Drinking Rum and Coca-Cola

Classic song, but is it a classic drink?

Over-rated? Under-rated?

For Posers or Purists?

My questions are these: What in your opinion is the best rum for a rum and coke? Also what ratio do you normally use? Or does it matter, meaning does Coca-Cola negate a rums overall pure taste?

Right now I find Captain Morgan's Private Reserve to be a nice mix with Coca-Cola.

Sailor Jerry's hands down the best with Coke!

How about Rum & Pepsi? :)

Rum and coke? Add some fresh squeezed lime and turn it into a Cuba Libre.

I personally have never acquired a taste for rum & coke. Can't pin down why. Maybe it was from my younger days when cheap rot gut was all we could afford to dump in the drink. I may have to try it again and do a bit of a taste test with some quality rum. Also this is a stupid question but do you put the coke in the drink first or the rum? I've always done booze first and the other ingredients second for my cocktails unless the cocktail requires a float of course.

On 2009-10-10 04:48, uncle trav wrote:
Also this is a stupid question but do you put the coke in the drink first or the rum? I've always done booze first and the other ingredients second for my cocktails unless the cocktail requires a float of course.

If you put the rum in first, then the coke, the process of pouring the coke will mix the drink pretty well. This keeps you from having to stir the drink for more than a real quick turn allowing you to keep as much of the fizzy as possible.

And Rum and Pepsi is good if you use a heavier or spicier rum.

My personal favorite, Rum and Dr. Pepper. I use a light rum like Cruzan to allow the 23 flavor profile of the Dr Pepper stand out while still drinking an adult(erated) beverage.

The type of Coke can make a huge difference, Mexican-made Coke blends very well with rum since it's made from pure cane sugar rather than corn syrup. I'm curious about how Dublin Dr. Pepper would mix. Here's a recent NYT article on the Mexican Coke Cult: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11fob-consumed-t.html

On 2009-10-09 22:50, MadDogMike wrote:
How about Rum & Pepsi? :)

SACRILEGE!

On 2009-10-10 11:01, dewey-surf wrote:

On 2009-10-09 22:50, MadDogMike wrote:
How about Rum & Pepsi? :)

SACRILEGE!

Nah.... it is, however, a bit awkward to sing it that way

Drinkin' rum and Pepsi-Cola
Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter
Workin' for the Yankee dollar......

Mexican Coke, Havana Club, fresh lime juice. Once you've had a Cuba Libre the way it's supposed to be, you'll understand why it was popular in the first place.

I like mexican Coke with Pyrat Xo. I also float a 1/4 oz of Velvet Falernum on top.

On 2009-10-10 04:48, uncle trav wrote:
Also this is a stupid question but do you put the coke in the drink first or the rum?

I put them in a shaker and shake really hard.

Captain Morgans Rum and Diet Coke = Skinny Pirate

DC

sorry but diet coke = puke.
:(

Jeff(btd)

On 2009-10-10 13:14, arriano wrote:
Mexican Coke, Havana Club, fresh lime juice. Once you've had a Cuba Libre the way it's supposed to be, you'll understand why it was popular in the first place.

I second that and follow the measurements on the back label of HC Anejo Especial.
Israeli Coke is also made of sugar cane. I wonder about other parts of the world. Any other international members reading this thread?

I'm not a fan of coke myself,actually prefer pepsi if i have a choice,but im definitely going to check if our coke here is made with sugar cane.Havana Club is fortunately easy to get here so im quite intrigued by this post.

As for what ratio to use,i personally would put two shots in a highball,juice from half a lime,fill the glass with ice and top up with coke.Or pepsi,if thats your thing.

I have been drinking it like this lately:
Fill a tall pint glass up with ice, and squeeze in a half a lime.
Pour in sailor Jerrys rum, top with a real c1950 cola beverage.

I like the Mexican coke, but lately I have been using Pepsi Throwback.
I think rum mixes better when you use a cola that has real sugar in it, not high fructose corn syrup.

Mixing a drink with diet soda is just silly, it does not taste as good, and the alcohol is going to add about 200-500 calories to your drink anyway. It's like eating two big macs for lunch and getting the diet soda to drink because your watching your weight.

I don't think Rum & Coca Cola can be rated in the same league than the more complex classic Polynesian potions, so it is not really a Tiki Bar classic...but not to be condemned from it either, since it is a 20th Century tropical drink with great pop culture history: Be it Cuban...

...or Trinidadian,

...both had an impact on American pop culture. But let's face it: Rum & Coke was primarily a fast and easy way for G.I.s to get drunk while being stationed in the Carribean and not seeing any action other than with the native girls:

"American troops were sent to Trinidad to protect the British Crown Colony from Nazi attack. By 1943 there were 20,000 Yankee soldiers and sailors patrolling the place and the consumption of Coca-Cola increased by a factor of ten - from 10,000 cases a month to 100,000 cases!"

So mixing American soda pop and Carribean Rum just seemed the perfect accompaniment to the Yankees mixing with the native girls.

Since I am fascinated with the origin of all things ("Tiki - The Birth of Art") , I did a little digging and found this wonderful site about WHO was the originator of the hit song:

http://rumandcocacolareader.com/

...click on "Calypso on Trial" and you will find a great piece of research (from which I culled some of the info/ images here).

The Andrews Sisters had no idea about the origin OR the meaning of the song, they just showed up at the studio, recorded it and Voila!, Had a hit. :)

Great addition to the post bigbro.

I actually really like the Andrews Sisters version.

All of this input now has me running errands, looking for Mexican Coca-Cola.

All of this input now has me running errands, looking for Mexican Coca-Cola

If you've got a Costco near you, they sell it.

We don't get Mexican Coke up here in Toronto (that I know of) but we can get both Jones and Boylan colas, both made with sugar cane and not high fructose corn syrup. They are both good with rum. Has anyone tried these? If so, what is your opinion of them?

FYI - During Passover, you can get Coke in the U.S made with cane sugar.

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/kosher-for-passover-coke-its-the-real-thing-baby/

the problem is that the high fructose crap's taste is just way too overpowering for mixing....hell, the corn syrup is handled as a HAZMAT item at the pepsi bottling plant down the road from my work.you can usually find the cane sugar coke at any international market....or sometimes in the hispanic food section of the grocery store.
as a non-tiki aside...just for historical reference...since that is my field..lol..

"American troops were sent to Trinidad to protect the British Crown Colony from Nazi attack. By 1943 there were 20,000 Yankee soldiers and sailors patrolling the place and the consumption of Coca-Cola increased by a factor of ten - from 10,000 cases a month to 100,000 cases!"

US troops from the Canal Zone ,33rd Infantry Rgmt...our only unit trained specifically for jungle warfare at the start of the war,were stationed in Trinidad as early as sept. of '41. they conducted security operations for dutch bauxite mines in surinam,provided the security for the Dutch Queen during several german kidnapping attempts when she was in surinam on her way to canada,and mounted raids against german U-boat supply bases in surinam and french guiana as well as fighting U-boats that attempted to use these supply dumps.they actually caused the germans to shift operations to vichy martinique by nov. of '41....which they were put on alert to participate in the invasion of that was scheduled for early '43..but then the vichy forces in martinique surrendered..good thing too, given how much of the french fleet was there...much of the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 33rd volunteered for a "sectret mission" in early '44...they became the main manpower base for the outfit known as Merill's Marauders...the 3rd Batt. went on to garrison aruba for the rest of the war...hard duty i'm sure...lol..there were also numerous fighter ,bomber and patrol squadrons bases at trinidad from both the USN and USAAC as well as their attending support units.....

and yes...i have been told i ought to write a book on the war in the carribean....lol..

[ Edited by: savoy6 2009-10-14 06:13 ]

Why ruin perfectly good rum? For that matter, why muddy the taste of fine cola? I guess I'm a purist. I love both, but separately.

I basically agree, but I am still grateful this subject came up --otherwise I would have never found out about...

LEIGHLA WHIPPER ! :D

:music: Some people dring Pepsi,
Some people drink Coke,
The wacky morning DJ says
Democracy's a joke :music:

For those interested in the "twisty" history of the song "Rum & Coca-Cola," the Dreamtime podcast -- which is a commentary on Dylan's XM show entitled "Themetime Radio Hour" -- has an excellent entry on this particular song.

Great listening, and you can read the accompanying blog post here:
http://www.dreamtimepodcast.com/2006/09/episode-14-working-for-yankee-dollar.html

Cheers,
Rupe

On 2009-10-16 16:34, bigbrotiki wrote:
I basically agree, but I am still grateful this subject came up --otherwise I would have never found out about...

LEIGHLA WHIPPER ! :D

I was reading the history of the song at the Rum and Coca-Cola Reader. What a STUNNING lady! sigh I was born much too late. :(