s Rum cocktails or classic cocktails you’re after, we have more recipes for you. We’ve put some links below to sections of the site we think you’ll be interested in. Have fun.

Top 10 Rum cocktail recipes: Rum is a great base spirit for cocktails. So great in fact, we’ve made a list of our ten favourite cocktails that feature Rum.

Top 20 classic cocktail recipes: although there are probably more well known classic cocktails, the Commodore is still a classic! Check out some of our best classic cocktails.

All White Rum cocktail recipes: if you’re really only interested in White Rum cocktails, you’ll like the part of our site that just lists all of our recipes featuring White Rum. Easy!

All Rum cocktail recipes: or just go through everything we have that has Rum in it. There’s more than a few.