What to mix with rum covers eight reliable mixers: lime juice, mint, cola, fresh pineapple, ginger beer, Coca-Cola, fresh orange juice, and Campari. Below: each one with the cocktail it builds, plus four rum classics from the Speakeater cellar.
Rum is the most regional spirit on the bar. Cuban white rum is light and clean. Jamaican is funky and aged. Demerara is heavy and burnt-sugar dark. The mixer matches the rum's weight. Below: eight reliable rum mixers ordered by how often they show up at a real Caribbean bar.
What to pour first.
Plus four rum cocktails from the cellar:
Common questions.
What's the best mixer for rum?
It depends on the rum. White rum (Cuban-style) wants lime and mint. Dark rum wants ginger beer or pineapple. Aged rum (Mount Gay, El Dorado) wants nothing. Sip it neat. The Daiquiri is the canonical default for white rum.
What kind of rum should I use for cocktails?
White rum (Bacardi, Havana Club 3) for Daiquiri, Mojito, Mary Pickford, Cuba Libre. Dark or aged rum for Mai Tai, Jungle Bird, Dark 'n' Stormy. Spiced rum is for bonfire drinks, not classic cocktails.
Can I mix rum with juice?
Pineapple, lime, and orange are the three classic rum juices. Cranberry, grapefruit, and lemon work but are less traditional. Fresh-squeezed always beats bottled. Pineapple in particular is unrecognizable in fresh vs canned form.
What's the easiest rum cocktail to make at home?
Daiquiri. Two ounces white rum, three-quarters of an ounce fresh lime, half an ounce simple syrup. Shaken with ice, double-strained into a coupe. Three minutes total. The 1898 Cuban original.