4 Delicious Funky Rums That You Need To Try During Quarantine
Funky Rums will make your next ZOOM happy hour the tastiest yet. With some recipes!
‘The Funk’ Jamaican Rum
I first tried The Reef in Palm Springs. It’s a great little Tiki Bar located at The Caliente Tropics Hotel. I asked the bartender if he made any ‘off-menu’ tiki drinks. Most good tiki drink slingers have a recipe that they’ve ‘been working on’ and they’re almost always delicious and interesting. He called the drink The Ambrosia and it was filled with The Funk and was refreshing and decadent. It’s an un-aged pot still rum and it tastes like funky bananas with acidic notes of lemon mango and — grass? Yup, grass. It’s complex and tasty and will make your next Tiki Drink sing.
Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold Rum
A pot still Jamaican rum that’s big and bold. It’ll fill the bar with funky, fruity notes the second you pull the cork. The distiller has been making it since the 1600s, no kidding. It’s dark and delicious and like most Jamaican pot still rums it has heavy notes of banana and spices. The last time I had it I made a Montego Bay, recipe below.
Montego Bay
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz white grapefruit juice
1/2 oz honey mix
1 1/2 oz dark Jamaican rum (Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Rum — Gold or Black)
1/2 tsp pimento dram (Hamilton Jamaican Pimento Dram)
1 dash Angostura bitters
6 drops of Pernod
6 oz crushed ice
Lost Spirits Navy Style Rum
If you’re ever in Los Angeles and want something interesting to do book a tour of The Lost Spirits Distillery, it is unlike any distillery on the planet. It’s set deep in a man-made jungle only accessible by boat, for real. The laboratory is legendary in the industry. And the entire facility was engineered and built by the five working partners without the use of contractors or outside labor. The Navy Style rum isn’t overly sweet but tastes of Molasses and overripe bananas. It’s a great rum to sip on its own, neat or with an ice cube. If you want a cocktail to try — this variation on the Scarr Power is wonderful.
Scarr Power
5 oz Lost Spirits Navy Style rum, 55% ABV
.75 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
.5 oz 2:1 Nutmeg syrup
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass.
Add ice and stir until chilled.
Smith & Cross Jamaica Rum
Smith & Cross is one of my favorite rums on the planet. It’s great on it its own, as a sipper and it’s really good when properly mixed in a cocktail. My wife and I were at Trader Sams Enchanted Tiki Bar at The Disneyland Hotel the first time I tried it and I’ve never gone back. Smith & Cross is a 100% Jamaican pot still rum that’s aged for 6 months before being bottled. Try a sipper of it or maybe try the Kingston Negroni
1 ounce Smith & Cross
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce sweet vermouth (preferably Carpano Antica)
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass.
Add ice and stir until chilled.
Strain into over ice (preferably a large cube) into a rocks glass.
Garnish with a long, trimmed orange peel.
