Rum isn’t just for Coke and mojitos anymore. Tiki bars are popping up across the country, plying the thirsty with delicious rum-soaked concoctions. And now your local bar is packed with a plethora of complex bottles that rival bourbon and scotch for their straight-up sipping superpowers. Rum is having a moment, so embrace it. Here’s everything you need to know about this sweet elixir of summer.
What is it? Ultimately it’s sugarcane booze. It can be distilled from pure cane juice and/or molasses, a.k.a. concentrated cane juice—think sugarcane crack!
Origin: Europeans took cane—and syphilis—to the Caribbean. (Columbus brought some with him on his second trip to the Americas.) It appears that in the 1600s Caribe colonialists discovered molasses + tropical sun = fermented awesomeness!
Our forefathers were rum heads: By 1763 there were 159 rum distilleries in New England alone. Another fun fact: American colonials called rum “kill devil”—strong enough to slay Satan, so drink up! And because rum ships regularly wrecked off the treacherous North Carolina coast, scavenging locals dubbed the beach dunes near Kitty Hawk “Kill Devil Hills.” We’re still rum junkies today; it’s our third most ordered spirit, behind vodka and whiskey. In 2008 alone Americans put away 24 million cases of the stuff. Here’s to you, George Washington!
LABEL DECODER
White: Also known as light, this crystal-clear cane liquor is aged for less than a year in white-oak barrels—usually. Some rotgut rum is bottled straight from the still.
Gold: Aged in oak barrels for several years, giving it its amber color.
Dark: Aged in charred oak barrels. While viscous and tar-colored, these usually net the sweetest sips.
Premium: Marketing b.s. Same goes for “reserve” and “superior.”
Cruzan
St. Croix
Style: White
One of the best mixers, this island ’shine has a big maple nose and a silky finish.
Gosling's
Bermuda
Style: Dark
At 151 proof, it’s flammable. Still, this thick-as-honey firewater is perilously drinkable.
Leblon
Brazil
Style: White
Cachaça is Brazil’s answer to rum. Like its women, it’s at once sweet and hard-bodied.
Don Q
Puerto Rico
Style: Gold
A P.R. cousin of Bacardi and Ron del Barrilito , this sugary nectar should be sipped neat.
Ron Zacapa
Guatemala
Style: Gold
Rich and nuanced, RZ is a classic solera, or a blend from barrels of varying ages.
Pusser’s
Virgin Islands
Style: Gold
Back in the day, the British Navy used to pay sailors with this. Best for dark ’n’ stormies.
THE ZOMBIE
This updated classic—from Milos Zica, principal bartender at N.Y.C.’s Employees Only—is packed with three different rums and brandy, and will turn you into a flesh-eating monster if you throw back too many.
1 oz. white rum
1 oz. dark rum
½ oz. lemon juice
½ oz. lime juice
1 oz. orange juice
1 oz. pineapple juice
¼ oz. grenadine
1 oz. apricot brandy
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake and strain into a large glass over ice. Top with 151 Gosling’s rum and garnish with mint, cherry, and orange slice.