What proportion of your rum is worthwhile?

I saw these posts on another thread:

XXX wrote:
okay, i'm now outta rum

YYY wrote:
Wait a minute... You can run out of rum?
:)

XXX wrote:
Yes, but I wouldn't recommend it.

The names of the members have been change to protect the disadvantaged!

The purpose of this thread isn't to brag about the size of your liquor collection or to say that you couldn't live without 8 different rums to use in 5 different mai tai combos...

My question is: If you were to start your mixing rum collection again from nothing, what do you consider most worthwhile & what % of your current collection is it?

I say mixing collection because involving sippers would complicate matters!

E.G.
My lucky hypothetical friend has 10 bottles of rum.

She has Appleton VX, Appleton Special, Mount Gay, Cockspur, El Dorado 5, J Bally Amber, Bacardi Gold, Havana Club Blanco, Brugal Blanco & Cruzan Jelly Bean flavour.

If she had to start over she says she would have: either gold Jamaican, either Bajan, the El Dorado 5, the J Bally, the Bacardi Gold, either the Havana Club or the Brugal. She never wants to try Cruzan Jelly Bean again!

A bit of maths later she works out 60% of her collection is 'worthwhile'

Hopefully using percentages will prevent bragging!

I work out 30% of my mixing collection to be worthwhile.

The other 57% of it is duplications of the same style, 13% is damn near undrinkable!

Jack Iron mai tai anyone? :)

I like everything I have except for a mini if Sailor Jerry. Bleah.

My Must-Have-Replacements: Smith Cross. Flor de Caña. Appleton V/X.

About 90% is worthwhile in that at least one goto drink needs that particular rum or the drink won't sing. that drops to about 70% worthwhile if I define that as rums used regularly in maybe 3 or more different cocktails.

A good example of this distinction is Cruzan Blackstrap versus Coruba or Smith&Cross versus Appleton V/X. If I don't have Cruzan Blackstrap and Smith&Cross on hand I can't make either a proper Corn N Oil or a Kingston Negroni so there will be a couple of regular rotation cocktais that will be scratched from the menu. But if I'm out of Coruba that nixes about half of the Tiki/Caribbean cocktails I typically mix up, and ditto for V/X. Whether greater mixing varsitility = more worthwhile rum I am not sure.

I have a top row of stuff I have collected, but rarely use. Sippers. 21 YO Appleton, Havana Club, etc.

I have tossed the stuff I do not use mostly. In total bottles, I'd be at 80-90% usable, but in distinct bottles, no backstock counting, I'd be at 40%.

Down and dirty, I need:
Myers's Dark
Some white rum
Some gold rum
LH 151

If I expand it just a little, I would add a Demerara 80 like El Do 12 YO, Smith & Cross for my Swizzle recipe.

If I making a Mai Tai, I need Appleton Extra and a Martinique like St. James H'ors d'age.

Mai-Kai Memories Series Custom ceramic mugs!

[ Edited by: Swanky 2013-08-05 12:58 ]

On 2013-08-05 12:52, Sunny&Rummy wrote:
About 90% is worthwhile in that at least one go to drink needs that particular rum or the drink won't sing. that drops to about 70% worthwhile if I define that as rums used regularly in maybe 3 or more different cocktails...

Whether greater mixing versatility = more worthwhile rum I am not sure.

Yep, that was my idea - most of my bar I can switch around apart from for a few drinks, my thoughts were do I need:

• Appleton Special & VX? Bacardi Gold & Bacardi 8? Havana Club Blanco & Havana Club 3? (After a bit of internal debate) Nope, Id opt for the older in each case.
• El Dorado 5 & Woods 100? Yes.
• The 25% of my collection that I haven't used in 6 months - probably not!

On 2013-08-05 12:12, TikiTacky wrote:
My Must-Have-Replacements: Smith Cross. Flor de Caña. Appleton VX

I like all but 3 of my rums but I think thats the idea - what percentage of you collection is must-have-replacements?

On 2013-08-05 12:57, Swanky wrote:
No backstock counting, I'd be at 40%...

Down and dirty, I need:
Myers's Dark
Some white rum
Some gold rum
LH 151

If I expand it just a little...
If I making a Mai Tai, I need...

Good point Swanky - I'm always expanding. You've gotta make what you like & to sometimes to make another drink you need another rum!

From my 30% 'worthwhile' I could probably make all the drinks I like to this point, that may change in the future.

[ Edited by: AdOrAdam 2013-08-05 14:09 ]

Agree basically with others here. I need:

• Former Spanish colony light rum
• Former Spanish colony gold rum
• Dark Jamaican rum
• Lemon Hart 151
• Martinique rum

More and more I've been using my Lemon Hart 114. That's my replacement for Smith & Cross. And then there are lots of rums I have that I use if the recipe calls for it.

all i pretty much need for mixing are:

1. a light English-style rum (in order of preference: El Dorado 3 year old; Appleton white; Myers's white); and

2. a dark English-style rum (in order of preference: ED 8 yr old; ED 5 yr old; Pusser's; Gosling's black seal).

I've had several martinique rums, but not enamored of any drinks calling for them. lime my Mai-Tai better with two dark rums.

I've had Coruba and Lemon Hart, but they aren't in any stores around here.

I've discovered over the years that I prefer substituting dark rum in most drinks calling for a gold.

I save the Top, Top shelf stuff for John-O when he stops in......

I have a lot of rums, and most of them I haven't opened. So why have them? A good question! I suppose I have them for the same reason any collector has things. In other words: no good reason. :)

I suppose maybe I use 10 different rums on regular occasion.

man, first thing i do when i get a new rum is open up the bottle and have a shot neat...

On 2013-08-05 19:47, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
I save the Top, Top shelf stuff for John-O when he stops in......

I don't know a John-O from a Steve-O from a Danno, but one thing I do know- I'ma open up my Appleton Estate 21-year-old and pour myself a nip... (did I mention I bought it for just sixty bucks?)

I have pretty much used the thread below as a reference for what to keep in my home bar:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=45005&forum=10&7

I just added my 2 cents today with a few alterations

[ Edited by: AdOrAdam 2013-08-06 06:51 ]

Yeah, if I am serving regular Joes, I use Myers' nor other dark instead of Demerara. If I am making it for me and the missus, or someone who is going to relish it like John-O, I use the "right" rums. Economy of taste.

I've begun slowly paring down my rums too. There are bottles which are just not really necessary. The dilemma, though, as Swanky shared, is why serve a nice Demerara to regular Joes when Myers's will do just as well in that particular situation? Some of the finer stuff we have come to appreciate (and pay much more for) really does require your palate to have achieved some degree of development.

I agree with thePorpoise - I also take any new rum and sip it neat the first time. Gotta give those angels an opportunity to sing!

On 2013-08-06 10:12, AceExplorer wrote:
I've begun slowly paring down my rums too. There are bottles which are just not really necessary...

Some of the finer stuff we have come to appreciate (and pay much more for) really does require your palate to have achieved some degree of development

Yep, thats the point of the thread - what % are you not keen on?

This is something Im experimenting with, Ive tried making Navy Grog 3 ways:

Appleton 12 / El Dorado 12 / Bacardi 8 ~ £3.64 per drink
Appleton VX / El Dorado 5 / Bacardi Gold ~ £2 per drink
Appleton Special / OVD or Woods 100 / Bacardi Superior ~ £1.50 per drink

The 'premium' lost a bit too much kick but was good, the 'medium' is my benchmark, the 'cheap' is still fine but OVD & Woods are quite strong (I would blend this).

Im going to pick up some El Dorado 8 & pair it with Appleton 8 / Bacardi 8 ~ £2.68 per drink. Im thinking it will be between the 'premium' & 'medium' - 'upgraded'? Less kick but still lots of flavour would be ideal.

What to give guests is another matter:

if the focus was a few people appreciating a few drinks I'd serve the the medium & premium stuff (for comparing & I'd have either).

If it was less about the drinks I'd serve the 'cheap' stuff, not to be mean but to use it up!

I'm not a big drinker and I live in an area where it is hard to find anything but Bacardi, Parrot Bay, and Captain Morgan so my "collection" is simple:
Cruzan Aged Dark which is OK
Kraken Spiced which I enjoy
Myers' Dark which I didn't care for
Bacardi 151 which I reserve for lighting things on fire :D

So 3 out of my 4 rums serve their purpose, that makes 75%

Cruzan Aged Light
Bacardi Gold - will probably replace with Don Q - Just as good in my book.
Appleton Special (Gold)
Appleton Extra (12 yr old)
Appleton VX
Appleton 21 year old
Smith & Cross
Meyer's Jamaican
El Dorado 5yr & 12yr & Cuba Libre Dark
Kohala Bay
Lemon Hart 151
Coruba
St. James Old & Hors D'Age
Clement VSOP
Pussers
Mt. Gay Black Barrel
Zaya
Barbancourt 5-Star
Black Seal
Blackwell
Bacardi Oakheart
Sailor Jerry
Cruzan Blackstrap

Those 26 are my staples and I replace them as needed. Each has it's place in my various recipies and some are replaced more frequently than others. I'm not big on spiced rum, but it has it's place in a few drinks that require it. I find myself replacing Jamaican rums more frequently than the others.

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

GENT

[ Edited by: GentleHangman 2013-08-07 16:54 ]

On 2013-08-06 13:25, MadDogMike wrote:
So 3 out of my 4 rums serve their purpose, that makes 75%

100% of my rums serve their Porpoise....

Yep, thats the point of the thread - what % are you not keen on?

That's hard to answer concisely, but I think I can give you a feel for what I'm doing. I'm moving towards Don Q and Cruzan (retiring any few remaining Bacardi, except Bacardi 8) for what I call my "base" or less-exotic rums. I'm retiring Myers's dark in favor of Coruba. The dilemma, as you noted, is that it can be kinda mean to serve the lower end stuff to people. I always use high-end ingredients with my tiki friends. But there are times when average Joe's visit who cannot appreciate the higher end stuff. Fortunately even the low end stuff tends to work well when paired with fresh juices and accurate measures, and I'm fine with that. And that's where I run into my dilemma -- maybe I need to keep some of my lower-end rums in stock for exactly those situations where high-end stuff is not called for or required.

Percentage wise, I have 35 to 40 rums cataloged at the moment, and there are probably five that I would allow to become depleted So I'm in the 10% to 15% bracket. I have a number of sipping rums that I don't use for mixing. Some of these sipping rums make it into flasks for sipping during the relatively brief northeast Florida winter when temps drop to near-freezing or below. Yum!

There ya go - a long answer to a short question.

On 2013-08-06 15:36, AceExplorer wrote:

The low end stuff tends to work well when paired with fresh juices and accurate measures, and I'm fine with that. And that's where I run into my dilemma -- maybe I need to keep some of my lower-end rums in stock for exactly those situations where high-end stuff is not called for or required.

I'm wondering if i need a the two tier bar I have at the mo - I'm the person who drinks most of my booze & when a friend comes over I'd probably make the drink with the good liqour!

I also agree, sometimes you don't need the posh stuff :)

My primary rums that I keep going back to are as follows:

Clement VSOP, Appleton Reserve, Appleton 12-Year: Primarily for Mai Tais

Gosling's Black Seal: Mostly for Dark and Stormies

El Dorado 3-Year: For any drink requiring a silver rum (Daquiris, Pina Coladas, Blue Hawaiians, Mojitos, Scorpions, etc...)

Lemon Hart 151: Essential for Zombies

Zaya: Mostly for Cuba Libres and occasionally for sipping

El Dorado 12 and 15: 12 on the rocks and the 15 is sipped neat

Cruzan Aged, Flor de Cana Gold, Flor de Cana Extra Dry, Mount Gay Eclipse Gold, Pyrat XO, Coruba, Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva, Ron Zacapa Centenario 23: All rums I enjoy, but wouldn't necessarily replace right away once I finish them. The Cruzan is my basic gold rum for most standard tiki cocktails however.

Sailor Jerry, Seven Tiki: Decent Cubra Libre, but mostly keep around for casual rum drinkers who only want a rum and Coke.

Malibu Passion Fruit, Bacardi 151: Been sitting on my shelf for ages and likely will never use.

[ Edited by: Bender_Rodriguez 2013-08-08 11:13 ]

[ Edited by: Bender_Rodriguez 2013-08-08 11:18 ]