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Hummer

Recipe from Brian Bartels

Adapted by Robert Simonson

Published Sept. 23, 2020

Hummer
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Rating
4(282)
Comments
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This popular Michigan drink, which is thick and creamy and tastes like coffee ice cream, is credited to bartender Jerome Adams, who invented it one night in 1968 at the Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit. The drink caught on with the local sailing set and over time spread inland. Mr. Adams, who died in 2018, went on to bartend at the club for more than 50 years, making countless hummers along the way. Brian Bartels, the author of “The United States of Cocktails,” has modified the recipe ever so slightly, topping his hummer with a cherry. —Robert Simonson

Featured in: Drinking in America, One Distinctive Cocktail at a Time

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Ingredients

Yield:1 drink
  • 1½ounces white rum, preferably Bacardi
  • 1½ounces Kahlúa or another coffee liqueur
  • 2scoops vanilla ice cream
  • ½cup crushed ice
  • Maraschino cherries, for garnish (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)

310 calories; 4 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 23 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 35 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until the ice is broken down. Serve in a chilled rocks glass, and garnish with a cherry if you like.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
282 user ratings
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Comments

Lil Sal

Delicious and simple; I would expect nothing less from a man who tended bar for 50 years after his own death.

Grammar snobs are great big meanies

I also noticed that, Lil Sal, and it totally cracked me up! This is my kind of dessert!

Maurya Kay, Detroit

We serve Hummers after our holiday meal every year. This Detroit classic is usually garnished with ground nutmeg, not a cherry.

Alan

Down south we use Captain Morgan spiced rum and add a shot of Bailey's in addition to the Kahlua. Makes it creamier (and deadlier).

Scott F.

This is a good recipe, but there are some non Bayview additions that should be eliminated if you want a true Hummer. First, this drink is made without ice. And, you need French Vanilla ice cream to enhance the taste. Finally, nutmeg is used to finish the drink. Never a cherry.

mosaic

An Easter Hummer….. A hollow chocolate bunny, use a heated metal skewer to make a hole at the top of the neck or the top of the head big enough to fit a straw, cozy a funnel up to that hole and fill with hummer.

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Credits

Recipe from Jerome Adams, adapted by Brian Bartels

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