Create The Rum Dood Cocktail – A Contest

People often ask me if I ever get a big head being “The Rum Dood.”  At those times I find myself forced to sit back and reflect on exactly how self-important I’ve become.  I have my own business cards.  I have my name on cocktail menus of bars that use my falernum.  I get invited to speak or judge at events.  I even have a signature hat!

What I don’t have though, is something that any website with such a self-important author should have: a signature cocktail.

I may dote on daiquiris, muse over mai tais and get all geeky for Tiki, but I never get to sit down and enjoy a Rum Dood cocktail.  No one gets to ever ask a bartender for a me.  This is obviously something that needs to be fixed.

While in Miami at the Rum Renaissance with other rum enthusiasts, I sat down with Peter and Pauline Holland from The Floating Rum Shack, as well as Mike Streeter from Rum Connection for a few rounds of drinks.  It was then that the trio told me of an idea they had come upon while enjoying Key West without me: a contest to come up with signature drinks for all three websites.

Short of coming up with three different signature cocktails for my website, this was the greatest idea I had ever heard!

The Contest:

Create one, two, or three original cocktails and submit them to be the official, signature cocktail(s) for any of our sites.   Each cocktail should include a note as to which specific site it is being submitted for.  Don’t just send in 3 cocktails and ask us to sort it out.

Each cocktail should feature rum as the primary spirit.  I know, it’s crazy to think that two of the premier rum websites (and this one too) would all insist on their signature cocktails featuring rum, but what can I say?  We’re nothing if not predictable.

Submit your cocktail recipes to contests@rumdood.com or to competition@thefloatingrumshack.com before midnight (Pacific Time) of the evening of June 30/morning of July 1, 2010.  The winners will be selected by the writers/owners/editors of the three websites and announced on July 5, 2010.

Win, and you’ll have all three sites talking about your cocktail.  In addition, there may be some other, more liquid prizes in store, but as this is our first ever international competition, there are still details being sorted out on that front.

The Fine Print:

• Entries must be received by 11:59:59 pm on June 30, 2010 (Pacific Daylight Time – aka UTC – 8).
• Recipes must feature rum as the primary spirit
• Entrants must be residents of either the United States of America or the United Kingdom
• Entrants must be of legal drinking age in their country (i.e. 21 in the USA or 18 in the UK)
• 1 entry per contestant per site, for a total of 3 possible recipe submissions per person
• Entrants cannot be grizzly bears or great white sharks
• By submitting your recipe to this contest, you hereby grant RumDood.com, TheFloatingRumShack.com and RumConnection.com full publication rights to the cocktail without fee or limitation beyond attribution (in plain English: You can’t charge us or sue us for posting your drink recipe, but we’ll definitely give you credit for the drink in our articles and recipe pages).

Some Doodly Inspiriation:

Peter over at The Floating Rum Shack already put up a little bit about his site and drinking habits to help people craft a drink he’d actually like.  This must have been my idea because, frankly, it’s brilliant and I’m therefor doing the same.

Obviously I like rum.  I like it in a hat.  I like it with a cat.  I like it on a boat.  I like it on a moat.  I like it in a mug.  I like it for to chug.

I’m a big fan of rum cocktails both simple and elegant as well as gaudy and blended (except for my daiquiris, Hemingway can keep his filthy blender to himself while I drink mine frappe).

If you’re creating a drink for RumDood.com, I’d like it to capture (what I hope is) the fun and rich character of the site.  I don’t know that I can give you much beyond that.  My tastes vary from the classic El Presidente to the Zombie to the Beachbum’s Own.  I can say that I’m a huge fan of functional garnish (i.e. make sure that orange peel really ties the drink together).  I also enjoy long walks along the beach with a frosty beverage in my hand.