Demerara Rums

Demerara rums are called for in most tiki drinks. They are probably as essential to your bar as they are to mine.

I've come across a few mixing demerara rums now so thought it'd be good to get a thread going listing them all. They range from the relatively easy going El Dorado range to the 'stiffer' darker ones.

Question 1) What have people come across?

Question 2) How are people using them in drinks?

Here's my 2 cents:

Woods 100 - a dark (& overproof) with a smoky / woody aftertaste. I tend to use it when a drink requires a half measure of demerara.

OVD - Its very dark, it has an almost coffee like aftertaste & usually dominates a drink when you use it. I dont use it alot!

Skipper - I've only sampled it but seems like a mini version of OVD & Woods, that smoky / woody / coffee aftertaste. Quite widely used in the UK.

El Dorado 5 - quite an easy going demerara rum IMO. It's a good rum but a 'light demerara' to me, it's a gold colour but also it's lacking in punchy flavour compared to dark demeraras. I use it in drinks where demerara is a main ingredient & a 'dark' demerara would be too dominant.

I have seen two Ive not been able to try Thompson (or Thomsons) 'Old Sailor' & Mckinnon - both of these I saw in Northern Ireland & was not able to buy to bring back & try due to airline restrictions.

I tend to keep a 'gold' & a 'dark' on hand to use in different drinks.

[ Edited by: AdOrAdam 2013-09-08 13:13 ]

Unfortunately all the rums mentioned above, except the El Dorado, are unavailable (as far as I know)in Chicago. I'd love to see Demerara get some traction in the states

Yeah, El Dorado is pretty much the only game in town (Other than Lemon Hart 151) in Florida as well. Fortunately for me, I love the stuff.

ED 5 is sufficient for the vast majority of my mixing needs for drinks calling for Demerrara.

ED 8 works well as a mixer too and I think it is a quite passable sipper, but for the few dollars more I will usually pick up ED 12 or ED 15 for sipping.

ED 15 is a top 3 all time sipping rum for me (Cockspur 12 and Barbancourt 15 are my other favorites). ED 15 will very occasionally make its way into a high end cocktail (makes an Excellent premium Mai Tai and a very good Captain's Blood as well).

I just bought a bottle of ED 12 this weekend and it found its way into a coupe of excellent Mai Tais as well (an ED 12 and Smith & Cross combo was especially good). Also did a bit of sipping with the ED 12. It is noticeably sweeter with more vanilla notes than the ED 15. Not Zacapa or Zaya sweet, but I have to be in the mood for a sweeter rum when I sip the 12.

Very recently I finally got my hands on a bottle of ED 3 Light rum and it is really a great premium light mixing rum. More depth than Cruzan but not quite as exotic as Banks 5 Island and it's Batavia Arrack notes. It's about $10 more than Cruzan so it probably won't replace it as my everyday white mixer, but that decision is entirely a money issue. If I could afford the ED 3 every day I would never buy another bottle of Cruzan light.

The only other El Dorado product I hae had is their Demerara Dark. It is chock full of that burnt, acrid taste AdOrAdam described in the Woods and the OVD, and in amounts over a half-ounce it really overpowered most drinks. It took a couple of years to go through a bottle. Before LH 151 became available I was mostly using it in tandem with another 151 rum (usually Golsing)to try to achieve a passable substitution for Lemon Hart.

I really wish we had more Demerara options here in the States. But unless I am mistaken, ALL of the Guyana rum being produced is coming out of Demerara Distillers regardless of the labels, right? I would love to those old wooden Coffey stills in person. Delicious living Caribbean history right there.

I've managed to find ED 3, 5, 8, 12, and 15 here. Personally I'd only consider 15 as a sipper all by its lonesome. Oh --- have also seen ED SPICED. Has anyone tried that?

On 2013-09-09 09:24, Sunny&Rummy wrote:

Very recently I finally got my hands on a bottle of ED 3 Light rum and it is really a great premium light mixing rum. More depth than Cruzan but not quite as exotic as Banks 5 Island and it's Batavia Arrack notes. It's about $10 more than Cruzan so it probably won't replace it as my everyday white mixer, but that decision is entirely a money issue. If I could afford the ED 3 every day I would never buy another bottle of Cruzan light.

dude, buy the 1.75 of Appelton White, or even Myerss White. closer to the ED3 flavor profile, price closer to Cruzan.

I like the Appleton white. My general dislike for Myer's (Steadfast Coruba guy) has kept me from ever trying their white rum, but I may have to give it a go next time I make a bottle run.

the ABC stores around here have had clearance prices on both appleton white and myerss white.

This is my current collection. My friend from the UK brought me the Woods. I have not seen the ED 21 anywhere yet but I will purchase it when I do.

This Port Morant is one that I have never seen or heard about. It is not that great of a sipper, has a very strong molasses taste. It works well in zombies or as a sub for dark rum floats.

The Lemonhart 80 is great for Navy Grogs and Mai Tais. Also a main ingredient in my favorite Bali Hai drink - Goof Punch.

The Woods is a great sipper for a rum lover. Goes well in a zombie. Strong flavored with molasses sweetness aftertaste.

El Dorado goes great in many drinks and is one of the most versatile due to its smoothness in my opinion.

I haven't tried the Skipper yet but I am sure it won't stay sealed long. AdOrAdam said it was similar to the Woods, so I am excited to try it.

I think my #1 favorite would be the Lemonhart 80. I can't decide between the ED or the Woods as a second, but I think the fact that I cannot get the Woods and the ED is everywhere is influencing my decision. So I guess the ED would be my second, but I might have to try the 21 before I choose.

On 2013-09-10 07:58, Sunny&Rummy wrote:
My general dislike for Myer's (Steadfast Coruba guy) has kept me from ever trying their white rum, but I may have to give it a go next time I make a bottle run.

Don't. Its very skippable in my humble opinion. In fact I'm using it up as quickly as I can just so I can get back to a bottle of Cruzan for light rum mixing (I'm also a Coruba guy).

Back to Demerara, I stick with the 5 for all mixing and recipes calling for Demerara. I have a bottle of 12 year that I'm not opposed to using as well - in fact I'm trying to get rid of that as well so I can sell the decanter its in, but in the end for me it's much nicer on my wallet to pay under $20 for El Dorado 5 and it does the job well.

Here's my current demerara selection:

I think the thing that the El Dorado range have over the 'darker' demerara rums available (Lambs, Woods, OVD, etc) is that the 'woody' flavour is less pronounced but the other flavours remain when when you mix them ~ the 'woody' flavour can be a bit over powering in a mixed drink (like comparing the signature molasses flavour in Myers to other Jamaican rums). Lambs does make a good rum & coke :)

ED 8 is my demerara rum of choice, it's got woody / coffee & caramel flavours of the 'darker' demerara rums but when mixed you get all the good, not the bad. I think the difference between ED 8 & ED 12 is minimal in a mixed drink (like Three Dots) but I do compare the 2. I prefer ED 12 in mai tais & I love it as sipper.

ED 5 is a little bit out of sorts with demerara rums in general, it's sort of a 'demerara light'. I use it in Queens Park Swizzles where ED8 is a bit too heavy. I just sip ED 15 (it's a bit heavy to mix).

I got Woods 100 previously as a sub for LH151, LH151 beats Woods hands down IMO. LH is out of stock in the UK at the moment, if I can't get LH151 I would not try not to sub it & go the extra mile to order it from mainland Europe.

LH80 is on my list as future purchase just because I'm curious - Id like to hear a comparison to ED 8?

Although not 'true' demeraras, most likely Pussers contain a fair bit of demerara rum in the blend. The 109% Pussers Blue Label is one of favourite rums for it's all over flavour, smell & ability to give you a kick ~ Pussers 15 is more refined, drier & heavier (along the lines of El Dorado 15) so I sip it (Ive never even tried mixing it).

On 2014-04-11 08:25, kkocka wrote:

On 2013-09-10 07:58, Sunny&Rummy wrote:
My general dislike for Myer's (Steadfast Coruba guy) has kept me from ever trying their white rum, but I may have to give it a go next time I make a bottle run.

Don't. Its very skippable in my humble opinion. In fact I'm using it up as quickly as I can just so I can get back to a bottle of Cruzan for light rum mixing (I'm also a Coruba guy).

Jamaican white rums are very heavy and are not interchangeable with the PR/VI style white rums called for in the majority of Tiki cocktails.

[ Edited by: CincyTikiCraig 2014-04-11 21:35 ]

Having never drank it, what does the Myer's White taste like? Any trace of the Hogo you'd find in the Wray & Nephew Overproof or Smith & Cross?

On 2014-04-14 14:15, Kill Devil wrote:
Having never drank it, what does the Myer's White taste like? Any trace of the Hogo you'd find in the Wray & Nephew Overproof or Smith & Cross?

not a trace of hogo in any Myer's rum.

I have a friend that is planning to send me a couple bottles of Lemon Hart 80. I haven't had any around in a loong time.

I've mainly been using the El Dorado 12 as my Demerara-- anyone know how the two compare?

ElDo 12 is substantially deeper and richer than standard LH80. ElDo 12 is out of my price range for everyday use, it makes any cocktail that calls for Demerara extra special. Having said that, plain old LH80 is a fine rum.

HappyBuddha- where does your friend live?
We all need a friend like that...

Lol

Jon

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2014-04-18 15:35 ]

Thanks Craig, that's about what I figured.

Hang10- indeed. I thought the 80 was all but extinct around here..

Interesting side note for this thread: Martin Cate once told me that Smuggler's Cove is the No. 2 ranked bar in the U.S. in terms of volume of El Dorado rum consumed. The No. 1, interestingly, is a bar (if memory serves me) somewhere in the Maryland area that serves a huge community of ex-pats from Guyana who drink tons of the white rum.

FYI: I stock nearly every El Dorado product in my bar (up to and including the 15-year), plus Lemon Hart 80 and 151 naturally. I'd love to try some of those others.

Also, looking forward to the El Dorado seminar at Miami Rum Fest later in the week ... http://www.miamirumfest.com/Seminars.html

And I'm also reminded of this great article on a tour of the El Dorado distillery by some blokes who I'm very jealous of:
http://www.barlifeuk.com/index.php/2013/01/4-days-in-guyana-with-el-dorado-rum/

The official blog of The Hukilau

Featuring The Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide

[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2014-04-21 00:49 ]

who distributes LH80 in FLA? never seen it...

I haven't been able to find LH 80 since supplies dried up several years ago, but I've had great success making it myself from the 151 by using a decanter, some distilled water and the formula discussed here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=42188&forum=10
It tastes pretty darn close to what I remember. Superior to ED5 and ED8, and great for mixing.

I started that thread and I've been "making" my own LH80 ever since then. It works perfectly, and the cost per 750ml bottle is great. LH only produces the 151 now, but Ed Hamilton confirmed that the 80 was the same rum and that water was added to bring the bottling proof down to 80.

I can't get LH here and El Dorado 12 is $120 a bottle. I'll be back in June and will be hunting high and low for some LH 151. I can bring three bottles back with me (legally) although i'm going to find out what the deal is if i bring back a few more. I have to work out how many bottles i want to cut with water to stretch it out as long as i possibly can.

On 2014-04-22 18:07, swizzle wrote:
I can't get LH here and El Dorado 12 is $120 a bottle. I'll be back in June and will be hunting high and low for some LH 151. I can bring three bottles back with me (legally) although i'm going to find out what the deal is if i bring back a few more. I have to work out how many bottles i want to cut with water to stretch it out as long as i possibly can.

Since when are airlines allowing overproof (= highly combustible) spirits on airline flights? As far as I know commercial airlines still ban spirits above 140 proof both as checked baggage and carry-on.

On 2014-04-22 18:33, Sunny&Rummy wrote:

Since when are airlines allowing overproof (= highly combustible) spirits on airline flights? As far as I know commercial airlines still ban spirits above 140 proof both as checked baggage and carry-on.

Are you serious? I didn't know that. Well there goes that idea. $#%^ing mother#$%@ing #&%$. I suppose i'll have to bring back some ED 12 with me instead.

Take mailing tubes with you and mail the rum back to yourself.
Or put 151 rum in a lower proof bottle to bring back home.

On 2014-04-22 20:28, tikiskip wrote:
Take mailing tubes with you and mail the rum back to yourself.
Or put 151 rum in a lower proof bottle to bring back home.

Unless i use large mailing tubes which i can pack out my biggest concern there is the bottles breaking. And i've thought about pouring it into different bottles too but, even though they'd go in my checked luggage, if for some reason it was searched and they saw that the bottles had been opened but were full whether or not that could be an issue.

I think i'm going to have to try and drink as many cocktails i can that have LH in them when i'm there and bring back ED while i can get it cheap. I'd never spend $120 on it here to use in cocktails. Unfortunately the cheapest demerara rum we can get (Lambs, Woods) is still about $90AUS a bottle, WHEN, you can get it.

dang.

fyi, ED3, ED5, and ED8 are under $20.

I think ED 3 has been running for $23-24 at the Melbourne FL Total Wines. Would love to find it for < $20

I came up with a brilliant idea last night on how to bring some LH 151 back with me on the plane. I'll print out some old LH labels and replace the new label with the old.

Swizz, I don't think that they will check that hard, but that is a good plan to be on the safe side.

A few years ago, someone flying in to The Hukilau from the UK brought me two bottles of Havana Club, and I sent him back with two bottles of Lemon Hart 151 in trade. He didn't have a problem either way, but it was just a couple bottles. Not sure they would check the proof of what looks like a bottle of dark rum, but you never now.

And CincyTikiCraig, mahalo for starting the LH 151-to-80 thread. Great resource.

I agree HH that they are most likely not going to be looking too hard but i also don't want to take the risk of having the rum confiscated. It's not the loss of money that concerns me but the fact that besides trying some drinks when i'm there it is extremely unlikely that LH will ever be available here in Aus. so to be able to bring some back with me is the only opportunity i'll have to mix some drinks with it at home.

Also, when you did the trade that would have been with the old label. Is that correct? The new label has 151 in quite large font right across the middle of the bottle. If it was the old label with the little red triangle, i wouldn't be concerned.

Yeah, it was definitely the old label. Less noticeable for sure. I wish you best of luck in your mission.

I was lucky enough to try El Dorado 21 over the weekend at the Miami Rum Festival. All I can say is wow. It exceeded my expectations. Perhaps my all-time favorite sipping rum. It blows away the 15-year. Not sure I'd mix with it, but now I'll be on the lookout for a bottle at a reasonable price.

And Otto seems to agree:

I was also very impressed with Plantation Guyana 2005 ... very smooth and well rounded. Would be a great mixer along the lines of Lemon Hart 80. I'm afraid this one will be difficult to find, so snap it up if you see it.

Both of the above won "Best In Class" awards at the festival, El Dorado 21 for "Aged Rum, 19-21 years," and Plantation Guyana 2005 for "Special Cask."

Also, El Dorado 8 snagged a gold medal (2nd place) for "Aged Rum, 4-8 years" (Plantation 5 was first). And El Dorado 15 won gold for "Aged Rum, 13-18 years" (losing out to Pussers 15).

[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2014-04-29 01:02 ]

Also worth mentioning, the latest 5 Minutes of Rum podcast on El Dorado 8 ...
http://5minutesofrum.com/episodes/2014/4/26/episode-24-el-dorado-8

On 2014-04-29 10:48, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
Also worth mentioning, the latest 5 Minutes of Rum podcast on El Dorado 8 ...
http://5minutesofrum.com/episodes/2014/4/26/episode-24-el-dorado-8

Thank you kind sir! Sounds like I need to find that Plantation Guyana 2005 in the wild.

Oh and if anyone is interested in hearing even more about El Dorado, I did a couple of older episodes on El Dorado as well.

El Dorado 5:
http://5minutesofrum.com/episodes/2013/6/27/episode-8-an-introduction-to-demrara-rum-with-el-dorado-5-year

El Dorado 21 and 12:
http://5minutesofrum.com/episodes/2013/8/31/episode-12-el-dorado-21-and-12

kevin

I enjoyed the '5 minutes of rum' podcast & Hurricane Hayward's great posts. Mahalo CincyTikiCraig for bring attention to that old thread, I am slowly diluting some LH151 diluting to LH80 :)

I have now tried all but two of the recipes requiring regular 80 proof demerara rum from the Tiki+ app (damn you Beachbums Own & Cuba Kula with your Licor43 or Bacardi 151 respectively!). Im working my way through the recipes requiring LH151 too...

Since my last post on this thread (3 weeks ago), ED5 has found a way back on to my bar. In the below recipe I think the ED5 is better than my mainstay of ED8. All demerara fans, try it one way & then the other, see what you think!

Trader Vics Navy Grog:

1 shot each PR rum, Jamaican rum, Demerara rum, lemon juice, white grapefruit juice, demerara sugar syrup & soda water. 1/4 shot each lime & 'TV Navy Grog' mix.

NB: There are old posts on TC about 'TV Navy Grog Mix' ~ I tried some 'neat', not quite pimento dram but that's what I used in this drink. Id seen a couple of TV Navy Grog recipes on the net, I got this one from the kind barstaff in TVs London :)

My long-awaited review of the Miami Rum Renaissance Festival is finally posted if anyone wants to learn more about El Dorado and all the other award-winning rums:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2014/05/25/upstart-spirits-share-spotlight-with-major-players-at-sixth-annual-miami-rum-renaissance-festival/

[ Edited by: hiltiki 2014-05-28 17:52 ]

So I got some LH80 :) for all those unable to obtain LH80, I thought I could post some thoughts:

FIRST OFF (first taste):

It's apparent LH80 is a good example of a demerara rum. It's got the 'woody / dark / burnt' flavours that myself & previous posters have mentioned but it is a well balanced & it's not sweet.

SECOND OFF (neat taste off):

I compared neat LH80 / my LH80 version watered down from LH151 / El Dorado 5 & El Dorado 8.

My diluted LH151 & LH80 might as well be equal - I did the taste test blind with the help of my girlfriend & picked out the diluted LH151, it lacked a very very little bit of 'richness'.

The flavour differences are subtle between actual LH80 & ED 8 - LH80 is a slightly drier, more cohesive flavour but I also like the slightly sweeter aftertaste in ED8. They have slightly different 'kick'.

I declare ED8 & LH80 equals - no mean feat, usually I can pick a favourite one way or the other. If El Dorado want to challenge Lemon Hart for the 151 crown, they should just put out a 151 version of El Dorado 8.

There are wider differences between LH80 & ED 5; LH80 is streets ahead. ED 5 is shown up like a much younger rum (like comparing Appleton Special & VX).

I also took a quick sip of El Dorado 12 & 15 to compare (although I consider these more sippers than mixers) ~ the subtle differences I tasted when comparing ED8 & LH80 are magnified.

THIRD OFF (a couple of drink reviews):

IMO LH80 makes a slightly better Queens Park Swizzle than ED8 (I did sweeten it a little extra) & a way better drink than ED5.

I made a Navy Grog with 3 shots of LH80 instead of the PR / Jamaican / Demerara. An earlier poster said it was 'the best Navy Grog they'd ever had'... it certainly is good but I prefer the normal 3 rum version by a smidgen (depending on the rums).

So all in all:

LH80 is a good rum, taste wise it equals El Dorado 8 as my 'go to' demerara rum & it is likely that either will work slightly better depending in the drink. They both came in around the same price point (LH80 was €3 more expensive) so it makes sense to have both handy.

Diluting LH151 to LH80 is a good easy way to get a barely perceivable difference to the 'official' product.

The main question for the future is will I be able to obtain Lemon Hart 80 or 151 at all...?