Hi All,
I want to by a Jamaican rum that would be good for Tiki Cocktails?
I have been considering these but would love to hear some thoughts or other suggestions.
- Plantation Xaymaca
- Appleton 8
- Rum Bar Gold (Worthy Park)
Happy sipping to you all!
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I use Rum Bar Gold as a bar staple for most drinks, sometimes in a blend with Smith &Cross which has more Pot sill flavor.
For Tiki Drinks I’d consider a colored dark Jamaican Rum as well, some drinks really only shine with the heavy molasses flavor.
A good basic Rum for this purpose is Myers, which in my opinion is much better than its reputation.
Plantation OFTD as some recognizable amount of Guyana in its blend, but it can serve a similar purpose.
Worthy Part 104 -why lsn’t this Part of the Rumbar Range?- is decent, but I prefer a blend of Smith& Cross and Myers.
If you’re from Germany have a look at Old Pascas Jamaican Rum with 73% - yes, it’s rough, but like Myers a better Rum than you might expect. As a beginner in making drinks the Pascas as well as the OFTD can easily overpower your drink.
Appleton is nice but especially for tiki drinks it lacks the heavy pot still flavor. I’d go for the 12 yo anyway.
I haven’t had the Plantation. I probably won’t have it in the future, because I’m happy with my selection.
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I bought a bottle of Myers at the beginning of my cocktail journey and absolutely hated it. But over time I really got to appreciate the molasses that @lukasdrinkinghabits was talking about.
Appleton 8 sits on the sweet spot between mixing and cocktail rums as it’s tasty enough for me to enjoy neat from time to time but also cheap enough for me to use it in drinks. (I am not one of the people here using the expensive stuff for cocktails on a regular basis.) But the Appleton is more tame and might be lost in the drink, depending on the cocktail you are making.
The Worthy Park 109 is a cheap alternative that’s not as molasses heavy as the Myers, but still brings in some of the notes.
I also really like the Bellamy’s Jamaica Pot Still.
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Thanks for Sharing and the great input! Yes I had heard of Myers butI have also heard that there a better rums out there OFTG is on my wishlist… but I think as a newbie Appleton might be a better starting point of Xymaca due to the lower ABV???
Everyone talks about Plantation OFTG and I guess I could always put slightly less in drinks to begin with!
I guess that the worthy’s 109 is a similar opinion to OFTG and smith and cross???
Thanks again for your input and tips!
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Yes, you’re absolutely right! It is a very nice blend.
Regarding the WP 109, its much more similar to Myers than Smith & Cross as it has this heavy molasses flavor, but it’s more fruity. Henry is right, it isn’t as dominant as in Myers. Compared to Smith and Cross it lacks those heavy fruity esters and medical notes of S&C.
OFTD is a blend, it’s not as molasses forward as the other two, but it features a different Profile t due to the blend of Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados - I use it a lot to substitute dark jamaican Rum in Tiki Recipies nevertheless.
If the Rum suits your purpose depends on the drinks your going to make. To compete with spices and fruit juices I’d recommend something more intense than the Appleton.
As said above Rum Bar Gold is my preferred choice.
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Great topic, I’ve also been struggling with finding a good tiki base. Maybe pouring that Appleton 12 into everything want the best choice.
My recent experience is that the basic range of hampdens does a good job in cocktails.
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For my regular cocktail game, even the LROK Younger is too expensive to be a good cocktail rum - especially for beginners; if a cocktail recipe does not work out, you quickly trash a lot of money (Drain 6 cl and you drain 5€).
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That’s true.
And… it’s a true good colored jamaican for tiki. If you’re sure about the recipe and find it not to expensive, it’s a really good one. I had the chance to get 2 bottles for the price of one, it’s perfect. When they will be empty, I think I’ll give a chance to plantation Xamayca.
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I really like the Hampden Overproof Batch 1 for tropical Cocktails. Not the cheapest but great. Even a small split adds a lot to a basic mixing Jamaican. In lower price segment i also like the Mezan Jamaica XO
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Plantation Xaymaca worked great for me, even tho I am not the biggest tiki-afficionado or have much experience in that topic.
Oh and its cheap and has great availability in Germany.
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A very cheap and solid AND very dark solution for Tiki Drinks is Blackwell. Should be round about 20€ and if a Tiki Drinks calls for dark jamaican Rum it´s usually my standard mixer.
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I always hesitate to try this, but I’ll probably change that after your recommendation.
How would you describe it’s Profile compared to the other know Jamaican staples? Does it has the deep molasses flavor, does it bring in some fruity esters?
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Pretty low on Ester I have to admit and you don’t fully get that richness that you might expect from the caramel coloring. Neat I’m not a big fan of this and it also sits on only 40%. If it requires more ABV I use the WP 109 as a mixer
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I have decided to buy some samples from excellence Rhum and have gone for veritas to see how it tastes in a strawberry mojito and smith and cross to try some darker cocktails…
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