Directions
What are the fabulous rum-based cocktails, the unforgettable drinks, the best and most drunk in the world? Today we will answer this question with a succession of unique cocktails that deserve a place of honor in your shaker. The cocktails made with the sugar cane distillate made the history of mixology.
They are all straightforward recipes (apart from the Mai Tai and the Zombie). The rum-based cocktails are aromatic, elegant, and delicate. They do not need large flights of fancy because the rum is already a fantastic ingredient of his. Think of the most famous ones as Mojito and Daiquiri. What are they? Nothing but rum, lime, sugar (and mint) mixed. At most, you will need a shaker, some ice, and some bottles of rum of various types and origins. Because if it is true that they are all easy recipes, success is achieved only by respecting the doses and using the proper rum for each cocktail.
Just to say, the Dark and Stormy is made only with rum and ginger beer, but to do this cocktail, you have to use Jamaican dark rum, strong, caramelized, and spicy so that the freshness of ginger beer can find thickness to create a contrast. You won’t even taste the rum if you make a Dark and Stormy with a three-year Havana. The aggressiveness of the ginger beer will flatten it. So remember that each cocktail deserves a different rum. But don’t worry, for every drink, you’ll find the recipe with doses and explanations so that you can first make the basic recipe and then experiment with alternative rums.
Ok, let’s start with the list of the best rum-based cocktails that every fan should know and know how to do. We divided them according to their alcohol content and “lightness,” starting with lighter aperitif cocktails to reach alcoholic bombs.
Mojito
The king, the most special cocktail ever, is from rum lovers and from all over the world. The Mojito recipe is straightforward: lime juice and sugar at the bottom of the glass, stir, add the mint, and rotate it in the glass without crushing it, then add the ice and white Cuban rum (ron). To learn more, here is the Mojito recipe.
Daiquiri
More than a cocktail, Daiquiri is a hymn to elegance and simplicity: with just three ingredients, you will be able to make a splendid aperitif, excellent to accompany fish dishes, shellfish, and paella, but also to drink as an aperitif by itself. Like the Mojito, Daiquiri comes from Cuba with a light and fruity white rum (ron). Lime, rum, and sugar, practically a Cuban lemonade to quench your thirst. To learn more, here is the Daiquiri page.
Pina Colada
The old Pina is a mythical drink but too often battered or misunderstood. It is not a tropical pool cocktail, it is not a sweet drink, but above all, it is not a frozen one! Put a white Cuban rum in a blender, add some pineapple juice and some chunk, coconut milk, and a little bit of crushed ice and blend for 30 seconds to get velvety foam. But remember never to put too much ice, or you will make a frozen beverage! The rum must be aromatic, slender, light, and fleck this triumph of tropical fruit and not be intrusive. But if you want a more sumptuous drink, try with super spicy rums like Kraken or Don Papa. If you’re going to try it, here is the original recipe for making the Pina Colada.
Cuba Libre
A super basic drink, easy to make, hard to not love. Pour some light Cuban rum, cola, lime juice to add a citrine touch, and then ice in a glass. Once, before the American commercial invasion of Cuba, the Cubans used to drink white rum and caramel. Still, then the Coca-Cola company seized the opportunity to conquer a new market and launched the Cuba Libre fever. Today, thank goodness, a thousand cola-based soft drinks are not as sweet and fake as coke, so choose a drink that does not make the cocktail sweet and cloying until fainting. The Cuba Libre recipe.
Caipirissima
Despite being mistreated and forgotten, the Caipirissima is a fundamental cocktail. And do you know why? Because in practice, it is a crushed Mojito, the caipirinha with rum, and therefore serves to remind us that lime and mint should never be pounded in the Mojito. Otherwise, they become another drink, not the tremendous Cuban classic. This does not mean that the Caipirissima is a lovely, fresh, and aromatic drink, perfect to create a thousand drinks by adding any fruits that will be pounded with lime chunks on the bottom of the glass/shaker. The Caipirissima recipe.
Canchánchara cocktail
The Canchánchara is a legendary drink, one of the first cocktails made with rum in Cuba, the ancestor of Daiquiri, Mojito, and all the rum punches. The Canchánchara is a simple, primordial drink to quench thirst and bring joy. Usually is served in the classic terracotta mug used once in Cuba. The ingredients: 5 cl of raw rum, honey, and lime, and then you just have to lie on the sand of the beach of Santa Marìa del mar and relax. To learn more, here is the Canchánchara recipe.
Dark and Stormy
Another essential cocktail, very refreshing and simple to make. It is prepared directly in the glass by pouring 6 cl of Jamaican dark rum and ginger beer: the result is a very titillating long drink, alcoholic, but with great finesse. Attention is the classic deceptive cocktail due to its refined taste, but in reality, it hits hard. To learn more, here is the Dark and Stormy page.
Mai Tai
One of the most fascinating rum-based cocktails: a spicy and aromatic crazy symphony. There are both white rum and the more pungent and robust Jamaican dark rum in this cocktail, then orange curacao, lime, and orgeat syrup. The result is a fragrant cocktail with rare elegance. You need a bit of work and the right ingredients to do this, so we refer you to the Mai Tai page. Remember that dark rum should be poured to the end!
Yellow Bird
An unknown cocktail, but very old and appreciated in 1900. This drink is an immediate and straightforward sour, unpretentious, and to do so. You will need a shaker, Cuban rum, Galliano, triple sec, and lime. It’s fragile and fragrant: if you’ve never tried it, it’s time to fill this gap. Here’s the Yellow Bird cocktail recipe.
Planter’s punch
It was born as a refreshment drink for slaves who worked in the sugar cane plantations. Today it has become a stylish cocktail, full of ingredients that must be dosed with care if you want to make a balanced drink with the right balance between warmth, acidity, and sweetness. Dark rum, fresh orange juice, pineapple juice, grenadine, sugar syrup, and Angostura.
Painkiller
The Painkiller is an enveloping, velvety, and spicy cocktail. In practice, it is a Pina Colada made with the British Navy Original Pusser’s Rum (the English navy rum), pineapple juice, orange, and nutmeg. The mixture is fabulous, with crazy aromatic depth. Easy recipe, put everything in the shaker, and shake with ice: to learn more, here’s the recipe for the Painkiller.
Barracuda
A cocktail full of nuances, mighty but very fruity and sunny. The ingredients are unique: spicy and soft gold rum, Galliano, lime, pineapple, and a drop of prosecco. It is perhaps one of the unknown rum-based cocktails. It is a bit arrogant in its full flavor, but it is a splendid drink for sumptuousness. To learn more, here is the Barracuda page.
Zombie
We raise the bar of the alcohol tide because the Zombie marks the point of no return. The cocktail is aromatic, full, fruity, and with Pernod and Angostura’s herbaceous and medicinal background. But, there is significant but, the alcohol content is overbearing. The ingredients are endless: 4.5 cl of Jamaican dark rum, 3 cl of demerara overproof rum, 2 cl of fresh lime juice, 1.5 cl of falernum, 1.5 cl of Don’s mix, one tablespoon of grenadine, one drop of Angostura bitters, six drops of Pernod.
Long Island Iced Tea
It is a super-strong, punch-me-in-the-face cocktail, not particularly fine since it foresees the presence of rum, vodka, tequila, gin, and cola. So many flavors, so many suggestions that mix in a massive cocktail, where the rum is mortified. Not the most representative drink if you are a rum lover, but it is not so bad. The Long Island Iced Tea recipe.
AMF
The bomb par excellence: the motherfucker is another one of those heavy drinks good just for getting drunk. Rum, gin, vodka, tequila, syrup, and rum add blue curacao. The result is a giant headache, don’t drink it. The AMF recipe.
Hurricane
The Hurricane is one of the most alcoholic cocktails in circulation, although the various fruit juices manage to camouflage the alcohol’s heaviness. 6 cl of white rum and 6 cl of dark Jamaican rum, lemon juice, orange, and passion fruit. If you halve the doses of rum, it is not even bad; otherwise, it is just an excuse to get drunk. The Hurricane recipe.
