Rum Diarys: Best rums for tiki cocktails Part IV

So here we are, the second to last post, and it’s all about the rich and powerful: Dark Rum…

Dark rum, the rich and powerful, best kind, of rum!

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Now we move onto the Dark rum and here is where it gets a little special, some of these rums are aged for nearly a decade and most come with a pretty special little story or two… From the Highly prized Goslings Black seal to the highly flammable overproof Plantation Rum here is my top 5 Tiki Dark Rums:

Goslings Black Seal (Bermuda) £21.15 – The Whisky Exchange

Goslings Dark rum (left bottle) is a delicious and rich Bermudan rum, so good in fact, they even have their very own cocktail trademarked!

This brand of rum is one of the best dark rums on the market; its rich, well-balanced flavours make it an ideal choice for tiki cocktails and enjoying with your favourite mixer.

Interestingly the Dark N Stormy cocktail (at least in the USA, Caribbean, UK & most of Western Europe) can only be made with Goslings Black Seal Rum! This is the result of a trademark Goslings started filing back in the 1970’s.

Fervent Shaker insider tip: Goslings were the first alcohol company to put in for, and get, a trademark for a cocktail. The trademark covers the use of the name ‘Dark N Stormy’ and regardless of the amount of lime or ginger beer used; the rum has to be Goslings Black Seal!

Bacardi Black (Cuba/Puerto Rico) £18-£20 – Sainsbury’s

Dark and powerful, like a dark rum should be, Bacardi Negra is a classic dark rum, readily available in your local supermarket…

Made in the Cuban style, but exiled to Puerto Rico; Bacardi Carta Negra (Black Rum) is a rich full-bodied dark rum that can hold its own against some of the best. Whilst the price would indicate its relative ‘cheapness’ when compared to some other brands, this rum is intended for the general use of mixing. Whilst it can be sipped, it’s best served in long drinks with cola or juice.

Fervent Shaker insider tip: I don’t like this rum neat. But I do love it in a Cuba Libre. Its dark-nature shines through in the rich taste and you don’t lose it when it’s mixed with Cola. Definitely worth the punt if you can’t afford the top end dark rums…

Plantation Overproof Dark Rum (73%) (Barbados) £35.65 – The Whisky Exchange

Overproof Dark Rum… Dangerous but theatrical in an epic way!

Like the honourable mention of Wray & Nephews white overproof rum in my first post, this dark rum is also overproof. If you’ve ever made, or had made for you, a cocktail called a ‘Zombie’ (made famous by the Don himself) then you’ll know that there is a requirement for overproof rum and for it to sit on the top of this drink. Its primary function is to burn and add a deep charred, burnt alcohol flavour to the drink. A worthwhile addition to any bar, home or public house; this rum is an excellent rum and perfect for advanced mixologists/bartenders…

Fervent Shaker insider tip: As with all alcohol one should be always be careful. However seeing as this alcohol is overproof (it’s 73% abv) it’s extremely flammable and should not, in any way, be underestimated or used lightly!

Ron Abuelo 12YO (Panama) £31.80 – The Drink Shop

Abuelo Rum, 12 year old. A rich taste and perfect to give your cocktails that added lift!

Made from their home-grown sugar cane plantation, Abuelo 12 year old Anejo rum is soft, complex and character-full and can challenge even the most sophisticated of palates. Now some aficionados might argue that to mix rum of this quality would be heresy, I for one like my cocktails full of class. And this rum provides some serious weight in that category…

Clarkes Court – Special Dark Rum (Grenada) £27-30 The Drink Shop / The Whisky Exchange

Special Dark Rum. It’s in the name really…

Winner of 9 bronze/silver awards from 2002-2009 (as well as various gold medals) Clarkes Court Special Dark Rum is a 40% abv rum from the shores of Grenada. This dark rum is aged in ex-bourbon casks and is perfect for cocktails as it is considered to be a gentler style of rum; those preferring softer rum have a love for this particular bottle.

Fervent Shaker insider tip: This particular rum is perfect for adding a little tweak to your tiki cocktails. Being of the softer variety of rums, this bottle will supply you with an easy to mix rum and help you develop your prowess, in regards to tiki cocktails at least…

So there you have it, my 5 top dark rums to use for you tiki cocktails. If you ever get a chance to nab a bottle or two off that list then I suggest you go ahead and give them a go! Just be extremely wary of the Plantation overproof 73%!!!

Is there a Dark rum you prefer that didn’t make my list? Why not leave a comment below with your choice? Although please understand that tomorrow I’ll be looking at spiced rums as the 4 section and therefore any ‘spiced’ dark rums will possibly be on that list!

Links:

The Drink Shop

The Whisky Exchange

Sainsbury’s

Ron Abuelo

Goslings

Plantation

Clarkes Court

Bacardi

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Cocktails O’Clock: Rum Runner

RUM! ALL OF THE RUM!

This Old Rum Runner was not so lucky, courtesy of the http://www.USCG.Mil

I haven’t posted a rum cocktail for a little while now, and it’s a shame really as I do rather love a good old rum cocktail. So I thought why not do one today? After all we could do with a little tropical rum kick, especially with the weather we’re getting here in the UK right now (not to mention how you Americans have had it recently – oh and not to mention all those not fortunate to live on a tropical island!).

Anyway the Rum Runner is a small cocktail sized portion of a rum punch, tweaked in ways to better suit it to the smaller vessel of a highball glass…

Recipe:

25ml light rum

25ml dark rum

1 small lime, juiced

15ml sugar syrup

150ml fresh pineapple juice

Here are a couple of Rum runners a bit luckier than the last one…

Method:

1. Shake all of the ingredients vigourously over ice.
2. Strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice.
3. Garnish with a pineapple slice and a maraschino cherry.

So there you go a tropical drink with a bit of a rum kick.

This cocktail has several tweaks available, some of the best I’ll note down below, but as always you should prepare this drink how best suits your tastes. I always use a small lime, but some of you might prefer more lime juice (or less! – just use ½ lime instead for a good scale back).

Fervent Shaker Top Tweaks:

–          Instead of sugar syrup (its pretty bad for you) try Agave Nectar or a mild runny honey. Or even make your own Demerara sugar syrup.

–          Try a dark rum float. Sure it says shake them all, but for a bigger rum hit at the end of your drink; shake everything up EXCEPT the dark rum and then float it on top of the cocktail at the end. It will make the drink taste very different indeed.

–          Why not try using a different combination of rums? Instead of the white & Dark combo, try either white with gold, or gold with dark. The former results in a lighter taste.

 

And finally, a link to a blogger who also enjoys the odd Rum Runner:

Rum Runner in the USA! courtesy of: skinnydecadence.blogspot.co.uk

3 course cocktails: The Darkest of Rums…

So my post the other day should have set everything all out for you. The posts in this series will focus on supplying you 3 detailed cocktail recipes, which may or may not be alcoholic.

The basic idea is to help you understand the cocktail more (especially its flavours). Also it’s about having fun! See what ‘menus’ you can come up with at home…

3 wonderful rum cocktails… picture sourced from http://www.trivalleycentral.com

Here’s a mini-intro:

Starter:

Starter cocktails are simple and refreshing. These cocktails will not be anything you wouldn’t have heard of before, but they will be perfect for starting your ‘meal’ off. They should be refreshing and where possible: Crisp. Think limes, fizzy mixers and overall a balanced drink and you’re half way there…

Main Course:

This is the tricky course. The cocktails you’ll find here will be a little stronger than you’re probably used to, and this is not a bad thing. Think an Old fashioned, think Mad Men, think classic and classy and you’re on the right track. This course is all about alcohol with depth and will include cocktails where you can better appreciate the alcohol…

Dessert:

Something sweet, something to end the night on a high… This section will cover some of the better sweet cocktails. Are you one of those people that just have to have a dessert when you go out for a meal? Then this is the section for you…

This post is all about Dark Rum (Goslings is the optional rum of choice although any branded dark rum will do)

First a little bit about dark rum:

As some of you may know, Gosling’s is widely considered the national rum of Bermuda. In my opinion, and it is an educated one, this is often not as clear cut as you would think, in part due to the amount of rum brands hailing from the Caribbean, not to mention the amount coming from Barbados itself. Arguably the most famous dark (black) rum from Barbados is Goslings Black Seal.

Now the thing to remember when making this menu is the rum. It really has to be a black/dark rum (or at the very least a top quality golden rum). This is not because I’m a rum snob (I am but that’s neither here nor there) but in fact because these cocktails are all about Dark Rum. To get the best flavours out of them you need to use dark rum.

Ok, now I’ve got the rules and regulations out of the way let’s get onto the fun stuff: The cocktails…

Starter

Gosling’s Dark N’ Stormy

Classic Recipe:

120-140ml Gosling’s Stormy Ginger Ale

50ml Gosling’s Black Seal Rum

Slice of lime to garnish (so the consumer can add it if needed)

See it made here:

http://www.goslingsrum.com/details.asp?RecipeID=192

So this is probably one of my most favoured cocktails. It’s simple, balanced and genuinely fantastic. I’m not a fan of too much spice and I was so happy when I found that this drink is just within my threshold.

The Dark N’ Stormy with its trademark Black Rum float… Picture sourced from http://www.mutineermagazine.com

As some of you may know, Gosling’s is widely considered the national rum of Bermuda. In my opinion, and it is an educated one, this is often not as clear cut as you would think…

It makes for a perfect start to a 3 course cocktail menu because not only is it simple to make, it’s also designed to be crisp and refreshing, a perfect start to any ‘meal’.

The problem with this cocktail though, is that you will be hard pressed to find anywhere in the UK that serves it… My local Chiquito’s restaurant serves it (and dark n stormy’s) but not many other places do. In this case, you can improvise by simply using any other dark rum. I prefer Kraken Spiced myself, but Captain Morgan’s works equally as well.

The Garnish of a lime wedge is for aesthetic pleasure, but also enables the consumer to add it if they prefer it.

Cocktails like this are the ones that creep up on you. If you’re not careful you’ll start falling over and texting ex’s before you know it. But enjoyed responsibly they can be the best cocktails you’ll ever have… Give it a go, and let me know what rum you prefer in your Dark N’ Stormy!

Main Course

Rum cobbler

Recipe:

1 teaspoon caster sugar

75ml soda water

50ml Dark rum

Garnish:

Maraschino Cherry

Orange Wheel

Lemon Wheel

The original recipe for the one above can be found here:

http://mixthatdrink.com/rum-cobbler/

Add the Soda water & caster sugar to a chilled glass. Mix until the sugar dissolves and then fill the glass 2/3rds with crushed ice. Then add the dark rum and garnish. When garnishing the recipe calls for wheels and a cherry, but if you’re able to skewer the rind of a lemon, orange and the cherry then try that for some added class…

This classic cocktail is a shorter more refined cocktail. Perfect for tasting the full flavours of dark rum…

This cocktail is all about the flavour of the rum used. In keeping with the menu theme of Dark Rum, this cocktail uses the more ‘flavour-deep’ rums. Any dark rum can be used in this drink; my advice is to just use your favourite dark rum here.

Whether you prefer Gosling’s, Kraken Spiced, Morgan’s Black, or even Havana club 7yo, it’s all about the rum’s flavour and its depth.

A perfect course for sampling the flavours dark/black rum can offer. This is one of my favourite ‘strong’ cocktails and I admit I have to be in the mood for it, but it is genuinely a great drink. Do not be surprised to see it on bar menus across the U.K. & U.S.A. over the next few months…

Dessert

Sweet Meringue

Recipe:

2 teaspoons Lime Juice

2 teaspoons Falernum

25ml coconut water

50ml Dark Rum

1 teaspoon Apricot Brandy

50ml Single Cream

Garnish:

1 x Slice Mango

1 x Pineapple Leaf

1 x Mint Sprig

Add all the ingredients to a shaker and shake well (until the shaker ices up). Strain it into a Collins glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the mango slice, mint sprig and pineapple leaf, using the pineapple leaf as the ‘spoon’ for the other two garnishes.

This cocktail is a very sweet but tasty, Pina Colada like cocktail. Picture sourced from http://www.bbc.co.uk

This cocktail is all about the sweet flavours from the other ingredients bringing out certain qualities in the dark rum. In some restaurants they add Falernum to dark n’ stormy cocktails to help sweeten them slightly…

A perfect end to the Dark Rum 3 course meal, this cocktail will be ever so slightly sickly, and you won’t want more than one, but it is silky smooth and has a naturally layered depth thanks to the rum used. This drink should have a golden hue to it, and you would not be wrong to think of it as a kind of golden Pina Colada (albeit without the pineapple).

Why not give it a go and let me know if you find a better way of making it? (Equally let me know if you like it just the way it is).

Did you know? Falernum is a slightly alcoholic (typically 11%) sugar syrup with various flavours infused into it. It is originally from Barbados (the brand you can buy nowadays is from Bridgetown, Barbados). So this goes perfect with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum…