The widest category on the shelf
Rum cocktails
No spirit covers more ground. Rum runs from clean and crisp to funky, oaky and thunderous, and a recipe that says only "rum" is telling you almost nothing.
16
Recipes here
6
Guides to go with them
Why rum is different
Most spirits are defined tightly. Rum is barely defined at all: it is made from sugarcane, and after that almost anything goes. Different islands, different traditions, no shared rulebook — which is why two bottles both labelled rum can taste nothing like each other.
That is a nuisance when you are shopping and a gift when you are mixing. It means the same recipe can be a different drink depending on what you pour, and that swapping rums is a legitimate way to change a cocktail rather than a mistake.
How to think about it
Ignore the colour on the label, which is often just caramel, and think about weight and funk. Weight is how much oak and body the rum carries. Funk is the ester character — that hot, overripe, almost solvent-adjacent note that Jamaican rum is famous for and that tiki drinks are built to carry.
Once you have those two axes, most recipes make sense. A daiquiri wants clean and light so the lime has somewhere to sit. A tiki drink usually wants two or three rums at once, because the blend is the flavour.
Pour one
16 to make with rum
Classic12 Mile Limit
TropicalBanana Daiquiri Take #653
Classic · 1898Daiquiri
Classic · 1919El Presidente
ClassicGolden Daiquiri
Tropical · 1930Hotel Nacional
TikiHurricane
Tiki · 1933Mai Tai
Classic · 1940Mojito
Tiki · 1954Mr. Bodi Hai
Tiki · 1952Piña Colada
Tropical · 1933Queen's Park Hotel Super Cocktail
Tiki · 1893Queen's Park Swizzle
TikiThe Fay Wray
Tiki · 2019The Ultimate Mai Tai - Inspired by Garret Richard
ClassicTraditional Mojito
Make the other half yourself
The syrups these drinks keep asking for
Asked and answered
Questions, answered
- What rum should I buy first?
- A decent light rum and a Jamaican rum will get you further than any single bottle. The light one handles the daiquiri family; the Jamaican one gives you the funk that tiki drinks are built around. Add a demerara third if you are going further into tiki.
- Can I substitute one rum for another?
- Yes, and the drink changes — which is sometimes the point. Swapping a Jamaican rum for a dark rum costs you funk but keeps the weight. Going the other way makes the drink louder. Each recipe here lists what we would swap in and what it costs you.
- What is the difference between dark rum and Jamaican rum?
- They describe different things. Dark is about colour and weight and is often just caramel-coloured. Jamaican is about origin and style, and specifically about the fruity ester character called funk. A rum can be both, either or neither.
The bartender’s note
One drink, one story, one bottle worth buying.
Thursday evening, so you have time to shop. No more than that.