Rum Diarys: Best rums for tiki cocktails Part III

The colour is the first thing you’ll notice – it’s not called gold for the fun of it after all!

---

Ok so I covered the basic white rums. There were a few brands (and countries) covered but now we move onto my favourite type of rum: Gold Rum.

This section should allow you to expand your rum styles, and your geography knowledge, a little further. With Gold rums from Venezuela to Cuba and across the entire Caribbean; there is sure to be a choice for everyone…

---

Diplomatico Anejo (Venezuela) £22.84 – The Drink Shop

Classic Venezuelan Rum at its best…

This smooth-sipping golden rum is blended from a combination of continuous still rums and potstill rums. Although blended, the average age of the finished product is 4 years old. Diplomatico is a very strong brand from Venezuela and can hold its own in almost any rum-sipping competition (its various products have won various awards over the years) and yet it blends into tiki cocktails remarkably well.

Fervent Shaker insider tip: If you’re looking for a well-balanced, blended gold rum and want to try something other than Caribbean rum then I strongly suggest giving this brand, including this particular rum, a go!

Ron de Jeremy – Reserve Adult Rum! (Panama) £33.32 The Drink Shop

Distilled by a Legend, tastes like it was too…

Ron de Jeremy is an extremely well-balanced 7 year old rum and is quite literally distilled by a living legend: Cuban Master Distiller Francisco ‘Don Pancho’ Fernandez. Don Pancho is 72 years old and is considered one of the most experienced and renowned master distillers in the rum industry.

Fervent Shaker insider tip: This rum is fantastic to sip, and will reward those with a well-developed palate. However it has been created in such a way that it will also mix well with other ingredients, especially when mixing cocktails. 

Mount Gay – Eclipse (Barbados) £19.70 The Drink Shop

A great rum at a reasonably low price… Perfect for mixing and a shoe in for this list…

Another long standing favourite of mine, this reasonably price rum is one of the sleeper hits of the last few decades. Whilst all of the top-end rums clean up at awards ceremonies, this rather unassuming bottle sits itself on the supermarket shelf and literally sells by the bucket.

Those who have been to Barbados and visited the distillery will know its history well and even those not interested in rum will have heard of it whilst on the island.

Hand-crafted since 1703, Mount Gay Rum is made using the finest Barbados sugar cane and pure spring water. This leaves you with a rum that can be sipped neat and yet is equally, if not more so, at home combined with your favourite mixer…

Fervent Shaker insider tip: this rum is reasonably priced and found in most of the bigger supermarkets in the UK. Failing that you can find it easily in online alcohol shops.

Flor De Cana – 4YO Gold (Nicaragua) £22.68 The Drink Shop

A Nicaraguan Rum perfect for light cocktails. Try it in your next tiki attempt…

Flor de Cana 4YO Golden Rum is a little something different. From central/south America this rum is well-balanced and perfect for combining with mixers and works brilliantly in light cocktails.

Palate notes: “A soft entry leads to a round, dry medium-bodiea palate with caramel, sugar cane and peppery spice flavours. Finishes with a dash of toasted coconut shavings and pepper. Very clean and pure.” – Flor De Cana.com

Appleton Estate Special (Jamaica) £14.00 – Sainsbury’s

A supermarket staple, this gold rum is perfect for adding to your collection…

The price tag on this rum may make you cringe and think ‘bargain basement’ but the idea here is to give you a cheaper option whilst making sure you get your money’s worth. Appleton Estate special Jamaica Rum is only £14 yes, but it’s an absolute bargain in regards to its taste and overall finish. It’s not as sophisticated as some of the other rums on this list, but its sheer versatility means it can be used in a range of tiki (and non-tiki) cocktails. And for that reason alone it makes the list…

Honourable Mention: Angostura 1919 (Trinidad & Tobago) £26.00 – Sainsbury’s

Links for further reading:

Flor De Cana

Appleton estate

Mount Gay

Diplomatico

Ron de Jeremy

Angostura

Sainsbury’s

Tesco

Advertisement

Rum Diarys: Best rums for tiki cocktails Part II

White Rum is the foundation for any rum collection. It’s a base for literally hundreds of cocktails, not least some of the most famous cocktails of all time; The Pina Colada, Mojito & Daiquiri all contain this clear elixir!

White rum is distilled from the sugar cane plant and can be made using one of two methods: Pot still or continuous still. Some rums use a combination of the two, and all three types have their merits and come-downs.

Check out my list of what I consider to be 5 of the best white rums for use in tiki cocktails (all under £40 of course!)…

(1) St. Aubin – Rhum Agricole (Mauritius) £22 – The Drink Shop

Hitting hard of the bat, this 50% rum is a sucker-punch if you’re not careful…

In my first post about tiki cocktails I mentioned that the best rums to start with included rum from Martinique, Jamaica and, of course, a white rum. Well this Mauritian white rum is a perfect shoe-in if you’re unsure of which white rum to choose.

At 50%abv it’s a heavy hitter, but surprisingly it’s rather smooth and supple. It’s made with the freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, a very French way of making rhum, and is made at St. Aubin which has been a sugar plantation since 1819…

(2) Brugal Blanco (Dominican Republic) £20.85 – The Whisky Exchange

A fine looking bottle for a fine tasting white rum from Brugal (Venezuela)

Brugal Blanco is a white rum all the way from the Dominican Republic. Its process includes ageing rum for 2-5 years in old American oak bourbon casks. The rum is then triple filtered, removing the colour, and that leaves you with a rum that’s as smooth as super-premium vodka but with all the character you get from premium rum. Basically it’s pretty darn good!

Fervent Insider Tip: Brugal is one of my favourite rum brands and this is one of my go-to white rums for new exotic cocktails; its smoothness compliments the addition of various fruit juices and syrups perfectly.

(3) Havana Club Anejo 3 YO White Rum (Cuba) £15-£20 Sainsbury’s/Tesco

Havana club are one of my favourite rum brands and this is one of my all-time favourite white rums…

One of my long standing favourites, Havana club has a superb collection of rums, so much so that they could potentially be on all 4 of these posts, but alas the one I’ve chosen is arguably their most versatile Anejo rum: their 3yo Blanco. Found readily in your local supermarkets, this rum is a quick journey away from becoming part of your now-growing rum library!

Aged for 3 years in Cuba this light yet crisp rum is fantastic in those famous Cuban cocktails, but it also works miracles in classic tiki cocktails like the Pina Colada!

(4) Plantation Rum – Three Stars White Rum (Barbados) £22 – The Drink Shop

I have one of these in post as we speak. It’s a great silver-rated blended white rum…

This is a well-balanced mildly vibrant rum, blending the finesse, character and fuller-flavours of all 3 historical rum producing islands: Jamaica, Barbados & Trinidad. Its name ‘Plantation 3 Stars’ honours those 3 historical islands and stands as a signal to all who lay eyes on the bottle: This is premium…

Fervent Shaker insider tip: This rum is extremely sophisticated and works better with cocktails that allow the flavours of the rum to come out in the drink. So whilst the juices of some tiki cocktails are not always suited for this rum; cocktails like the Zombie and similar ‘shorter’ cocktails are perfect to make the most of this particular rum…

(5) La Mauny – Rhum Blanc (Martinique) £27 – The Drink Shop

A fancy Martinique rum in a simple bottle. Don’t let its subtlety fool you, this rum is class through and through…

This rum from Martinique, one of the countries mentioned in my first post, is a clear white and has a strong 50% abv. With this in mind it is one of the stronger rums on this list and is more suited to the fruit juice laden concoctions that make tiki cocktails so popular.

Fervent Shaker insider tip: Coming in at just under £30 this rum is a bit steep compared to supermarket brands and even some better known brands. But unlike a lot of things in this world, when it comes to Rum, as well as straight alcohol in general, you pay for what you get.

Honourable Mention: Wray & Nephews Overproof White rum (Jamaica) £26.00 – Sainsbury’s

Strong and, from personal experience, not a nice straight. But fantastic for adding a little theatre to your cocktails…

This honourable mention is simply because I could not fit all of the rums I liked into the 5 slots I limited myself too. Tiki cocktails often invoke memories of that beach bar on that Caribbean island you never learned to pronounce, along with flames galore. Drinks on fire are usually gimmicky but sometimes this adds to the theatre of the bar world. With regards to tiki cocktails you need a spirit that combusts and yet will not damage the overall flavour of the drink. Enter Wray & Nephews. This high abv alcohol is perfect for this job as it is highly flammable – that means you can light it to give you your fiery theatrical gimmick whilst not altering the overall taste of the cocktail…

Links:

Sainsbury’s

Tesco

The Drink Shop

The Whisky Exchange

St. Aubin

Havana Club

Plantation

LaMauny

Brugal

Wray & Nephews

Aguas Fresca – Fresh Water

Smoothies, Just a little… Smoother.

A great Selection of aguas fresca for sale in the America’s…

A little bit more from the Mexican/Central American part of the world… Now this blog is all about cocktails, but it’s also not too proud to admit that alcohol is not always needed for a great drink (I know it’s a bit of a shocker but trust me sometimes needs must!).

The whole idea behind this post is to show that people out there who do not drink alcohol, whether the reasons are religion, dietary or just plain personal choice there’s a cocktail for everyone.

These ‘cocktails’ are not really cocktails per-sae, but are a mixture of fruit/cereal/flowers/seeds, sugar and water. This may not sound too appetising, but trust me, after the concoctions I’ve been trying I’m fully sold on the idea.

And the best thing about this drink is that should you want a little alcoholic kick, you can just mix in a little vodka spike…

Now onto a bit of information – don’t say I never give you anything!

Also known as Aqua Fresca, the term is Spanish for ‘Fresh water’. These drinks are popular across Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and more recently the USA.

Mexican & Central American Aguas Fresca’s regularly come in these flavours:

Sweet

Melon, Papaya, Mango, Strawberry, Banana, Orange, Passion Fruit, as well as other exotic fruits…

Sour

Pineapple, Lemon, Lime, Cucumber, Tamarind.

Seeds / Flowers

Hibiscus Tea, Horchata, Alfalfa, Cebada, Chia.

This collection of flavours shows how varied this type of drink is. It’s a testament to the versatility of that wonderful chemical we all depend on: H²O (Water).

Courtesy of Desert Dreaming*, this picture shows how vibrant the aguas fresca drinks can look…

It’s also a testament to our nature; humanity’s inevitably get bored. We look for something new, try to recreate things. After all that’s how fire and the wheel were invented. Not to mention the Light Bulb, even artists such as Da Vinci & Michelangelo worked to improve and change every day items.

So this idea of blending fruit with water (and sugar) should not come as a surprise. It changes something some consider boring into something vibrant, in both taste and appearance.

Here is the basic recipe for you use at home, just add your own fruit and enjoy…

Ingredients:

–          4 cups of water

–          2 cups of fresh fruit

–          ¼ cup of sugar (caster is best used for this)

–          2 teaspoons lemon OR lime juice (fresh squeezed)

–          Lime/Lemon wedges/wheels for garnish

Method:

1)      In a blender pour the fruit and water. Blend until smooth.

2)      Pour the mixture through a sieve and into a pitcher.

3)      Stir in the citrus juice and sugar.

4)      Add additional sugar to bring up to your own tastes.

5)      Garnish in the pitcher and serve over ice with your friends.

So as you see it’s a simple process that results in something truly amazing. Of course you can change out the sugar for agave nectar and honey, but you would need to blend it in with the fruit water (after sieving the mixture put it back in with the honey and mix well). Equally you could hand whisk.

Hopefully this has helped you all understand Aqua Fresca a little better. If this is your introduction to the drink, try it out; let me know what you think. Better yet, share it with friends and combine fruits.

Courtesy of Chef Martin*, this picture shows again a shop vendors selling prowess…

I do enjoy the odd Summer Berry blend, as well as peach and apricot. For an added alcoholic kick, add in a few doses of fruit liqueurs into the first blend.

For more information on Aqua Fresca and related topics, check out these links:

Original Method

Wikipedia

Also see:

Licuado    &    Paleta,

*Desert Dreaming

*Chef Martin Seasons