The Cheap Dark Rum Taste Off - Tiki Drinks and Food

K kick_the_reverb Tiki Socialite Escondido, CA Joined: Jul 17, 2002 Posts: 581	K kick_the_reverb Posted posted on Wed, Jul 20, 2005 2:35 AM A few weeks ago, I finally did what I always wanted to do…see how all these different rums I have at home taste in a mixed drink. Since I don't have any sipping rums (you know, all the rums say they're good for sipping on the label, but we all know that's BS). I didn't have any expensive rum to stack against the cheapies, but I thought that for most home bartending stints, people usually use the more affordable brands, anyway, especially if they are entertaining guests. Disclaimer : I'm not a rum expert, and I don't have the sophisticated palette of say, my good friend weirduncletiki (winemaker by profession). The rest of the panel members in the 2 sessions were not experts either, so take everything with a grain of salt (or bar sugar, if you want). There have been two taste-off sessions; the first one was conducted by Dale, her coworkers Michelle, Jeremy and Cathie, plus yours truly. The second one was conducted by Jonpaul (photographer for Tiki Magazine), Marie (his girlfriend and a bartender at Buster's Beach House in Long Beach), Dale and me. The first session pitted these dark rums against each other, with a few wild cards thrown in the mix(marked with an ): Myres's Dark Jamaican Coruba Dark Jamaican Gosling's Black Seal Trader Vic's Dark Rum Cruzan Black Strap Lemon Hart Demarera 80 proof Pusser's Navy Rum * Appleton V/X * The second session was the same, except that instead of the last wild card (Appleton V/X, which I ran out of), I used Mount Gay Eclipse Barbados Rum. The procedure was the same for both sessions: A mix of all the ingredients of Trader Vic's Grog, except the rum, was prepared, in a quantity sufficient for 8 drinks. Each drink was made with 3 ounces of the mix and 2 ounces of the sampled rum. The mix was poured in right after shaking it to try to avoid inconsistencies. For the same reason the ice was added in a measured cup and stirred in before the specific drink was passed around for tasting, while the rest of the drinks waited with no ice, so they don't get diluted. Now for the summary of results and comments: Myres's - not very distinct, hints of caramel and molasses, a little bitter. Coruba - very good, noticeable in the drink, a hint of the woodyness. Gosling's - Creamy, butterscotch flavor, a little sweeter. Trader Vic's - FAKE! chemical /candy/over sweet. Dale and Marie liked this one but said it is because of that artificial taste. Cruzan Black Strap - can you say MOLASSES? Jeremy said it tasted like someone poured a bag of brown sugar into the drink. Very sweet and overly dominant molasses flavor. Dale liked it initially (again for the same reason as the Trader Vic's), but did not think it ranked very high after a few sips. Lemon Hart Demarera - Smokey flavor, very noticeable in the drink, "boozie". Pusser's Navy Rum - very strong (duh - it's 95.5 proof), very woody flavor. Jonpaul, Jeremy and I liked this one. I thought it was just at the limit of how strong can the drink be and still be palatable. Appleton V/X - totally unnoticeable in this drink. I heard people refer to it more as gold rum than dark rum. Anyway, it should be tried again against gold or other subtle rums in a different drink. Mount Gay Eclipse - totally unnoticeable in this drink. Should be tried again against gold or other subtle rums in a different drink. Additional notes: While the favorites were split between those who liked strong drinks to those who preferred the sweeter variety, one rum appeared in everyone's top 3 lists: The Coruba. Is it a coincidence that the Tiki-Ti uses it as their every day dark rum? I don't think so! It seems that although the wild cards were not rums that could be compared exactly to the "cheap dark type" they did provide very interesting alternatives. The Pusser's made the drink totally different, but was on top of my list, as it gave it a lot of kick, but did not take over the drink completely. The Demarera was a very good alternative to the Dark Jamaican type, adding a distinct taste, while still keeping the drink true to what it is supposed to taste like. Since these tests were conducted with the rums I had at home, I was probably missing some brands. Whaler's comes to mind. I have a feeling it's going to be of the Trader Vic's style, so I'm not that anxious to try it. We were all very surprised how different each drink tasted, and it serves us as a guide for what to get in the future. Next up on my agenda (whenever I get around to it) pitting the gold/subtle rums against each other : Appleton V/X, Mount Gay Eclipse, Rhum Barbancourt, St James Martinique, and maybe Bacardi Gold, Appleton Gold, and Cruzan "Dark". I think they should be tried in a drink like Palace Court or something similar. What do you think? Ran

A few weeks ago, I finally did what I always wanted to do…see how all these different rums I have at home taste in a mixed drink. Since I don't have any sipping rums (you know, all the rums say they're good for sipping on the label, but we all know that's BS).
I didn't have any expensive rum to stack against the cheapies, but I thought that for most home bartending stints, people usually use the more affordable brands, anyway, especially if they are entertaining guests.
Disclaimer : I'm not a rum expert, and I don't have the sophisticated palette of say, my good friend weirduncletiki (winemaker by profession). The rest of the panel members in the 2 sessions were not experts either, so take everything with a grain of salt (or bar sugar, if you want).
There have been two taste-off sessions; the first one was conducted by Dale, her coworkers Michelle, Jeremy and Cathie, plus yours truly. The second one was conducted by Jonpaul (photographer for Tiki Magazine), Marie (his girlfriend and a bartender at Buster's Beach House in Long Beach), Dale and me.

The first session pitted these dark rums against each other, with a few wild cards thrown in the mix(marked with an *):
Myres's Dark Jamaican
Coruba Dark Jamaican
Gosling's Black Seal
Trader Vic's Dark Rum
Cruzan Black Strap
Lemon Hart Demarera 80 proof *
Pusser's Navy Rum *
Appleton V/X *

The second session was the same, except that instead of the last wild card (Appleton V/X, which I ran out of), I used Mount Gay Eclipse Barbados Rum.

The procedure was the same for both sessions:
A mix of all the ingredients of Trader Vic's Grog, except the rum, was prepared, in a quantity sufficient for 8 drinks.
Each drink was made with 3 ounces of the mix and 2 ounces of the sampled rum. The mix was poured in right after shaking it to try to avoid inconsistencies. For the same reason the ice was added in a measured cup and stirred in before the specific drink was passed around for tasting, while the rest of the drinks waited with no ice, so they don't get diluted.

Now for the summary of results and comments:

Myres's - not very distinct, hints of caramel and molasses, a little bitter.
Coruba - very good, noticeable in the drink, a hint of the woodyness.
Gosling's - Creamy, butterscotch flavor, a little sweeter.
Trader Vic's - FAKE! chemical /candy/over sweet. Dale and Marie liked this one but said it is because of that artificial taste.
Cruzan Black Strap - can you say MOLASSES? Jeremy said it tasted like someone poured a bag of brown sugar into the drink. Very sweet and overly dominant molasses flavor. Dale liked it initially (again for the same reason as the Trader Vic's), but did not think it ranked very high after a few sips.
Lemon Hart Demarera - Smokey flavor, very noticeable in the drink, "boozie".
Pusser's Navy Rum - very strong (duh - it's 95.5 proof), very woody flavor. Jonpaul, Jeremy and I liked this one. I thought it was just at the limit of how strong can the drink be and still be palatable.
Appleton V/X - totally unnoticeable in this drink. I heard people refer to it more as gold rum than dark rum. Anyway, it should be tried again against gold or other subtle rums in a different drink.
Mount Gay Eclipse - totally unnoticeable in this drink. Should be tried again against gold or other subtle rums in a different drink.

Additional notes:
While the favorites were split between those who liked strong drinks to those who preferred the sweeter variety, one rum appeared in everyone's top 3 lists:
The Coruba. Is it a coincidence that the Tiki-Ti uses it as their every day dark rum? I don't think so!
It seems that although the wild cards were not rums that could be compared exactly to the "cheap dark type" they did provide very interesting alternatives.
The Pusser's made the drink totally different, but was on top of my list, as it gave it a lot of kick, but did not take over the drink completely.
The Demarera was a very good alternative to the Dark Jamaican type, adding a distinct taste, while still keeping the drink true to what it is supposed to taste like.

Since these tests were conducted with the rums I had at home, I was probably missing some brands. Whaler's comes to mind. I have a feeling it's going to be of the Trader Vic's style, so I'm not that anxious to try it.
We were all very surprised how different each drink tasted, and it serves us as a guide for what to get in the future. Next up on my agenda (whenever I get around to it) pitting the gold/subtle rums against each other : Appleton V/X, Mount Gay Eclipse, Rhum Barbancourt, St James Martinique, and maybe Bacardi Gold, Appleton Gold, and Cruzan "Dark". I think they should be tried in a drink like Palace Court or something similar. What do you think?

Ran

Post #173298 by kick_the_reverb on Wed, Jul 20, 2005 2:35 AM