The team here at Bartender, it is no secret, are partial to well constructed rum cocktails. The Airmail is a delicious concoction that certainly fits this bill. We whipped one of these bad boys up after discovering it in The PDT Cocktail Book, but it first appears in 1941 in a book called Here’s How by W.C. Whitfield.
The cocktail we originally thought to be a little obscure, but no sooner had we stumbled upon this beaut did we find that it’s a potion well loved by many. Apart from printing it in his marvelous cocktail book PDT’s Jim Meehan has also been touting this drink’s merits on the airwaves on Martha Stewart’s ‘Living Radio’. The inimitable Professor David Wondrich is also a fan – this is what he had to say about the drink on one of his esquire.com posts: “Way back when, airmail was the last word in getting something from point A to point B. And in fact, this one’ll do just that to you, but quick. So quick that, if we were inclined to take such liberties, we’d rename it the ‘Email.'”
The not so secret, secret ingredient? Honey syrup — an often overlooked sweeting agent that takes little fuss to prepare; simply add one part hot water to two parts honey.
Airmail cocktail recipe
- 30ml dark rum
- 15ml fresh lime juice
- 15ml honey syrup (2 part honey mixed with 1 part hot water)
- 30ml brut champagne to top
Method: Add all ingredients (except champagne) into an iced shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled champagne saucer or flute glass. Top with champagne and garnish with a lime wheel.
