The easiest spiced rum cocktails are classics with the plain rum swapped out: spiced rum and ginger beer, a Cuba libre, a pineapple colada, a daiquiri, a mojito, an old fashioned, an espresso martini, a planter's punch and, for cold nights, a hot Bombardino with rum. Pour the spiced rum at the same measure the classic recipe gives for white or dark rum. Any spiced rum works; where one of ours suits a drink, we say so.
Rum is distilled from fermented sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice, and spiced rum is rum flavoured with spices, according to Wikipedia's rum entry. Our three spiced rums lead with different fruit flavours, so matching a bottle to one of these spiced rum cocktails is easy. The pairings are near the end.
Long spiced rum cocktails with ginger beer, cola or pineapple
Spiced rum and ginger beer
This is the Dark 'n' Stormy build. Gosling Brothers hold the US trademark on that name and their version uses Gosling's rum, so call yours a spiced rum and ginger beer.
- 60 ml spiced rum
- 100 ml ginger beer
- A lime wedge to squeeze
Fill a highball glass with ice, pour in the ginger beer, then float the rum on top.
Spiced Cuba libre
- 50 ml spiced rum
- 120 ml cola
- 10 ml fresh lime juice
Build it over ice in a highball glass and garnish with a lime wedge. For a spiced apple version, swap the cola for cloudy apple juice.
Pineapple colada
A piña colada already has pineapple juice in it, so Queen Pineapple Spiced Rum doubles up on the combination.
- 50 ml spiced rum
- 30 ml cream of coconut
- 50 ml fresh pineapple juice
Blend with ice, pour into a large glass and serve with a straw. Garnish with a maraschino cherry or a pineapple wedge.
Shaken, stirred or muddled spiced rum cocktails
Spiced rum daiquiri
- 60 ml spiced rum
- 20 ml fresh lime juice
- 2 bar spoons of caster sugar
Mix the sugar into the rum and lime in a cocktail shaker until it dissolves. Add ice, shake, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Spiced rum mojito
- 45 ml spiced rum
- 20 ml fresh lime juice
- 6 sprigs of mint
- 2 teaspoons of white cane sugar, or 20 ml sugar syrup
- Soda water
Muddle the mint with the sugar and lime, add a splash of soda and fill the glass with ice. Pour in the rum, top up with soda and stir lightly.
Spiced rum old fashioned
The classic uses bourbon or rye. Our Sevilla Orange Spiced Rum Liqueur is one to enjoy neat, which makes it a good fit.
- 45 ml spiced rum
- 1 sugar cube
- A few dashes of Angostura bitters
- A few dashes of plain water
Muddle the sugar with the bitters and water, add the rum and serve on the rocks. Garnish with orange zest and a cocktail cherry.
Spiced rum espresso martini
The standard espresso martini is made with vodka. Swap in spiced rum and use our Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur.
- 50 ml spiced rum
- 30 ml coffee liqueur
- 1 strong espresso
Shake hard with ice in a cocktail shaker, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with three coffee beans.
A spiced rum punch for a party
The planter's punch is an IBA official cocktail made with Jamaican rum, lime juice and sugar cane juice. Per glass:
- 45 ml spiced rum
- 15 ml lime juice
- 30 ml sugar cane juice
Pour straight into a small tumbler and add orange zest. For a party of six, the recipe scales simply: mix 270 ml rum, 90 ml lime juice and 180 ml sugar cane juice in a jug.
Hot spiced rum cocktails for Christmas
In Italian ski resorts the Bombardino is about three parts hot egg liqueur to one part brandy or rum, and the rum version is called the pirata, according to the Bombardino page on Wikipedia. The same page lists a version made with eggnog. This recipe makes one mug:
- 75 ml Bombardino custard liqueur, warmed
- 25 ml spiced rum
- Whipped cream
Warm the Bombardino gently, because it contains egg yolk and curdles if it overheats. Stir in the rum and spoon the cream on top.
Hot buttered rum is another warm option: rum, butter, hot water or cider, a sweetener and spices, usually cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
Which of our spiced rums suits which cocktail
Queen Pineapple Spiced Rum starts with Queen pineapple pulp soaked in dark rum for weeks, plus peels macerated in white rum and distilled. Use it in the colada and the punch.
Sevilla Orange pairs the aroma of Seville oranges with a single-estate rum from the Dominican Republic, matured for seven years. Try it in the Cuba libre, its apple version or the old fashioned.
Japanese "Niban" Yuzu Spiced Rum blends the flavours of yuzu with a delicate rum. Niban is Japanese for "number two", because it is our second yuzu product. It goes with ginger beer and lime.
Can't choose a favourite? The Rum Taster set holds eight 40 ml rums, four of them spiced: coconut, yuzu, pineapple and orange. For coconut ideas, read our coconut spiced rum guide, or taste before you buy a bottle in our Stamford shop.
Spiced rum questions
What mixes well with spiced rum?
Ginger beer, cola, pineapple juice and apple juice for long spiced rum cocktails; lime, mint and soda water for a mojito.
What is the best way to drink spiced rum?
There is no single best way. Sevilla Orange is good neat, Queen Pineapple works over ice, and all three suit the spiced rum cocktails above.
Please drink responsibly. The NHS alcohol units guide advises men and women not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis.
