The Brownfoot Mulata

Each summer, as I sample various beers for my Beer O'Clock reviews, I try to find a brew that I decide will be my go-to pick for the warm days. Something, that when a hot day hits, I can pick up and know that my thirst will be quenched and that will fully satisfy me.

So far, this season, I've come close to picking a favourite, but no luck so far. But there is a drink that I've had more than any other alcoholic beverage.

It's inspiration comes from my recent family vacation to Cuba, and no, it's not a Cuba Libre (though that drink comes in second).

Toward the end of the week in our all-inclusive resort, as I went down the list of various cocktails that was laminated on a card at every bar table, my eyes landed on something that piqued my curiosity.

It was called a mulata.

According to the drink card, the mulata consisted of lemonade, sugar, dark rum, and "elixir." I never learned what that elixir was, as the servers couldn't describe it and I never thought to ask the bar tender.

When I returned home, I looked up mulata on Google, and found out that creme de cacao could be used. Some recipes even called for Kahlua.

At the LCBO, I found that two types of creme de cacao were available: a clear variety and a dark one. Because my Cuban mulata had dark rum, it was impossible to tell if a dark creme de cacao was added or the clear one. Plus, at the time, my LCBO only had 40-ounce bottles, and that was more than I wanted to keep in the house.

I went home, feeling that I would try the liquor store again, another time, but I really wanted to have that drink. So I searched my liquor cabinet and checked to see what I could use to make a similar drink.

I had a large bottle of lemonade that we had picked up from Costco. We had purchased three bottles of Cuban rum: light, amber, and dark. I had Kahlua. Plus one other bottle that made me go "Hmm..."

Here's what I made:

• one 20-ounce pint glass, filled with ice
• two ounces of dark rum
• one ounce of Kahlua
• one ounce of Jamaican coconut-flavoured rum

Fill the rest of the glass with lemonade (already sweetened) and give it a stir.

I haven't looked for a smaller bottle of creme de cacao, nor have I tried to make a genuine mulata. I prefer this beverage.

I call this the Brownfoot Mulata.

You're welcome.