What mixes best with spiced rum? We tried 26 mixers to find out

This blog post describes what we found when we taste tested twenty six different mixers with Swan Knight Distillery golden spiced rum.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Cola
-Coca-Cola Original
-Pepsi
-Diet Coke
-Diet Pepsi
-Coke Zero
-Pepsi Max
-Fentimans Cola
Dr Pepper
Red Bull
Fruit juice
-Pineapple juice
-Orange juice
-Mango juice
-Apple juice
-Cranberry juice
-Grapefruit juice
Lemonade
-Fever Tree lemonade
-Sprite
Tonic water
-Fever Tree tonic water
-Schweppes tonic water
Brewed coffee
Ginger beer
-Old Jamaica ginger beer
-Fever Tree ginger beer
Ginger ale
Hot chocolate
Coconut water
Coconut milk
Conclusions

 

Introduction

So how is a rum and mixer different from a rum cocktail? From our perspective, the difference is linked to the number of ingredients. A rum and mixer have two ingredients (ignoring any garnish) whereas a rum cocktail has more ingredients. Food & Wine seems to agree and although there are other definitions, this feels like a nice simple differentiation. If you are more interested in cocktails then there is a rum cocktails page.

Everyone has their favourite mixer when enjoying rum, and very often it is a form of cola. It is the very reason that we wrote a blog post all about rum and cola but actually, there are many mixers that work really well with rum. In this blog post, we delve into the world of mixers with rum and use our taste buds to describe the resulting drinks.

To be clear, everyone's palate is different and added to that, the palate can change every few weeks, so our taste testing is subjective. However, it is hoped that it does provide some guidance as to how a rum and each mixer might taste and at the very least, start you on a journey of discovery that might include mixers apart from cola.

To add further confusion to taste testing, the rum and mixer drink is a combination of the two component flavours. In other words, add the same mixer to a spiced rum or a dark rum and the results are two very different tastes. Obviously, we used Swan Knight Distillery golden spiced rum in the taste tests but there are many different types of rum and they all taste different as we talk about in the chemistry of rum.

You may remember from your school days the below diagram of the taste areas within in the human tongue. Whilst it looks simple and appears to make sense, it is actually incorrect. In essence, all parts of the tongue can taste sweet, sour, salty etc as different taste receptors are involved and they exist across the entire tongue (although they are concentrated in certain areas, more than in others). More information can be found here.

Taste areas and anatomy of the human tongue

To make describing the flavour profile easier, we split the taste into fifteen adjectives. We then arranged them in a flavour wheel so that related adjectives were closer together while unrelated adjectives were placed on the opposite side of the wheel.

The flavour wheel for assessing spiced rum with mixers

Finally, we mixed each drink in the standard mixer to rum 2:1 ratio and marked down each adjective that we felt best described the flavour. The remainder of this blog post describes the results from those taste tests and, for each mixer, lists the adjectives that we agreed best matched the resulting drink best.

Cola

Cola traces back as far as 1886 in Atlanta when it was created by John Pemberton. Frank Robinson, Pemberton's bookkeeper, called the recipe "Coca-Cola" and designed the brand's logo. The recipe included kola nuts, which provided the caffeine, as well as unspent coca leaf extract, which added cocaine to the mix. The cocaine was removed in the early 1900s.

The modern Cola drink has many variants including Coca-Cola Original, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar and other flavoured ones, such as Coca-Cola Cherry and Coca-Cola Vanilla. Additionally, other companies such as Pepsi-Cola provide their versions of this highly popular drink. The taste differences between the variants can be extensive so taste testing with different brands and variants is a must, in order to find what works best for your palate. For example, the Coca-Cola Original is the classic and most popular flavour whilst Coke Zero Sugar attempts to gain the same taste but sugar free. Diet Coke is another sugar free option and is also extremely popular. These variants also come in caffeine free versions. To add further options, there are also international flavours, such as Inca Kola in Peru as well as regional variations in the core recipe across the world.

Pepsi also offer a multitude of options, including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max. The last two are sugar free. For both Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the sweetness in the drinks can provided by HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup), cane sugar or artificial sweeteners. Different levels of carbonation, local water supplies and flavourings such as citrus oils and spices can provide different tastes. The acidity in the drink is often provided by phosphoric acid, sometimes with the addition of citric acid.

We talk more about the rum and coke drink in another blog post and its cocktail cousin, the Cuba Libre.

Spiced rum and cola image, created by creator.nightcafe.studio

-Coca-Cola Original

-Sweet
-Tangy
-Smoky
-Boozy
-Savoury
-Complex

This was taste tested on the standard rum to mixer 1:2 ratio as it is recommended at that level. When it was tried at 1:3 level, the mixer overpowered the flavours coming from the rum. Of all of the cola derivatives that were tried, Coca-Cola Original seemed to taste the sweetest, with all other flavours seeming secondary. It can be drunk in either a tumbler or a hiball glass, depending on how much ice is desired.

-Pepsi

-Sweet
-Spicy
-Tangy
-Smoky
-Boozy

When taste testing Pepsi as a mixer, compared to Coca-Cola Original, the main difference is the drink has a distinctly spicy taste to it. Other than that, the drink has the same overriding sweetness to start with, before the flavour from the rum shows up on the palate. Similarly to the Coca-Cola Original, based on the desired amount of ice, the drink can be served in either a tumbler or a hiball glass. 

-Diet Coke

-Sweet
-Spicy
-Tangy
-Boozy
-Complex

For our palates, this mixer with rum is not as sweet and as a result, tastes more balanced. The sweetness is still present but not as overpowering and as a result, other more subtle flavours emerge. The drink rose in popularity in the mid 1940s after it was featured in a Calypso song by Lord Invader, called "Rum and Coca-Cola". There is also a variation called the "Extra Dirty Diet Coke" which includes coconut syrup and lime juice.

-Diet Pepsi

-Sweet
-Spicy
-Tangy
-Boozy
-Complex

For our palates, this mixer with rum tastes very similar to the Diet Coke drink. This drink is not as sweet as either Coca-Cola Original or Pepsi, and therefore, we found it to have a more balanced flavour where the sweetness is still there, but the spices and other flavours also presented themselves. Its closest competitor is probably Diet Coke and whilst both are popular diet cola options, Diet Pepsi is often described as slightly sweeter with a hint of lemon and lime. This may be due to Diet Pepsi including acesulfame potassium (Ace K) amongst its sweeteners while Diet Coke uses just aspartame.

-Coke Zero

-Sweet
-Spicy
-Fruity
-Herbaceous
-Boozy
-Complex

This is one of our favourite rum mixers and it is purely down to our palates. In fact, Coke Zero has a number of advantages, namely, it is low calorie, it is sweet but also has a number of other flavours and it has one of the lower caffeine levels. In fact, Coke Zero was designed to be a lower calorie version of Coca-Cola original and it succeeds in that it is sweeter (but not too sweet) than Diet Coke. It is also lower in caffeine (34mg per 12oz) than Diet Coke (46mg per 12oz) and this may filter through into the taste as we can taste spicy, fruity and herbaceous notes in the drink.

-Pepsi Max

-Sweet
-Spicy
-Tangy
-Boozy
-Crisp
-Refreshing

We were split on how to describe the taste of Pepsi Max with rum. Some of us tasted an almost overpowering sweetness while others found the drink to be refreshing and crisp. Additionally, some taste testers noted a presense of vanilla in the drink. This drink really is entirely dependent on your taste buds. 

Similarly to Coke Zero, Pepsi Max is offered as a lower calorie option that tastes much closer to regular Pepsi and, as a result, has a higher caffeine level and carbonation that Diet Pepsi. Additionally, Coke Zero contains potassium citrate while Pepsi Max includes ginseng, so it is not surprising that there was a wide range of taste sensations amongst the testers. 

-Fentimans Cola

-Sweet
-Spicy
-Tangy
-Herbaceous
-Boozy

When we compared this cola to the other colas that we tested, it tasted (to us) as having a lighter, more herbaceous flavour. To a limited extent, those flavours come through when Fentimans Cola is mixed with spiced rum. This is because the spices from the rum can harmonise with the cola and tone down some of the herbaceous undertones. When comparing Fentimans Cola to other colas, the higher caffeine content shines through as does the darker, caramel colouring and the ginger and cinnamon flavours.

Dr Pepper

Although Dr Pepper has a similar colour to Cola, it is considered to be in a food category of its known, namely, "Pepper Soda". It is a carbonated soft drink and was created in the mid 1880s by an American pharmacist, Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas. Globally, it manufactured by both the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. There are a number of flavoured variants on the market, as well as Diet Dr Pepper. Rumours abound that Dr Pepper contains prune juice, but this has been officially refuted. Nonetheless, the recipe is a closely guarded secret where it is believed that the two halves of the recipe are stored in safety deposit boxes in separate banks in Dallas. There are many theories as to how the name was derived, with the most popular belief being that it is based on an actual doctor, a Dr Charles Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia.

Dr Pepper has been described as sweet, fruity and spicy with notes of nuts, cherry and vanilla. It is, apparently, a blend of twenty three different extracts and flavourings. Dr Pepper can often be found as a mixer with many full strength spirits, including rum, brandy and vodka, often with either strawberries or strawberry liqueur.

-Sweet
-Spicy
-Smoky
-Mellow

There are a few names for rum mixed with Dr Pepper and they can vary by region. Some of them are "The Captain Pepper", "Witch Doctor" and "Doc Oc". There is also a hot version, known as "Schuss-Boomer" where Dr Pepper is heated and poured over rum. Almost all of them use a rum to Dr Pepper ration of 1:3 over ice with a lime wedge added as a garnish. Personally, we prefer the 1:2 ratio as it allows the spices from the rum to come forward in the drink. Overall, it is a mellow drink with both sweetness and spices in harmony, making it an easy drink to enjoy with friends and family.

Red Bull

Red Bull is one of the most popular energy drinks globally and was launched in 1987. It is owned by Red Bull GmbH, based in Fuschl am See, near Salzburg, Austria. Its slogan "Red Bull Gives You Wings" is one of the most memorable and well known advertising slogans in the world. This is boosted by the sponsorship and support for numerous extreme sports, such as Red Bull Air Race. The Red Bull drink is derived from a Thai drink called Krating Daeng (translated as "Red Gear"). Created by the pharmacist Chaleo Yoovidhya in 1976, it was said to cure jet lag by an Austrian businessman, Dietrich Mateschitz, who was visiting Thailand at the time. The two formed Red Bull GmbH, with the patents and 51% being owned by the Yoovidhya family, and set about creating a westernised version of the drink, named Red Bull. Krating Daeng still exists and is actively marketed in some countries, usually at a lower price point than Red Bull. On a country by country basis, there are different amounts of caffeine, taurine, vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6 & B12), glucuronolactone and simple sugars (sucrose and glucose) in Red Bull. The drink also contains electrolytes within the carbonated water base.

-Sweet
-Bitter
-Spicy
-Tangy

Most of our taste testers agreed that the rum with Red Bull was sweet and then spicy with a slightly bitter finish, although not everyone got the bitter finish. It is possible that the low calorie, low sugar Red Bull may give a different taste profile, in the same way that the various Colas did. Personally, I prefer this drink in a tumbler over a single, large block of ice and to savour the experience of drinking it. Rum and Red Bull can also be combined in a cocktail called Rumbull, with the addition of mango, lime juice and grenadine.

Image of rum and red bull in a crystal tumbler, created by creator.nightcafe.studio

Fruit juice

Fruit juice is made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit. It is often drunk as a beverage or used as an ingredient in other drinks, such as smoothies and cocktails. In the United Kingdom, the name of the fruit juice can only be legally used if the product is 100% fruit juice. A fruit nectar must contain between 25% and 50% juice, depending on the fruit used. Any fruit juice or nectar must declare the use of concentrate if it has been included. However, fruit juice produced from reconstituting concentrate can be called juice. Fruit juice is often drunk for the perceived health benefits, such as vitamin C, potassium or folic acid. With regard to rum, fruit juice is often added to cocktails, particularly tropical rum cocktails. However, it can also be enjoyed as a mixer with a good quality rum. We cover rum cocktails elsewhere in the blog so we will 'concentrate' on fruit juice mixers here.

Image of different fruit juices, created by creator.nightcafe.studio

-Pineapple juice

-Sweet
-Fruity
-Tangy
-Boozy
-Refreshing
-Complex

Rum mixed with pineapple juice can be known as a Pineapple Rum Punch although it is usually called "rum and pineapple". Pineapple juice can have a strong flavour, so a spiced rum is a good choice to mix with it, as the spices are often able to harmonise with the fruit juice. Best enjoyed in a hi-ball glass with a lot of ice, it is most certainly a drink to be sipped as the ice slowly melts. Personally, I prefer pineapple juice and rum as part of a cocktail so that other flavours, such as orange juice and grenadine can add a further level of balance to the overall taste.

-Orange juice

-Tangy
-Spicy
-Fruity

Although, the primary flavours for orange juice and rum are fruity, tangy and spicy, there is also an underlying sweetness to the drink. Best enjoyed over ice, each sip has the capability to transport you to a tropical island. I prefer this mixer over pineapple juice as the acidity and tartness of the orange juice manages to strike a balance with the richness of the rum. For a slightly sweeter drink, a dash of Grenadine will help as well as provide a touch of drama. This fruit juice is one where the highest quality mixer really can make a difference to the resulting drink.

-Mango juice

-Sweet
-Tangy
-Fruity
-Complex

Mango juice contains vitamins A and C, which can boost the immune system, together with antioxidants such as mangiferin and beta-carotene that protect against cell damage. However, packaged mango juice can often have added sugar, which can contribute to spikes in blood sugar. Whole mangoes are healthier as the dietary fibre and amylase compounds can help overall digestion. From both a taste and a wellness perspective, blending fresh mangoes to make mango juice is the preferred option.

Nonetheless, mixing mango juice with rum is a delicious drink and alternative to more complicated cocktails. Although mango juice can be sweet, the sharpness of the rum can provide balance to the drink. Best consumed over ice, usually in a hiball glass, the drink has a refreshingly tangy finish to it.

-Apple juice

-Sweet
-Sour
-Tangy
-Fruity
-Crisp
-Refreshing
-Complex

Mixing apple juice with rum was a surprising drink. Although we were not quite sure what to expect, the result was a very pleasant mix of sweet and sour with the tang and crispness of the apples really coming out. Overall, a refreshing drink that satisfied the palate at many levels. Freshly pressed apple juice did, to our taste buds, have an edge over other apple juices.

-Cranberry juice

-Sweet
-Sour
-Bitter
-Fruity
-Complex

The vitamin C and high antioxidant content of cranberry juice has many benefits. Chief amongst those are better heart health, prevention of (UTIs) urinary tract infections and help manage cholesterol levels. Pure unsweetened cranberry juice has the best health benefits but has an intense, acidic flavour. As a result, simple syrup can be added to the drink to reduce the taste of acidity.

In many fruit juice and rum drinks, the first taste is sweetness that then fades to a sour or bitter finish. However, with cranberry juice and rum, the reverse is true. There is a big initial hit of sourness that is then replaced with a sweeter aftertaste. The spiced rum has to be well flavoured in order to bring balance to the cranberry juice, and when it does, the drink has a wonderful complexity, which is best sipped over ice in a tumbler.

-Grapefruit juice

-Sour
-Bitter
-Crisp
-Refreshing

Like cranberry juice, the juice from grapefruits is high in vitamin C. Grapefruit juice can come in white, pink and ruby red colours and each has a different flavour and sweetness profile. We used the pink variant in our taste testing.

Although we have marked rum and grapefruit juice as sour and bitter, the reality is that, as a drink, it was much less bitter than we expected. This may be to do with the sweetness from the spiced rum offsetting the grapefruit juice. As a result, the drink is refreshing and pleasant.

Lemonade

As a sweetened lemon drink, lemonade can trace its origins back to ancient Egypt. However, its carbonated form has been around since the 1830s when it was produced at scale by Johann Schweppe. The US temperance movement, in the 19th century, was focussed on reducing or eliminating alcohol and non carbonated lemonade was promoted as a popular alternative. 

We often use lemonade as a mixer to turn short drinks into longer ones, as it is sweeter than tonic water. When we conducted the taste testing, we compared Fever Tree lemonade with Sprite as mixers with rum. There are other lemonade brands that we have tried over the years but these two are our favourites and are versatile as both mixers and drinking on their own. However, whichever lemonade brand you use, rum and lemonade will provide a refreshing summer drink. The sweet and tart lemonade provides an excellent balance to the spices in spiced rum.

Image of spiced rum and lemonade, created by creator.nightcafe.studio

-Fever Tree lemonade

-Sweet
-Tangy
-Fruity
-Crisp
-Refreshing

The strong citrus flavour in Fever Tree Lemonade continues to dominate when mixed with spiced rum, although the spices can be tasted towards the end of each sip. Although the drink does have a certain sweetness, the tangy, fruity flavours are the main flavours when taste tested.

-Sprite

-Sweet
-Fruity
-Refreshing
-Mellow

When compared to Fever Tree lemonade, Sprite tasted sweeter and more mellow. The lemon flavour is less intense and as a result the rum spices emerge in harmony with the citrus undertones. Overall, this is a mellow and refreshing drink that is best served over ice.

Tonic water

Tonic water takes its origin from India, where British soldiers would mix quinine (from the cinchona tree) with soda water and sugar. Erasmus Bond patented the recipe in 1858 and began the evolution from medicinal malaria protector to refreshing mixer and cocktail ingredient. Today, there are many types of tonic water available, including classic Indian, low or sugar free, elderflower, pink grapefruit and Valencian orange.

For the purposes of our taste testing, we used Fever Tree and Schweppes original tonic waters. We did this as we find Fever Tree tonic water to have a softer flavour and wished to see if it could stand up to the spices in spiced rum (which it did). Our preference is to drink rum and tonic in the same way as we drink G&T i.e. in a balloon glass with plenty of ice.

-Fever Tree tonic water

-Sour
-Tangy
-Crisp
-Refreshing

Fever Tree tonic waters are one of the most popular brands at the moment and can be found in most bars and restaurants. As described previously, the Fever Tree original tonic water has a softer, milder flavour that goes really well with a gently spiced rum. We have found that the darker or more heavily spiced rums tend to overpower this tonic water.

-Schweppes tonic water

-Bitter
-Tangy
-Herbaceous
-Crisp
-Refreshing

Schweppes Tonic Water has a stronger flavour than Fever Tree original and that allows it to work well with darker rums, particularly if they are also well spiced. The two ingredients balance well and like a G&T, taste crisp and refreshing. We prefer this drink over lots of ice in a balloon glass, with a slice of lemon on the side.

Brewed coffee

Coffee and rum have a long history together as their origins lie in the Caribbean and Latin America. Probably the best known is the Jamaican coffee which features rum and a single coffee bean garnish. It is often made in the same way as an Irish coffee i.e with cream and two sugars. There is also a German drink, called Pharisäer, which features rum, coffee and whipped cream over a large sugar cube. There are also a number of popular coffee infused rums (such as Kahlúa) on the market as well as a Spanish variant, Carajillo, which uses coffee and a range of spirits, such as rum or brandy.

-Smoky
-Boozy
-Complex

We started the taste test with cold brewed coffee and then realised that roughly half of the group preferred their spiced rum with hot brewed coffee so we left the title as just "brewed coffee". Nonetheless, whether hot or cold, the descriptions turned out remarkably similar, with smoky, boozy and complex being the overriding adjectives used.

Whilst we are a fan of a few coffee flavoured rums, this taste test is about mixers and in this case, brewed coffee. Our clear preference is double espresso with spiced rum as opposed to black americano. This is primarily because, to our taste buds, the spices in the rum tend to get diluted when an americano is used. As in all things, there is a health warning to be considered and that is the amount of caffeine in the drink. To give some context, a double espresso can deliver 130 to 180mg of caffeine against 80 to 140mg for americano. However, there is only 46mg in Diet Coke and even less (33mg) in Coca-Cola Original. Nonetheless, we personally thoroughly enjoy spiced rum with cold brewed coffee and will sometimes drink it hot so that spiced rum fumes provide a delicious aroma. For a coffee rum cocktail, we have a recipe for spiced rum espresso martini.

Ginger beer

Ginger beer was created in Yorkshire around the 18th century, and from there it spread throughout the British Empire. It started as a strongly flavoured, alcoholic drink that was made from ginger, sugar, yeast and water. The zesty flavour profile makes it perfect for cocktails, such as the Moscow Mule or our version of the Dark'n'Stormy. By the early 20th century, low alcohol versions were popular and today, many ginger beers are carbonated rather than fermented (as was originally the case).

Ginger ale is different to ginger beer and is covered later in this blog post. Ginger ale has a much softer ginger flavour, due it usually being made with ginger extract and is generally sweeter. Ginger beer is likely to contain real ginger root (with a stronger ginger flavour) and a lower sugar content.

Image of spiced rum and ginger beer, created by creator.nightcafe.studio

-Old Jamaica ginger beer

-Tangy
-Spicy
-Smoky
-Boozy
-Complex

Sipping Old Jamaica and rum makes it easy to drift off and imagine plantation owners drinking the night away whilst sitting at a local bar in the tropical heat. This is one of the rare drinks where a few can be enjoyed whilst socialising with friends and family. The ginger from the ginger beer works perfectly with the spices from the spiced rum and the vanilla and caramel from the rum give an extra lift of sweetness. Overall, it is a well balanced drink and one of our favourites to relax with.

-Fever Tree ginger beer

-Tangy
-Spicy
-Smoky
-Boozy
-Mellow

Fever Tree ginger beer has a strong ginger flavour but it is not as intense as its Old Jamaica counterpart. The result is that when mixed with spiced rum, the drink is more mellow rather than complex in flavour. It is equally easy to enjoy, especially over ice, but the ginger tones are softer, and the drink works well as an after dinner sipper.

Ginger ale

First of all, ginger ale is not an ale but a carbonated non-alcoholic drink. It is flavoured with ginger and often has added sugar. Ginger ale is transparent unlike its cloudy, stronger tasting cousin; ginger beer. Ginger ale hails from the 1850s in Belfast where Thomas Cantrell created a "golden ginger ale" that was fermented, sweet, dark with a strong ginger flavour. There is also a pale dry version that was created by the Canadian, John McLaughlin, around 1904. This version became popular in the Prohibition era, where it was used as a mixer for alcoholic drinks. Most ginger ale manufacturers will chill the water so that more carbon dioxide can be dissolved, thus carbonating the drink more easily.

-Sweet
-Spicy
-Tangy
-Boozy
-Crisp
-Refreshing
-Mellow

For the taste testing, we used Fever Tree ginger ale and it was easy to see the differences between ginger beer and ginger ale when mixed with spiced rum. The ginger ale and rum drink is sweet and not as crisp or refreshing, but it was slightly easier to drink as the ginger flavour is not as potent. Overall, a smooth drink that could be consumed with or without ice, ideally, in a tumbler.

Hot chocolate

Today, hot chocolate is a sweet, warm drink made by mixing cocoa powder, shaved or melted chocolate with either heated milk or hot water. It can be garnished with whipped cream or marshmallows (sometimes both). However, it was not always like this. Its origins lie with the Mayan and Aztec civilisations where cacao seeds were ground and then mixed with cornmeal, chillies and water. The resulting bitter beverage was consumed cold by the nobility at religious ceremonies. The Spanish conquistadors brought cacao back to Europe in the 16th century where sugar, cinnamon and other spices were added so that it gained in popularity amongst the wealthy. Cocoa contains antioxidants and has, historically, been recommended as a medicinal drink by doctors.

-Sweet
-Smoky
-Boozy
-Balanced

Hot chocolate and rum proved to be very popular with the taste testers, and the group was split between preferring the chocolate hot or cold. Those that preferred the chocolate hot were imagining drinking it beside a roaring fire whereas the cold chocolate voters were seeing the drink as an integral part of cocktail night. Nonetheless, all agreed that the drink (hot or cold) was well balanced and tasted delicious.

Coconut water

You can get coconut water from many stores or online, with Vita Coco being one of the best known brands. However, should you wish to, you can make it at home from young, tender coconuts. Coconut water has an ancient history of providing nourishment, as a portable drink and even as an IV fluid (when saline is in short supply). It is a great source of electrolytes, such as magnesium and potassium. Up until the early 2000s, coconut water was discarded as a by-product of the coconut industry. However, developments in packaging and processing have significantly extended its shelf life and it is now a multi billion pound business.

-Sweet
-Fruity
-Refreshing

Coconut water has a subtle sweetness and nutty flavour that allows it to pair nicely with many spirits including rum. The Caribeño Cocktail is made from white rum and coconut water and Malibu is a coconut flavoured liqueur made with Caribbean rum. These prove that coconut water is a great mixer for rum, and we certainly enjoyed the refreshing, hydrating taste of the drink. The coconut water allows the sweetness from the rum to come through and places a flavour of coconut on top of the spices from the spiced rum.

Coconut milk

Coconut milk is a whitish plant milk that has been extracted from the grated pulp of coconuts. It has a high oil content, the majority of which is saturated fat. It is used for drinking and in cooking across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Central America. Coconut milk is defined by its fat content (roughly 5%-20% by weight) with coconut cream being higher than 20%. However, this standard definition is not universally followed. Coconut milk is also a rich source of manganese. Coconut milk differs from coconut water due to coconut water being the clear fluid found within the coconut while coconut milk is created from the crushing of the white inner flesh of the coconut.

-Sweet
-Fruity
-Boozy
-Mellow

Although we labelled spiced rum and coconut milk as sweet, it was not an overpowering sweetness. Overall, it was agreed that there was a stronger coconut flavour and a slightly reduced impact from the spices in the rum. Some in the group preferred more coconut milk in their drink and it can be hard to stop the drink from separating. The trick seems to be to add the rum slowly to the coconut milk whilst stirring. If you purchased the coconut milk in a can and opened it to find that it is solid, then heat it on the stove or in the microwave for a short time to return it to its liquid state. It is also worth straining the coconut milk to remove any remaining lumps.

Conclusions

As can be seen from the wide variety of mixers that were taste tested with spiced rum, there is a lot of choice and flexibility with these drinks. On its own, spiced rum comes in many different flavours and when added to the myriad of different mixers, some delightful, even intriguing, drinks are the result. As always, it is about enjoying the journey (and the experiments) with friends and family.