Category: Rum

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Rum Curious Club at Zombie Village

The first event in a planned monthly series started this week at Zombie Village as “Rum Champion” Bryan Inman hosted a Rum Curious Club rum tasting event. Inman has been in the Bay Area several times over the past few years hosting events associated with his Rum Curious Club. This week’s was a ticketed event featuring (at least) six rums to taste, plus education about the rums and the spirit category generally. A specialty cocktail from Zombie Village was also available, though we stuck to ZV’s amazing Disco Banana.

Inman’s enthusiastic delivery was well received by the assembled crowed in the Voodoo Lounge upstairs at Zombie Village, and he brought some excellent rums from his personal collection including some very rare expressions. Perhaps most notable was Kulawai Rum from Fiji, a really wild rum that’s not yet available in the United States. Also notable was a Mainland Rum expression distilled in California from Hawaiian molasses and Full Circle 110, a rum blend that Inman participated in delivering to market. After the formal portion of the event closed, Inman pulled out a couple rare bottles for additional gratis tastings.

Assisting during the event was Nik Moser, the newly appointed Bay Area chapter head for the SoCal-based Rum Curious Club. Expect Moser to be the local point of contact for events and host when Inman doesn’t travel up north. The series is expected to be held at Zombie Village on a monthly basis, with upcoming event dates currently coming soon. Future events may involve a specific producer or cocktail theme, so keep an eye out to see if the upcoming events pique your interest.

We were pleased to see Zombie Village quite busy as we departed after 9:00 pm Wednesday, and midweek cocktails and rum tastings were totally worth the drive. Follow Zombie Village and the Rum Curious Club’s social media for announcement of future events.

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1642 Golden Rum from New Zealand

The sample was traded several times before landing in a little bottle courtesy our buddy Marshall who popped over for a round at the Trader Vic’s Speakeasy event yesterday. I’ve had rums from other Oceana countries, but never New Zealand and this was quite a gift.

1642 Golden Rum comes from National Distillery Company and is one of a series of rums in their portfolio. This particular expression is described as “Aged in first fill, ex-bourbon barrels, and combining a lighter than normal blend of molasses to sugarcane, this soft golden rum has a light, natural sweetness that further heroes the complexities of the afore mentioned first-fill bourbon barrels.”

This sounds like the blend includes distillate from sugar cane juice and I got a big hint of that even before reading the product description. The mouthfeel is quite rich and has plenty of flavor even at 42% ABV, comparing well to Rhum Barbancourt. Definitely a rum to keep your eye on.

Thanks to Marshall for expanding our horizons.

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Clarin vs. Rum

This was a pretty good pairing the other night when I went to Dr. Funk to keep working on my Rum Asylum rum list.

Clairin Communal is a really great four different clairins from small distilleries in the municipalities of Cavaillon, Baradères, Pignon, and Saint-Michel-de-l’Attalaye. Issued at a very approachable 43% ABV, the robust sugar cane juice distillate isn’t as grassy as some “agricole” style rums.

Meanwhile Angostura rum has a range of rum expressions, many of which contain added sugar.  Angostura 1919 here didn’t strike me as sweet as a I remember and is perhaps dryer than some of the others from the range. I believe this particular expression may be discontinued as I don’t see it on the Ango website.

Dr. Funk has a quarterly Rum Asylum meet-up and the next one is March 22. These events aren’t ticketed (at least not yet) and feature a rum brand with samples, education, and usually a lower cost cocktail made with one of the expressions. I expect I’ll complete Level II of the Rum Asylum by the time of this next event.

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Welcome to Sugar Town

Most spirits aficionados are aware that many rums contain added sugar. During my visit to Dr. Funk I chose two that are most noteworthy in this practice.

Planteray/Plantation 20th Anniversary XO has a base of aged Barbados rum and then adds a heavy dose of sugar, making this very easy to sip with hints of coconut. This wasn’t nearly as sweet as I remember, though still very far afield of typical Barbadian rums.

XO has a rep for being really high on those added sugar lists, but was practically dry compared to Papa’s Pilar which tasted basically like maple syrup it was so sweet. That one I didn’t finish.

Having a neat pour of rum can give you insights to the brand and understand the diversity of the rum category. Some expressions are those you return to again and again. And there are others you don’t.

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Rum Tasting at Dr. Funk

Had an impromptu visit to Dr. Funk to knock out a few more runs from the Rum Asylum rum list. These were pretty good, even the Havana Club which tasted a bit more rounded than I remember.

I’d probably rank them like this:

  1. Coruba
  2. Flor dr Caña
  3. Rhum Barbancourt
  4. Diplomatico
  5. Havana Club

I need to get busy and finish the level II list before the next quarterly meetup in March.

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Inuhele 2026 Seminar Slides

(Nearly) Everything You Know about Rum in a Mai Tai is Wrong

While the Mai Tai was born with a long-aged pot-still Jamaica rum, over decades the Trader used rums from various islands and styles to produce Mai Tais for different purposes. Learn how the rums and recipe for the Mai Tai evolved over the years and how changing up the rum can make your Mai Tai more palatable for your guests.

Think you know everything about rum in a Mai Tai? Prepare to have your assumptions challenged.

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The (De)Evolution of the Hawaiian Mai Tai

Everyone is familiar with the iconic Hawaiian Mai Tai that features pineapple juice and a dark rum float. This popular variant of the Mai Tai is quite different from the original 1944 Mai Tai created at Trader Vic’s.

So, when did the Mai Tai in Hawaii become the “Hawaiian Mai Tai” we know today? It is actually far later than the myths you might have heard. Learn more about this iconic cocktail and how it evolved over the years based on contemporaneous reports and published recipes.

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