Spiced Rum Maid cocktail recipe

With a combination of mint, cucumber, lime juice and sugar syrup, the Spiced Rum Maid is a zesty twist on the Old Maid cocktail. It’s bright and refreshing, making it the perfect drink to sip on a hot summer’s day.

Invented by Aussie bartender Sam Ross in 2004 at top NYC venue Milk and Honey, the Old Maid was conceived of as part of a whole family of easily modifiable cocktails. Though the original recipe calls for London dry gin, Sam deliberately crafted the drink to allow for the substitution of the base spirit without losing the essence of the original cocktail. This model of crafting cocktails has become one of the defining innovations of the early days of the modern cocktail renaissance.

In this recipe, the addition of spiced rum instead of gin really brings out extra depth and flavour. Spiced rums tend to have a lovely golden colour, obtaining their flavours through ageing in oak barrels and the addition of spices, such as cinnamon, rosemary, pepper, cloves, and cardamom. These spices were first introduced because the early iterations of rum were very strong, so flavours needed to be added to make things a little more palatable. But rest assured, this cocktail requires no help – it’s a winner. 

Want to get more flavour out of your Spiced Rum Maid? Take some inspiration from a Mojito and try muddling the lime juice, sugar syrup, cucumber and mint leaves in the glass before adding your rum – this helps the flavours to bind with the alcohol better, making your cocktail more vibrant and aromatic.

And if you really want to play with flavour, why not incorporate different garnishes, juices or mixers? The Spiced Rum Maid’s classic cocktail base makes this recipe incredibly versatile and well-suited to experimentation. Add in some berries or swap the lime for your favourite citrus and make this summer cocktail your own.

For those looking to embrace the tropical vibes of the spiced rum, trade out the cucumber for a mix of pineapple and ginger. A simple way to incorporate these bold flavours is to swap out the sugar syrup for a pineapple and ginger syrup. You can quickly whip this up at home by simmering pineapple juice and ginger slices in a saucepan until reduced by half – approximately 5–10 minutes. Let the mixture cool to room temperature and discard the ginger, then go ahead and assemble the cocktail just as we’ve outlined above.