Rum Cocktails

[dsoneil]

Well, my entry for Rumfest failed to make the top 2 cocktails. So instead of filing the recipe in the "into oblivion" catagory, I decided share it with everyone here. I personally enjoy this cocktail very much as vanilla and cinnamon are two of my favorite flavours.

Name: Rum Kick

1.25 oz Amber Rum (Cockspur)

0.5 oz Bols Vanilla Liqueur

1 tsp Goldschlager

1 oz Cold Coffee (Medium Roast)

1 dash Simple Syrup

Combine all ingredients into shaker with ice and stir. Strain into martini glass. Garnish with a cherry and cinnamon stick.

Notes: Too much Goldschlager can overpower the drink. A dash of bitters is optional as the coffee and cinnamon provide enough of a bitter quality. But if you do use bitters use Angostura Bitters.

If anyone else has a cocktail that didn't make it into Rumfest, and would like to share, please do so.

[Ed Hamilton]

It's independence day in the US, any particular cocktails that you're enjoying on the 4th?

[eje]

I'm going to have these available for the party tonight. Sorry not all rum.

Floridita Daiquiri (Rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice, maraschino, Simple Syrup)

Liberty Variation (Applejack, Rum, lemon juice, Simple Syrup)

Liberal (Bourbon, Sweet Vermouth, Torani Amer, Orange Bitters)

Rathbone Sour (Cucumber, Thai Basil, Simple Syrup, Gin, lemon juice)

[jediNord]

I had some Pyrat XO, some Cruzan Blackstrap, and some Appleton VX.

[robercw]

I didn't drink any cocktails, but I did use my yearly trek to Florida (better selection than in TN) to pick up a few bottles of rum. I was looking for Doorly's XO and El Dorado 15 year and came up short, as I never found any in my nightly search.

I decided to go with Ron Zacapa Centenario on my last night, but found it sold out everywhere I had seen it earlier in the week. I settled on a bottle of Cockspur, a bottle of Flor de Cana Gran Reserve, and a 1/2 gallon of Mt. Gay Eclipse for mixing.

[Dakki]

Okay guys, I've been a beer drinker my entire adult life, and I consider myself a competent amateur brewer. However, there's a great big empty gap where my knowledge of liquor should be. I can mix a screwdriver or a highball... and that's pretty much it. Recently I started trying to remedy that, first by going on a quest for a good everyday scotch for the aforementioned highball. That being completed, I now want to expand into the world of rum.

So I figure this is what I need to know:

-Types of rums and the good brands. I've seen Matusalen and Flor de Cana in a few varieties in my local liquor store (besides the Bacardi) and I've also seen these mentioned on this forum so that would be a place to start. Tell me what the good varieties are and what these products are good for.

-Cocktail recipes. It's too hot to drink strong liquor and I dislike mixing cola with alcohol, so bonus points for tall drinks and no points for Cuba Libre. Even more bonus points if it involves soda water instead of sweetened drinks or fruit juices. No points at all if I have to mail order ginger beer from Jamaica or whatever just to mix a drink.

-Mixing stuff, bitters and so on. I literally know nothing about these and I'll have to make a trip across town to get at a store that carries them so help me out here.

Anyone want to help a cocktail newb?

[Boilerfood]

As far rum drinks go, I would look into anything published by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. He is generally considered the ultimate Tiki (and with it rum) source of knowledge.

[EvergreenDan]

You might like some very simple rum drinks, such as a Daiquiri, a Mojito, and a Rum and Tonic.

You might buy a few bottles of rum to see some differences. Here's a primer on rum.

If you make Daiquiris with different rums, you'll see what the base spirit tastes like because the drink is so simple and pure.

Edited May 15, 2011 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Trev]

I love dark rum and my fave is ElDorado 12yo on the rox. A close runner-up is Havana Club Barrel Proof, also on the rox. I'm not big on mixing good rum but if I had to I'd say a sour mojito is a good way to go with a decent white rum.

[BennyAdeline]

Hot out? Here's a nice refresher.

Basil Daiquiri

2oz white rum

3/4 oz gomme

3/4 lime juice

3 leaves basil

Muddle gomme, basil and lime juice

add rum

shake, double strain (or strain with hawthorn only to leave some basil pieces)

serve up in coupe. Garnish by floating a THING piece of cumcumber

You could add a a few oz's of soda to give it a sparkle

[Tri2Cook]

I'm not big on mixing good rum

Why mix with anything but good rum? I don't want to mix with rum I don't think is good. I realize in the world of spirits there are degrees of good but I'm not sure where I would set the bar for deciding something is too good to mix with. Nothing I've purchased up to this point has been above that bar but I don't have any $100+ bottles on the shelf. Maybe that would make me evaluate my views on this from a different angle.

[Trev]

Why mix with anything but good rum? I don't want to mix with rum I don't think is good. I realize in the world of spirits there are degrees of good but I'm not sure where I would set the bar for deciding something is too good to mix with. Nothing I've purchased up to this point has been above that bar but I don't have any $100+ bottles on the shelf. Maybe that would make me evaluate my views on this from a different angle.

Personal taste I guess. Also, most mixes give me terrible heartburn.

But if it's good enough to stand on it's own merits then ice is enough for me; I want to appreciate it's subtleties, and mixing it can kill that.

[Tri2Cook]

Personal taste I guess. Also, most mixes give me terrible heartburn.

But if it's good enough to stand on it's own merits then ice is enough for me; I want to appreciate it's subtleties, and mixing it can kill that.

Okay, got it now. I was reading it differently than you intended. I thought you were saying you only mix with inferior rums. What you meant was you just don't mix.

[Trev]

Ya, the whole heartburn thing started to get the best of me a few years ago and when I stopped mixing I found that I really liked it.

[Chris Amirault]

Agreed with all the advice above, and would add that ex-Society host Ed Hamilton's Ministry of Rum is an invaluable source of information.

Don't use Bacardi. Just don't. Instead, look for relatively inexpensive quality rums like Don Q, Matusalem, and Flor de Caña.

See if you can find some rhum agricole. Whole nother world.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Also, experiment with the countries of origin for your rum. There is a vast difference between Puerto Rican rums, Cubans, and Jamaican ones, which are worlds away from mainland rums from Colombia or Ecuador (which may be more difficult to find, but which truly are worth it.)

I'll second Chris' vote for rhum agricole, as well. It's a completely different playing field.

Chris - have you ever tried a rhum agricole from Ecuador called Zhumir Reposado?

EDIT - OP asked for recipes....

Try a Cairpiron.

Muddle a small lime at the bottom of an old-fashioned glass. To this:

2 oz rum (your choice. I like San Miguel silver because then the drink is clear, but it's also excellent with a Cartagena style black rum)

a dash of soda water

rocks.

Edited May 16, 2011 by Panaderia Canadiense (log)

[Chris Amirault]

No, never have tried or heard of it.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

That confirms that they're not exporting it, then. Too bad - it's one of the best ron agricolas I've ever imbibed.

Edited May 16, 2011 by Panaderia Canadiense (log)

[BennyAdeline]

El presidente: Cocktail hacker version

2oz white rum

1/2 oz pineapple juice (trader joes has a great 100% pineapple juice in cans, fresh is better though)

1/2 lime juice

1/4 grenadine

Old school version (boozy)

1 1/2 oz white rum

3/4 dry vermouth

3/4 curacao

dash grenadine

Both are shaken, served in a coupe and garnished (optional) with an orange slice.

[thirtyoneknots]

I'll second the recommendation to start with a Daiquiri, with the caveat that it should be made with as little sugar as you can tolerate, and for whatever reason superfine (NOT confectioners, which has starch added) sugar gives subtle, though noticeably, superior results. Try with 2 oz of excellent rum (white Cuban style is traditional, though really any cane spirit will work), half of a lime, and 1/2 tsp of superfine sugar. Shake and serve 'up', in a cocktail glass. If you positively need more sugar, stir it in, but you'll take a truly transcendental drink and turn it into a pleasant but pedestrian rum sour by doing so.

When it's 100F in the shade thats the kind of thing I'm drinking, if I'm not just sticking with gin rickeys. For that matter, just Rum, half a lime, and lots of soda and ice would be delightful in its own right I'm sure.

[pastrygirl]

I really enjoy Trinidadian rum punch. It's one of those things easily adapted to personal taste, you can add more or less of any component.

Here is how I make it:

juice of 1/2 a lime

about 1-1/2 tablespoons simple syrup

1-1/2 to 2 oz decent rum - currently Appleton Estate

splash of sparkling water or club soda

ice

few dashes angostura bitters

freshly grated nutmeg

[AAQuesada]

My favorite is more or less a honey daquiri the Canchanchara. I know what I like on the aged rhums, mostly Flor de Cana & Ron Zacapa along with some of the others already mentioned. But what stands out on the white rums?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Havana Club Blanco, San Miguel Silver, and 100 Fuegos Blanco are all excellent white rums, but honestly without the molasses they're all just basically soft Aguardientes - so Cachaca 51 is the best example.

[Christian]

El Dorado's 3 year old aged white rum is fantastic for long drinks. And at ~$14 a bottle is a hot deal as well.

Can't go wrong with it in a mojito:

Muddle two lime wedges (1/4 of a large lime) with about a half dozen large spearmint leaves in a collins glass.

Add 1/2 oz. 2:1 Demerara simple syrup and 1.5 oz. white rum

Add a large handful of ice and fill with soda.

[teapot]

My husband and I went through a bunch of rums, and did a number of side by side taste test. We landed on the affordable Mount Gay as the best all around (good for sipping and mixed drinks. I also like Appleton's Estate but it tastes more like whiskey than other rums. Every so often our liquor store sells Trader Vicks Gold Rum and it's surprisingly cheap and good for mixed drinks. Whenever we go to Canada we bring back Havana Club rum (a Cuban rum).

No one has yet mentioned Cuba Libres - rum and coke with lime (I'm not a big Coke fan but if you add a good deal of lime it's pretty darn good).

Try rum and grapefruit with a dash of bitters.

Dark and stormy - lime, rum and ginger beer. Delicious (often made with Gosling's dark rum).

Enjoy!