Dark Jamaican: Myers vs Coruba

I've switched to Coruba for drinks such as the Navy Grog, Rum Barrel, etc for several years now. Over the last month however I've been buying Myer's again, just because it's been on sale. I was surprised though to find that the Meyers made for a better, richer drink in most Tiki applications. Over at the Ministry of Rum, Ed Hamilton said that Wray & Nephew (Appleton) recently changed the Coruba formula, so maybe the formula change has something to do with the differences that I'm finding:

http://www.ministryofrum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5590&highlight=coruba

What do some of you think, is Myer's or Coruba better (generally speaking) for Tiki Cocktails?

I've seen a consensus, around here, in favor of Coruba. But, at the risk of seeming "common", I've used Myers's as my primary "dark Jamaican" for over 30 years. And I've had Coruba in my bar, sporadically, during that time. But Myers's has always been more available here in Texas.
The knock on Myers's is that it's 'sweet' or 'molasses-y'. Maybe, but tiki drinks - though not the syrupy messes some mistakenly imagine and concoct - tend not to be especially 'dry', as cocktails go.

I started looking for Coruba after seeing it used at the Tiki Ti, and I do prefer it over Myer's, but not by a huge margin. I feel like Coruba needs the support as well; it strikes me as the "underdog" of dark Jamaican rums. If I had the bucks I'd probably spring for Appleton Extra over these two.

Coruba hasn't been available in my area for over a year now ( I'm told it didn't sell along with Clement VSOP so they're both gone); Myers and Appleton 12 are the only dark Jamaican available here. Of course, I much prefer the Appleton but will purchase Myers when it is on "Sale" at an irresistible price.

I bet you feel more like you do now now than you did when you came in.

GH

[ Edited by: gentlehangman 2012-02-29 11:50 ]

what part of FLA, hangman?

I've only seen Coruba on the shelf down around Sarasota, but loved the one bottle I tried out.

havent had any Myers's since I discovered Gosling's a few years back, before I even started making tiki drinks. Will try it out sometime; i had relied on the apparent consensus on TC that Myers's was too overpowering...

Stuart. I've been to ABC, Total Wine, Star and all the liquor stores within a 25 mile radius of my home - no luck. I finally got a Star Liquors near my house to stock El Dorado and am working on them to get Lemon Hart 151.

I bet you feel more like you do now now than you did when you came in.

GH

[ Edited by: gentlehangman 2012-03-01 08:15 ]

Very timely thread for me, as I have been trying to figure out the same thing relative to the Dark & Stormy. I used to prefer Myers's, but I have since moved on to Coruba. I decided to pit those two against each other along with four other inexpensive dark rums. You can read about it here if you're so inclined. After all was said and done, I still ended up liking Coruba the best.

Well whaddayaknow, I've started a spirits and cocktail blog called Inu A Kena

[ Edited by: tofukulele 2012-02-29 12:04 ]

I use Appleton VX as my dark. Myers's is a strong flavor. Nothing wrong with that, but can over emphasize the rum in a drink. When I am low on Demerara, I'll add a bit of Myers's along with my VX for a bit of kick of flavor that approximates the Demerara better.

Of course, I like probably most of you, LOVE the dark rum flavor. When I smell my cocktail and that scent, it IS the thing I am after. Just says Tiki bar. So, whtever flies your kite.

I have used Coruba. Only to mix. I sip VX straight very often. Coruba, no.

Good luck getting the "Lemon Hart 161" :lol:

Have you tried "Kraken Rum"? I don't allow Myer's in my home (It tried to have relations with our pets)
but find the Kraken a better replacement & much more pet friendly.

I finished my bottle of Kraken and just bought a bottle of Myers's. I thought the Meyer's was a little strong but those two are not really in the same class are they? I thought Kraken was considered a spiced rum and Myers's was not?

the price has really come down on Appleton v/x, but to me it's a gold rum and not a dark...

I use Myer's because it's available here, the Coruba isn't. My mail ordered Coruba gets saved for special guests. So come on over!!!!

We'll bust out my ElDo 8 and compare it to LH 80 while we're at it!

Pat and I really like the strong, smokey flavor of Myers's Dark Rum in many of our mixed tropical cocktails... Coruba and Appleton just don't have enough presence for our tastes. That being said, I'm not enough of a pirate to prefer Myers's Dark as a sipping rum. And, Chuck, I'm careful to keep the Myers's away from the pets. :)

-Tom

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2012-02-29 15:34 ]

On 2012-02-29 13:52, WestADad wrote:
I use Myer's because it's available here, the Coruba isn't. My mail ordered Coruba gets saved for special guests. So come on over!!!!

We'll bust out my ElDo 8 and compare it to LH 80 while we're at it!

That sounds like a plan!

On 2012-02-29 12:04, tofukulele wrote:
Very timely thread for me, as I have been trying to figure out the same thing relative to the Dark & Stormy. I used to prefer Myers's, but I have since moved on to Coruba. I decided to pit those two against each other along with four other inexpensive dark rums. You can read about it here if you're so inclined. After all was said and done, I still ended up liking Coruba the best.

---

Well whaddayaknow, I've started a spirits and cocktail blog called Inu A Kena

Josh, that was a great blog post, thanks for linking to it!

Many mahaloz, Craig--huli pau!
-Josh

Good blog post on the subject.

I use Coruba for no other reason than it gets good reviews, is cheap and makes good drinks.

I have a question for the group. Where I get it, the 750 has the plastic label as shown in the blog posts but the 1.75 is still the old paper label. Have they changed the 1.75 label or is the paper label still standard everywhere.

gabbahey

Sorry. . . typo . . . meant "Lemon Hart 151". Star Liquors has it in several of their locations south of where I am. I'm trying to get them to send some up here to their Stuart store.
As a matter of fact, in my location the selection of Jamaican rums is limited to Myers, Appleton and Margaritaville - the latter being discontinued as we speak.
I'm not a big fan of spiced rums, but we've got a pretty extensive selection here including Kracken and all the other favorites. No rum from Martinique at all except at Total Wine in Jensen Beach which has Clement VSOP and two kinds of St. James. No Coruba. I make a list of what I can't get here and then plan a "Road Trip" up to Total Wine.

I bet you feel more like you do now now than you did when you came in.

GH

[ Edited by: GentleHangman 2012-03-01 08:45 ]

Has anyone ever experienced buying a bottle of rum that was perhaps from a bad batch? I've used Meyers Dark for many years with almost always favorable results. I recently opened a new bottle and the first Mai Tai I made tasted a little off, even the wife thought so. I smelled the Meyers straight from the bottle and it has a very strong smoke odor. Not sure how it's supposed to smell, can't remember smelling straight form the bottle before. Does it normally have a very strong smokey odor?? thanks

My Myers have always seemed spot on.

Actually, I was just comparing "Dark" Rums when this post popped back up. I moved away from Myers in favor of the Atomic Grog mix of 1/2 El Dorado 12/Smith & Cross but recently did a taste test between it and my Myers and I almost think the Myers has it beat. It's not as pungent to the taste, because of the Smith and Cross, but still has a similar smell as the blend.

If only Myers would do something with a bit more Proof to it.

Also being from Texas, Meyers is historically always available.

I found NOS Coruba and so I've gone with that. I find that the more ingredients in the drink that coruba balances better. For less ingredients (Dark & Stormy) Meyers is fine. As already described, it's got a strong flavor.

I equate it to Pussers - hard for me to drink in large quantities by itself

Myers's Vs. Coruba? This is a tough one.

As with 90% of discussions on Tiki Central, most boil down to two directives: taste and economics. With the aforementioned juxtaposition, we get one product on each end of the divide. However, there are a few other variables at play here:

MYERS'S:

1. While Myers's may be the preferred 'choice,' it is prohibitively expensive and is out of most people's economic reach (generally speaking).

2. Myers's is (unfortunately) associated with the perfunctoriness of Tiki; Disney use Myers's in pretty much every drink they make (even before they got creative and added Coruba to the mix) and most tourist or cruise ship concepts routinely reach for it whenever any dark mixing rum is required. Furthermore, Myers's (like Negrita and Stroh 80, both culturally significant dark rums) is often used as a cooking ingredient in both sweet and savory recipes; the image of an 80-year-old grandma churning out rum cake at 5 o'clock in the islands isn't exactly sexy.

CORUBA:

1. While many people (including Tikiphiles, Disney executives, and bar owners alike) are realizing Coruba's superior versatility, and insanely attractive bottom line, is still remains hard to find. Blame Campari.

2. Coruba offers a more versatile taste than Myers's, which as many have pointed out, has a more 'one-trick pony' profile to it. While both are very good rums, Coruba has the unique distinction of pretty much going with almost any mixer or cocktail associated with dark or gold rum and is, in that sense, ideal for nearly all rum-based cocktails.

Remember, perception shapes reality. Myers's (in terms of marketing and brand awareness) is still living in the past. Yes, you can bulk-buy it at Costco and your grandma calls for it by name, but that's not good enough. Coruba, which has a very poor market cap (7.7%) needs renewed interest from Campari, accompanied by a sexy ad campaign, to breathe life into the old marque.

In an age where rum has stepped out of it's shadow of being a harsh, rough brew designated to the likes of scoundrels and rouges, to the more elegant, contemplated, stand-alone sipper, Jamaican rums in particular, which have historically been used exclusively for mixing, have a tough job to prove themselves in an all new super-duper-hyper-premium market.

Appleton, in my opinion, is an on-the-fence rum; it is between a Myers's and a Coruba (both in taste and economics) and competes in a category that it should match more closely in appearance. BTW - with regards to a few people's comments and concerns about Appleton rums being gold in nature versus other 'darker' rums in the same category - there's a pointed reason for this: Appleton rums were originally blended as a substitute for whisky, which was in short supply during the world wars, which is why it is noticeably lighter in taste and color to most other rums.

On 2016-11-07 20:28, RumScrummager wrote:
Myers's Vs. Coruba? This is a tough one.

RumScrummager - great post - thank you. Both informative and thought-provoking.

Here in central Florida, Myer's is all over and Coruba is almost unheard of. This whole here-again, gone-again, no, here-again with liquor brands is frustrating as hell!

Unless somebody knows a secret location, we can't get Coruba here in Georgia, not even special ordered at the big box stores and with our laws, can't ship it in either.

Here in Arizona-no Coruba. I've only seen it on a shelf once-and it was a flavored version:(

Can't remember where I bought my bottles of Coruba at the moment, but I suggest something that works for me -- keeping eyes open when you're on road trips outside of your home state. It's fun to drag your friends/family/spouses through liquor stores in strange cities and towns. You never know what you'll find! Just keep in mind that your GPS doesn't know the difference between "nice" and "skeezy" parts of town, so be safe out there.

As mentioned in an other Coruba thread, if you are passing through or near the DC suburbs, in Montgomery County, Maryland we have plenty of Coruba and at really low prices. Under $12 for a 750 and just over $15 for a liter. Especially if you are driving, well worth a trip to one of our county liquor stores. Easy search of store to find what you need: http://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/dlcsearch/

Dr. Coruba, those are fantastic prices!

I've been hoarding Coruba for years.

My last haul were 8 dusty bottles (old 1990s bottlings; better/richer formulation) from the dingiest liquor store imaginable. In fact, it was so scuzzy, I had to shower/scrub myself afterwards. Smashed my car up too on the way. Still, it was an awesome find. I ended up nabbing each bottle for around $10 a piece. I have a whole strategy (mostly consisting of preemptive strikes) whereby I manage to nab my booze at bargain-basement prices.

The only known liquor store in south Florida that carries Coruba Dark on the shelf is Roy's in Fort Pierce.

If anyone knows of another location, please let us know.

I may just have to plan a road trip up to Maryland now. I could convince the other half that I'd be visiting a long lost cousin or something. Of course, I'd be loading up my car with cases (literally) of Coruba and GPS-ing every known liquor store location in Montgomery County.

Thanks for the tip!

[ Edited by: RumScrummager 2017-04-29 21:05 ]

On 2017-04-29 21:04, RumScrummager wrote:
The only known liquor store in south Florida that carries Coruba Dark on the shelf is Roy's in Fort Pierce.

If anyone knows of another location, please let us know.

67 Liquors in Ft. Lauderdale, last time I checked.

I guess I never voiced my opinion on the matter.

Simple answer: Coruba

I think I have 10 bottles of Coruba on hand, I don't think I've had a bottle of Myers for at least 3-4 years.

I will drink drinks with Myers, I just won't make drinks with Myers.

Sadly, 67 hasn't had Coruba Dark on the shelf in donkey's years. I rang a few weeks ago. Alex, the manager, was kind enough to give me the rundown.

In the interim, it looks like its only Roy's.

I'm about 2/3 through my first liter bottle of Coruba shipped from Hi-Time a month and a half ago, and I must say that I enjoy it more than Myers. I just wish I could find Coruba closer to home, so if anyone knows of a liquor store in Colorado....

Coruba remains my default pour for any recipe that calls for "Dark Jamaican" and doesn't specifically namedrop Meyers. Drinks like the Puka Punch from Intoxica and the Jim's Special, where they call for it by name, definitely seem to benefit from Meyers distinct flavor based on the way it interacts with the other ingredients, but for the most part Coruba improves every drink you put it in.

Coruba is such a phenomenal product.

Most people don't realize that back in Tiki's heyday the Mai Tai’s popularity resulted in a drastic shortage of the limited production 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew rum; Bergeron switched to J. Wray & Nephew’s 15-year-old version. When that dwindled, he stretched his remaining stock by changing the formula to 1 ounce of 15-year-old J. Wray & Nephew and 1 ounce of Coruba Dark Jamaican rum. However, most people only associate the Mai Tai with the iconic 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew, which is only half the story.

Whenever you see an old-school recipe call for a 'dark Jamaican' rum, that meant typically Myers's, Coruba, or Red Heart (now defunct).

NOTE: while not Jamaican, Negrita is a great dark rum that adds a lot of ragged character to mixed cocktails - more in line with the rough/harsh brews from the days of yore!

Coruba, or course.

It's not an either/or, it's both. For pure taste & smoothness, I think that Coruba is superior. But for my taste it's fairly sweet & mild. That doesn't work in every cocktail; sometimes you need that rum to punch through. I reach for Meyers' just as often, depending on the drink being made.

Agreed. I keep both stocked, they are both pretty cheap (about 15-16 bucks) and as you pointed out they both work great depending on the drink. A better thread might be Myers vs. Coruba for individual drinks like a Jamaican Planters Punch. I got to chat with Martin Cate at an event recently and asked that very question and his response was Coruba. He gave a pretty detailed response but I'm sad to say I was 4 drinks in and forgot the details. I think they use Appleton estate reserve at Smugglers Cove anyway.

[ Edited by: Tiki-boss 2017-07-01 08:14 ]

While I may favor Coruba overall, one should not dismiss Myers out of hand.

More recently, I've been mixing them 50/50...

[ Edited by: Oxybeles 2017-07-08 11:53 ]

Coruba and Myers's are both great old-school Jamaican stalwarts. However, while the former is not that well known outside of Tiki/rum circles, Myers's has enjoyed much more notoriety, not least since it was (ostensibly) used in the culinary arena also. While both blends are distinctly separate and individual, Myers's suffers from waning popularity and (in the face of the current super-duper-hyper-premium rum market) has simply fallen out of favor with the popular crowd. Whenever you end up in a 1.75L bottle at your local Costco, you know you've reached new heights. Sadly, in the rum world, consensus becomes reality. A telling example of this was the fact that Disney (for donkey's years) used Meyer's as the standard pour; they now use Coruba - presumably, because it has more curb appeal with the current barroom cognoscenti.

While vacationing in the Florida Keys, I found a place that had Coruba in ABUNDANCE and at $10/L. Marathon Liquors and Deli. Their website hasn't been updated in 5 years, so I was wary of stopping by, but boy am I glad I did!

Roy's in Ft. Pierce also carries it.

On 2017-08-18 12:21, TikiHardBop wrote:
Roy's in Ft. Pierce also carries it.

True. But Marathon is closer to me (I realize that's not the case for most people) AND I'd never seen case-upon-case (easily 8 cases on the sales floor, not including any stock on the shelves) of Coruba at only $9.99!

That's a great price. I just bought two liters at $23 a piece last week.

A couple years ago I found a dusty old label 750 ml bottle for $10 at a random liquor store. Was stoked on the price and the better looking design but little did I know at the time, that bottling was before they changed their formula so I whipped through it quickly without thought or hesitation. Wish I had the foresight to compare them.

Has anyone actually done a side by side comparison of old and new Coruba? I believe the old bottle had more pot still in the blend. Wonder if adding a small amount of J Wray can somewhat approximate the old flavor.

On 2017-08-18 14:11, mikehooker wrote:
That's a great price. I just bought two liters at $23 a piece last week.

A couple years ago I found a dusty old label 750 ml bottle for $10 at a random liquor store. Was stoked on the price and the better looking design but little did I know at the time, that bottling was before they changed their formula so I whipped through it quickly without thought or hesitation. Wish I had the foresight to compare them.

Has anyone actually done a side by side comparison of old and new Coruba? I believe the old bottle had more pot still in the blend. Wonder if adding a small amount of J Wray can somewhat approximate the old flavor.

My default solution for pot still/funk deficiency is a little bit of Hamilton Pot Still Jamaican. In my experience, however, you have to be careful because a little goes a very long way.

Roy's in Ft. Pierce also carries it.

On 2017-08-19 05:31, jokeiii wrote:

On 2017-08-18 14:11, mikehooker wrote:
That's a great price. I just bought two liters at $23 a piece last week.

A couple years ago I found a dusty old label 750 ml bottle for $10 at a random liquor store. Was stoked on the price and the better looking design but little did I know at the time, that bottling was before they changed their formula so I whipped through it quickly without thought or hesitation. Wish I had the foresight to compare them.

Has anyone actually done a side by side comparison of old and new Coruba? I believe the old bottle had more pot still in the blend. Wonder if adding a small amount of J Wray can somewhat approximate the old flavor.

My default solution for pot still/funk deficiency is a little bit of Hamilton Pot Still Jamaican. In my experience, however, you have to be careful because a little goes a very long way.

Whether it be Hamilton, Wray and Nephew, Smith & Cross, Rum Fire or any other high pot still rum, I'd be curious how to approximate the actual flavor of the old Coruba, not just add a random dose of funk to the new one. I don't remember if it was this thread or another one, but someone a while back had mentioned making a Mai Tai with 2 oz Coruba. I tried that with the new stuff and it wasn't good at all. I'd love to know exactly what it's missing and keep reusing that old label bottle I have with a blend that actually tastes like what belongs in there.

Whether it be Hamilton, Wray and Nephew, Smith & Cross, Rum Fire or any other high pot still rum, I'd be curious how to approximate the actual flavor of the old Coruba, not just add a random dose of funk to the new one. I don't remember if it was this thread or another one, but someone a while back had mentioned making a Mai Tai with 2 oz Coruba. I tried that with the new stuff and it wasn't good at all. I'd love to know exactly what it's missing and keep reusing that old label bottle I have with a blend that actually tastes like what belongs in there.

Mike,

To my palate, 3:1 "new" Coruba to Hamilton does the trick.

HTH!

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2017-08-27 16:27 ]