Homeward Bound
HOMEWARD BOUND
2 oz Dark Rum
0.75 oz St. George’s Coffee Liqueur
0.5 oz Bardaddy Orgeat
2 Dashes of Spiced Cherry Bitters
Combine ingredients into a cocktail shaker, and shake vigorously with ice. Double strain into a rocks glass with fresh cubed ice and garnish with a mint sprig.
Home.
That word holds so much power.
How it can bounce from one person to another and bring a range of memories and sense of belonging. What I call home has changed a lot in the past six years. It started in Seattle, Washington and now has bounced over to Oakland, California. And I find myself feeling being pulled between these two directions and not sure what really is home to me. There’s this part of me says it's where I grew up–where my childhood and rooted memories live. Where my family is–my old bedroom, my stuffed animals, and the playground up the hill that my friends and I claimed as our castle that we’d rule together and always. And then part of me feels home when I walk around Lake Merritt and then put my key into the door of my condo, flop on my purple couch, and gander at a space that I’ve created for myself and made my own. With the colors, voice, and random nick-nacks I’ve scattered around from pieces of my heart. I guess, there’s nowhere in writing that says that we can only have one home. And as we grow, travel, and add members to our lives–we make room in our hearts for these spaces and the sense of feeling whole.
So. Short story long, this is what this libation is all about. The inspiration was to create something simple that spoke to the pieces of the homes in my life, and also have a sense of journey to it that was awakening, delicious, and welcoming. I feel like rum always has this echo of escapism to it. And that’s probably because a lot of us tie the tiki vibes and island lifestyle. But yeah, rum tastes like travel. It tastes like warmth and dreamy destination vacations. Places that you always remember and want to get back to. And then I feel like coffee tastes like connection. It reminds me of familiar faces and overdue catching ups. Morning routines and spiking up your day. And when you add that orgeat and dark fruit feature to it, it really wraps you in a blanket and gives you a big hug. The combination of all of these pieces really makes for a cocktail full of the feels and has as deliciously rich flavor to it. A perfect winter celebration.