I’ve been thinking about the title for this topic and I believe that this is the best way I can formulate it.
This topic is meant for discussing in what way we set rules or boundaries for ourselves in regards to our mutual hobby which is enjoying rum. Rum remains a highly alcoholic drink and thus it comes with certain risks (health, addiction,…).
I’ve encountered several people in my job and personal life that battle addictions (alcohol and others). This has made me very aware of these dangers and mostly of the things that I definitely don’t want in my own life. On the other hand I’ve also met people who have very strict rules for drinking (eg. never drinking alone or during the day) which they live by. Therefore I thought it could be wholesome te create this thread, especially since it’s the time of New Years resolutions.
Over the years I have inserted periods of not drinking for myself, sometimes a month, 50 days, 3 months, 100 days…. I’ve done dry January, Tournée Minerale (it’s a campaign in Belgium where people don’t drink during February). Sometimes it’s related to other goals, like sports or weight loss and sometimes it isn’t. I’m also always searching for some new input on this matter because it tends to get boring.
Last month was a typical period of drinking more with the holidays and of course the advent calendar. This month I will only drink during my free weekends (every other week) because of a couple of planned social events and I’m thinking about doing Tournée Minerale again this year.
Do you have any rules, limitations or conditions that you set for yourself? Do you experience these things as risks or not?
Feel free to share your own experiences and thoughts, or not if you don’t like it. If you should feel that this is inappropriate or too invasive, my apologies. It is meant in a positive way.
Hi Tom, this is certainly an ok topic to talk about.
I myself have a big portion of the family (actually from my wife) coming from Poland and drinking habits especially during holidays are a bit different there. While I do believe that a rum nerd drinking rum way beyond the 3-digits price per bottle is not as prone to becoming an alcoholic since we enjoy small amounts usually, there is also a younger generation enjoying ready-mix rum drinks that may not be as alcoholic but are drank in high amounts which makes things dangerous.
To come back to the first sentence, there are different “customs” too. The Polish part of my family drinks lots and lots amounts of Vodka shots not only during holidays, but even during regular family meetings. I do have limits there that are often made fun of, like I don’t drink alcohl before lunch (12 pm) or I don’t drink alcohol while I am at work (there are occasions where sparkling wine is offered e.g. but I don’t like that while I am at work despite the fact that I don’t like sparkling wine at all). If there was no Corona I would also probably never drink alone, but since my wife doesn’t drink any rum at all and friends meetups are rare these days, many tastings take place online only.
In the end everyone should know their limits not only budget wise but also regarding responsible drinking and as I said I believe that we as rum nerd community have pretty high standards regarding responsible drinking since no one (except the craziest ones) would drink DOK shots
I plan to include Alcohol in my fasting period / Lenting season before Easter, along with chocolate and sweets.
I also make myself to pause for a week or two if I realize that I had long drinking period (like with the rum calendar, where I finish the remaining samples from when I was sick soon), to avoid trapping myself. I was, however, astonished when I realized that drinking wine made me drunk easier (I drink wine 2 times a year, same as beer) than a small glass of rum, despite much lower abv: the typical restaurant serving is 200ml, which is propably at least 12ml alcohol, which is the same as 60% of 20ml (typical serving here). People, however, drink wine more without any inhibitions than stronger spirits.
Also, the price of the rum I drink pure is to high to empty the bottle within 2 weeks, and mixing cocktails is a rare occasion now thanks to Corona, and no fun for one self alone. Add to that the fact that my Wife does not like strong spirits and rarely drinks herself. (this changed from her youth, where she learned drinking vodka while eating sour cucumber in between shots from a friend’s family that emigrated from. Russia.
All in all I am aware of the danger, and try to limit myself. Maybe Oliver should include a drink responsible warning into the app, as the app certainly has some triggers: fueling the urge to collect different bottles/vendors/makers, broadening access to all sorts of rums that suddenly become interesting, linking to shops, or even the simple run for likes.
Basically, every year I make January a month without alcohol, sweets and any kind of stimulants.
The danger of high-proof alcohol or alcohol in general should actually be aware of everyone in today’s enlightened times!
With us rum nerds I estimate this danger however rather as small! Based on my drinking behavior, I try to enjoy the rum every time in its facets or perhaps also to discover something new taste.
Since it can also happen that I enjoy a glass drop by drop for hours … when I think of the TECC rum !
I think this conscious “drinking” prevents or reduces the risk of alcohol abuse immensely. And if I then look at my collection so, are due to this, most bottles anyway still sealed, as well as quite a few samples (to the chagrin of my wife (space problems)).
Other than that, I agree with the others: Everyone should know and respect its limits!
Hi every one!
Interesting question and shared concern!
Lover of rum, in addition I live in Burgundy and I have family in Champagne so no one helps me here!
As far as I’m concerned, I don’t go without drinking anything for a long time, but I try especially not to drink / taste alcohol every day because I think it’s a habit that could quickly make me addicted, like all habits. I try to book my tastings and my little rum glasses for the weekend.
But of course during the holidays, the weekends are longer
Also: At first I tended to use a Glas from Rum&co for sipping (I wish they would stop this habit, addi g those to the order, I don’t order there anymore as I don’t want more useless glasses), but switched to a glass from Riedel, for sipping rum or whisky. This one is much smaller, and looks good with 2,5 to 3 cl poured, compared to the older tumbler where this amount would only slightly cover the bottom. I did this mainly because I wanted to limit the amount I drank in one glass.
Btw … people who never drink rum (but of course beer - I live in Germany after all) often think that I am a little “Saufnase” (saying alcoholic the neat way in German) because I taste so many different rums. In 2021 e.g. I tasted about 250 rums at an average of 50% ABV, however I didn’t drink more than 1 cl at most on average, so <= 250 cl at 50% ABV on average. The German average for drinking beer is 100 litres per head (yeah right 100 litres as in 10.000 cl or in words ten thousand!!! ewwww - did I say I don’t like beer at all ). Even if that beer would only have 2.5% ABV on average it would still equal 500 cl of rum at 50% ABV. So statistically I drink half as much in rum than the average German consumes in beer (adult) regarding alcohol. Sorry I am not just a rum nerd
Anyway, I won’t start an alcohol is not healthy discussion here, of course drinking nothing would be “best” but you can start that discussion with almost anything we eat or drink but water and whole-grain bread . My point is that enjoying (even quite a lot of) good rum doesn’t necessarily make you a “Saufnase”. Since I am a control freak as my wife names it I also have an app called Waterminder where I track how much and what I drink, because I had a time when I drank way too little (less than a litre a day) and this way I do not only keep track of how much water I drink, but also how much alcohol I consume.
I know it is a somewhat different discussion, i.e. the one ‚which glass do you prefer‘, but it is also one argument, why I have now almost exclusively been using the 1920s blender glasses for all rums. With these glasses you gain just so much more (especially on the nose) with one or two cl, while with the Rum&Co glasses you need basically more cl to get the same intensity - if at all. I have made a direct comparison a couple of times with the same rum in both glasses, and the differences were remarkable.
It’s partly a different topic, but I absolutely agree that with the right nosing glass you need fewer cl to actually get a good nose than with a random bad glass.
Ich sammel Rhum/Rum und genieße ihn auch, in Maßen. Es war für mich zum Anfang sehr ungewohnt soviel Alkohol im Haus zu haben und ich hab mir die Frage gestellt, wie gehe ich damit um. Die Frage war schnell beantwortet “VERANTWORTUNGSBEWUSST”. Ich hab mir ein Limit gesetzt, beim Preis und beim Verzehr. Nutuerlich freu ich mich über eine neue Verkostung aber ich mache es auch von meiner Befindlichkeit abhängig. Ich halte mich auch daran, nie mehr als 6 cl. pro Tag zu verkosten. Zwischen den Verkostungen liegen auch schon mal einige Tage oder Wochen. Das steigert die Vorfreude. Ich mache das ganz Bewußt so.
Really interesting topic…
I usually taste my rums after dinner (with two children, it usually take me at least two hours), and my daily “dose” is between 1/2 cl… since I live in Italy, we tend to have really hot summers, so I basically drink 4 days a week (only 1 sample) until the temperature gets to high to drink!
From time to time i too join those “dry” weeks, just to reset my nose and palate
Ich stimme dir vollkommen zu. Ich habe max. 4 Flaschen gleichzeitig offen und man muß ja nicht gleich zu einer ganzen Flasche greifen, denn es gibt ja noch die Proben, die man gleich mitbestellen kann. Diese Vorgehensweise habe ich mir zu eigen gemacht. Gibt es für einen Rhum mal keine Probe, dann eben nicht. Ich mache mir da keine Stress.
I get that, I’m also a control freak when it comes to myself: rum, sports, weight, shape… I keep track of a lot of things However I like letting go too and can enjoy a good night’s drinking with some friends (the older I get, the less I like the morning after though). But I need to have the feeling that it’s MY decision. I don’t like it when I’m stuck in a bad habit. I used to smoke, but I quit that a long time ago. I’m prone to habituations and addictions (personality but also in my genes). So that makes me extra conscious about not letting me get too caught up in the “bad ones”.
Haven’t done that one so far, maybe that can make the to do list
Off topic but who cares: so far I have been using a Glencairn mostly, but I might have to consider a 1920s blender glass if it’s that much difference and worth the investment.
I’m happy to read in the comments that it’s a conscious proces for several of us So thank you all for your reactions.
Yep, so here in Poland, everything is just the oppositeo of what you described. Vodka is the “main” alcohol and it is drunk in quantities that are hard to believe (I think 30-50 cl per capita for a harder party is not shocking). Of course, I don’t mean to say that everyone has a drinking problem here but, compared to other countries, people drink A LOT. Personally, I stopped drinking neat vodka several years ago because I just haven’t found any, which gave me at least neutral experience. I’m not an expert on premium vodkas but the ones I’ve tried were just off-putting.
So when I “enjoy my rum in moderation”, drinking 1-4 glasses (below 10 cl in total) on a tasting evening, it is stunning for some people why I limit myself so much. Another astonishment comes when I “drink so slowly”, I can spend tens of minutes upon a rum glass, not getting bored and just discovering it slowly. Of course, it is completely opposite from taking a shot, which is what most people here do.
The only thing about my rum consumption that earns respect in the eyes of vodka enjoyers is the fact that the rums are strong. It is not so rare in Poland that people drink shots of 96% pure spirit. There’s actually entire methodology of drinking spirit to diminish the burn, you need to exhale first, then take a shot, best with your nose closed with your fingers.
So anytime you are being accused of drinking hard just because you drink rum, not beer, just recall this post and don’t blame yourself
I think a big factor is that many people don’t realize that a glass of rum has less alcohol in it than a beer does. 2cl of rum at 60% abv has 9.6 grams of Alcohol, and a 33cl bottle of beer at 5% abv contains 13.2 grams.
!
). Even if that beer would only have 2.5% ABV on average it would still equal 500 cl of rum at 50% ABV. So statistically I drink half as much in rum than the average German consumes in beer (adult) regarding alcohol. Sorry I am not just a rum nerd 
However I like letting go too and can enjoy a good night’s drinking with some friends (the older I get, the less I like the morning after though). But I need to have the feeling that it’s MY decision. I don’t like it when I’m stuck in a bad habit. I used to smoke, but I quit that a long time ago. I’m prone to habituations and addictions (personality but also in my genes). So that makes me extra conscious about not letting me get too caught up in the “bad ones”.
So thank you all for your reactions.
(I think 30-50 cl per capita for a harder party is not shocking). Of course, I don’t mean to say that everyone has a drinking problem here but, compared to other countries, people drink A LOT. Personally, I stopped drinking neat vodka several years ago because I just haven’t found any, which gave me at least neutral experience. I’m not an expert on premium vodkas but the ones I’ve tried were just off-putting.