Grog

Grog comes from the British navy. According to Royal Museums Greenwich, Admiral Edward Vernon (1684-1757) ordered in 1740 that his crew’s rum ration be served diluted with water. The mixture was given Vernon’s own nickname, 'grog', and soon became the standard way of serving the rum ration on board, until the ration was abolished in 1970.

Difford's Guide says Vernon was nicknamed Old Grogram, after his cloak of grogram, a sturdy fabric. According to that guide, he mixed the rum in a ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part rum and divided the ration into two servings a day. The guide does note that historians now think the word grog is older than that nickname.

The difference lies in the water and the preparation. The hot grog, called Hot Grog in Difford's Guide, is made with hot water and honey and stirred in a preheated glass. That is the version usually meant in the Netherlands when someone talks about a grog drink.

The cold grog from the same guide is a shaken cocktail. It contains 60 ml navy rum, 15 ml lime juice, 15 ml rich sugar syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water), 45 ml chilled water and 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Shake everything with ice, strain into a tumbler full of ice and garnish with a lime wedge. Both versions share the same base: rum, something sour, something sweet and water.

The best-known variation is the Black Stripe. Difford's Guide mentions it alongside the hot grog: you replace the honey with molasses and keep the rest of the recipe the same. That gives a darker drink with a different sweetener.

Beyond that, you can make small adjustments yourself. If there is no honey in the house, use sugar or sugar syrup. Lemon juice can replace lime juice. Some people add a cinnamon stick, a clove or a piece of star anise to the hot water. A spiced rum already brings those spices with it. Keep the ratio of rum to water the same, so that it remains a grog.

You make an alcohol-free grog by leaving out the rum and replacing the water with something with more character. Otherwise the recipe stays the same: sweet, sour and hot, in a preheated glass.

Take 100 ml hot black tea or hot water with a few drops of vanilla, 2 to 3 bar spoons of honey and 7.5 ml lime juice or lemon juice. Stir until the honey has dissolved. Add a cinnamon stick or a clove if you like and garnish with a lemon zest. Serve it in the same glass as the regular grog, so that everyone at the table holds the same glass.

A dark or spiced rum works well for grog. The shop stocks, among others, Appleton Estate from Jamaica, Barceló Gran Anejo Dark, Bootz Rum Dark and Banks Rum 5. If you would rather get the spices from the bottle, choose Bacardi Spiced or Angostura Tamboo Spiced Rum.

In total there are 220 rums in the shop, from light to dark and from young to long-aged. Difford's Guide recommends a sturdy navy rum for grog, but any dark rum will do. Not sure which rum suits your grog? Give us a call or drop by ’t Bockje at the Brink 2 in Bathmen.

The shop is at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Open Tuesday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00. For advice, call 0570 541 278 or email info@bockje.nl.