Spirit swapped cocktails: reimagining classic drinks with rum

It’s time we all rally around rum. It’s a versatile and vibrant spirit that deserves more than being relegated to the summer Pina Colada or Daiquiri. Not that there’s anything wrong with them - but rum offers a lot more.

Not only are there plenty of other rum cocktails worthy of your time and attention, rum can even take the place of other spirits in some classic cocktails. 

Whether it’s experimenting with split base cocktails or enjoying nature-inspired cocktails, mixology is one industry which welcomes breaking the rules and shaking up the norm. So, these cocktails might not be broke, but we are going to mix them - with rum instead of their usual spirit.

Unlike clear base spirits, whisky is the easiest to swap out for rum - and that’s because the two spirits share a lot of chemistry. Literally. Both spirits get their flavours, textures and qualities from a mixture of oak maturation and ageing. 

When left to build characters in their barrels, they extract a complex cocktail - pun not intended - of flavour compounds that come to define and differentiate them. How they’re aged and for how long yields the differing flavour notes, from spices to vanilla and buttery notes. 

Like a variety of whiskies, rum can be full of contradictions - sweet and spicy, smoky or light.

You’ll need:

• 60ml rum 

• 20ml fresh lemon juice 

• 20ml ginger syrup

 To make, shake the rum, lemon, honey, and ginger syrup with ice. Strain into a rocks glass over a single large ice cube. Add a splash more rum by floating a small pour over the back of a bar spoon.

It might look basic, but the beauty in a highball is its simplicity and the fact it allows the quality of the base spirit to come through. A Rum Highball would work best with an aged rum that can get through all that dilution while retaining its notes - similar to the classic whisky highball that helped usher in the formula for the drink. 

You’ll need:

• 60ml Captain Morgan Dark Rum

• 100ml soda water

To make, fill a highball glass with ice and add your rum. Top with soda water - you can add a finishing touch with a lemon or lime wedge garnish.

Replacing the more traditional bourbon for a dark rum transforms this Southern American staple into a tropical treat. The charred oak and vanilla notes of a bourbon are replaced with similar but subtly different notes of toasted molasses and warm spices in the run, while the natural sweetness of the cane blends with the cool mint. 

You’ll need:

• 60ml Captain Morgan dark rum

• 10ml sugar syrup 

• 5-10 fresh mint leaves 

To make, first, muddle a handful of leaves and the syrup in the bottom of a rocks glass or julep tin. Pour in your rum and fill with crushed ice. Give a gentle stir before enjoying.

When a cocktail uses a clear spirit like vodka or gin as its base, it's usually done so because of their more neutral and versatile foundations. The fact that there's less of a signature flavour is the benefit - something which can't always be said about rum's sweet, spicy and sugarcane flair.

However, rum can bring something new and unexpected out of these classic drinks, adding new depths of flavour in a way you might not have imagined.

You’ll need:

• 25ml Captain Morgan white rum (this is a good choice as it’s known for notes of caramel, fruit and vanilla)

• 25ml Mr Black coffee liqueur 

• 35ml double cream

To make, add all the ingredients to a rocks glass, add cubed ice and stir gently. 

This rum twist on the classic cocktail might leave everyone a little shaken and stirred. 

You’ll need:

• 75ml Captain Morgan white rum

• 15ml dry vermouth

• One dash of orange bitters

To make, fill a mixing glass with ice and add your ingredients. Stir gently for around 30 seconds before fine straining into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Top tip: if you add 5ml of falernum, a popular Caribbean syrup, and 5ml of rhum agricole, a unique rum style made from fresh sugarcane juice, this drink becomes the Georgetown Club, a popular drink from the 1950s.

Swapping tequila for rum in a Paloma works because both spirits share bold flavours that cut through the bitter grapefruit. Replacing tequila for a white rum transforms the tart, tangy classic into an aromatic highball where fresh grapefruit and tropical sweetness come together. 

You’ll need:

• 50ml white rum

• 15ml fresh lime juice 

• 10ml agave or simple syrup 

• Pink grapefruit soda (to top)

To make, fill a highball glass with ice and add in your rum, lime juice and syrup. Top with grapefruit soda and stir the drink once gently with a tall spoon to mix all the flavours.