Blackwell Rum Cocktails Paired With Chris’s Favorite Music Picks

What better way to enjoy Blackwell Rum than with the delightful sounds of these iconic and influential artists. 

Pink Moon by Nick Drake, paired with Blackwell Punch 

If you don’t know the album Pink Moon by Nick Drake, featuring a melodic earworm of a song by the same name, do yourself a favor and find it now. Released on February 27th, 1972, it was Nick Drakes's third and final studio album. According to Wikipedia, “It was the only one of Drake's studio albums to be released in North America during his lifetime. Pink Moon differs from Drake's previous albums in that it was recorded without a backing band, featuring just Drake on vocals, acoustic guitar, and a brief piano riff overdubbed onto the title track.”

If the name of the song isn’t pulling forth any memories, maybe these catchy lyrics from the very opening of the song, Pink Moon, will. 

Lyrics: 

I saw it written and I saw it say

Pink moon is on its way

And none of you stand so tall

Pink moon gonna get yeh all

And it's a pink moon

Yes a pink moon

Blackwell Rum Cocktail Pairing: 

We’re pairing Pink Moon by Nick Drake with one of our favorite Blackwell Rum classic cocktails, the Blackwell Punch. Featuring Orange Juice, Pineapple juice, a splash of Grenadine, and our Blackwell Rum, this tropical and refreshing cocktail will make you feel like stretching out in a pool chair.  As you listen to Nick sing his sweet, striped-down songs on Pink Moon, Blackwell punch in hand, you might just feel like your pool chair is on the surface of the moon. Should we just rename the cocktail to “The Pink Moon”?

Back to Black, Amy Winehouse, paired with a Toasty Toddy (and a rainy night)  

Amy Winehouse left her friends, family, and fans far too soon. Luckily, she left behind amazing recordings that will keep her spirit alive forever. No record is more famous than the breakout album Back to Black, which still gets played in different corners of the world daily. According to Wikipedia, “Back to Black is the second and final studio album by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfriend and future husband Blake Fielder-Civil… Their short-lived separation spurred her to create an album that explores themes of guilt, grief, infidelity, heartbreak and trauma in a relationship.”

Featuring all-time classic songs like Rehab, You Know I’m no Good, and Back to Black, this record will live on as long as there are music lovers. 

Lyrics: 

We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to

I go back to us

Blackwell Rum Cocktail Pairing: 

We’re pairing Back to Black with the Toasty Toddy, our beloved rum version of a hot toddy. The warm drink, which mixes our specialty rum with lemon juice and brown sugar, will warm you from the inside out until you’re nice and toasty. We recommend picking a rainy night, curling up with a throw blanket on the couch, and putting Back to Black on while the steam from your toasty toddy curls into your nose before the first sip.  

Red, by King Crimson paired with a Jungle Bird 

King Crimson is one of those legendary rock bands formed over 50 years ago that have been a bit lost and underappreciated in music history. They were a prolific band that toured and recorded the way Stephen King writes books. According to Wikipedia, “Red is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson. It was released on October 1974 through Island Records in the United Kingdom and Atlantic Records in North America and Japan… Red is a progressive rock album with a noticeably heavier sound than their previous albums; it was later called one of the 50 "heaviest albums of all time" by Q Magazine. This was achieved with the performances of just three band members: guitarist Robert Fripp, bassist and vocalist John Wetton and drummer Bill Bruford.

The website “Rate Your Music” lists Red as the all-time number two album put out by Island Records, so if you don’t know it, this is your nudge to shake up a drink and give it a spin.  

Lyrics: 

Tears of joy at the birth of a brother

Never alone from that time

Sixteen Years through knife fights and danger

Strangely why his life not mine

West side skyline crying

Fallen angel dying

Risk a life to make a dime

Blackwell Rum Cocktail Pairing:

We’re pairing King Crimson’s legendary Red record with the Jungle Bird. The obvious reason would be the cocktail’s bright red color, matching both the album and band name. That’s one good reason, but the pairing also works on complexity. Both the music and the drink have multiple layers that play off each other, making the whole far better than the sum of it’s parts.   

Not just the red flavor… the complexity of the drink with the campari (#2 on this source) 

Another Green World by Eno, paired with a Frozen Mojito 

Our final Chris’ picks pairing is on the nose with its color theme again. Another Green World, by Eno, is an atmospheric, surreal, peaceful record that marked a change in the musician's musical direction towards more striped-down songs with fewer vocals. According to Wikipedia,  “Another Green World is the third solo studio album by Brian Eno, released by Island Records on 14 November 1975... Only five of its fourteen tracks feature vocals, a great contrast to his past pop music material, which predominantly featured vocals in their recordings.

The most famous track on the record, Big Ship, is one of those beautiful swelling compositions entirely devoid of lyrics. The track that follows, I’ll Come Running, repeats the memorable refrain “I’ll come running to tie your shoe.” The album is perfect background music for watching a sunset, with a Frozen Mojito in hand.  

Lyrics: 

I want to be the wandering sailor

We're silhouettes by the light of the moon

I sit playing solitaire by the window

Just waiting seasons change, ah, ah

You'll see, one day, these dreams will pull you through my door

And I'll come running to tie your shoe

And I'll come running to tie your shoe.

Blackwell Rum Cocktail Pairing: 

Blackwell Rum Cocktail Pairing:

We’re pairing Green World with our famous Frozen Mojito. The drink is refreshing and bright but also has a depth of flavor, with the mint and lime coming in waves after every sip. That cocktail description also perfectly matches the journey that the fourteen tracks of Green World take listeners on. Get out the blender and the speaker, and enjoy these two green delights.