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 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.
Swapping whisky for rum
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.
One of the 'safest' starting points for experimenting with rum in place of a usual whisky, a Rum Old Fashioned maintains a spirit-first character full of subtle warmth and spice, while adding a tropical, sweeter base.
You’ll need:
60ml dark rum
5-10ml simple syrup (depending on your preference, add more for a sweeter taste)
Two dashes of herbal bitters
To make, add all the ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir gently. After about 30 seconds of stirring, strain into a rocks glass with one cube of ice. As is custom for an Old Fashioned, you can choose to add a zest of orange and garnish with the peel.
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 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.
The Boulevardier - originally equal parts bourbon, sweet vermouth, and Italian bitter apéritif - is one of the most seamless whisky-to-rum transitions on the list, with very similar toffee and brown sugar flavours evoked from the bourbon and a dark rum.
You’ll need:
30ml dark rum
15ml Italian bitter apéritif
15ml sweet vermouth
Two dashes of chocolate bitters
To make, combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir for about 30 seconds and strain into a chilled coupe or over a single large ice cube in a rocks glass.
Replacing the more traditional bourbon for a dark rum transforms this Southern American classic into a tropical cocktail. The charred oak and vanilla notes of a bourbon are replaced with similar but subtly different notes of toasted molasses and spices in the run, while the natural sweetness of the cane blends with the mint.
You’ll need:
60ml 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 and serve.
Swapping vodka and other clear spirits for rum
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.
The Espresso Martini Cocktail and all its variants have become a staple in any cocktail lounge around the world. It’s a tried and tested combination of vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur and a touch of sugar or syrup. Perfect, right? But what if we decide to play with perfection?
Vodka is typically used as the base because of its neutral flavour - it doesn’t compete with the coffee. But when you use something for the exact opposite reason, you get new depths of flavour and combinations on the palate. Rum, with all its spices and notes of sweetness, complements the bitterness of coffee, creating a rich pour that might just rival the original.
You’ll need:
30ml rum
30ml coffee liqueur
30ml freshly brewed espresso or cold brew
5ml sugar syrup
To make, fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the liqueur, rum, syrup and coffee. Shake hard until the surface of the shaker is cold to the touch. Strain into a martini cocktail glass and garnish with three coffee beans.
You’ll need:
25ml white rum
25ml 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 be an interesting take worth trying.
You’ll need:
45ml white rum
5ml 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.
The Air Mail delivers an interesting alternative to the elegant French 75 cocktail.
You’ll need:
50ml spice gold rum
25ml fresh lemon juice
25ml simple syrup
Champagne or Prosecco to top
To make, add the rum, citrus juice, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake hard and strain into a Champagne flute. Top up with your choice of fizz.
Swapping tequila for rum in a Paloma works because both spirits share strong 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.
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Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.
The Bar Team
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