Three cheers for National Rum Day! The annual holiday falls on Sunday, August 16, and there’s no better way to celebrate than to whip up a cocktail using the beloved spirit. To help you mark this special day, Us Weekly has compiled a roundup of eight rum-based drinks you need to try — and most of them contain four ingredients or less.
“Rum is extremely versatile, from sipping neat or on the rocks, to more complex cocktail favorites like refreshing white rum mojitos, daiquiris and piña coladas,” Copalli Rum global ambassadors Elayne Duff and Julie Reiner told Us Weekly.
Speaking of white rum cocktails, Reiner, a co-owner of New York City bars Clover Club and Leyenda, shared her rainforest daiquiri recipe with Us and noted that the drink boasts bold, zesty notes as well as more delicate vegetal flavors.
With rum, any food pairings really depend on the cocktail, but the duo did offer up some mealtime suggestions to go with a few of the drinks they crafted. “We love the Copalli white rum daiquiri outside by the pool with a shrimp cocktail, BBQ or a nice Cobb salad,” they said. “In the evening, we turn toward the Copalli barrel rested rum negroni paired with a steak and shrimp combo, salmon, or even spicy fish tacos.”
For Sebastien Derbomez, the brand advocacy manager for Scottish distiller William Grant & Sons, rum goes best with Caribbean fare. “When I think about food pairing, I’ll naturally pair rum with Caribbean foods thanks to its history,” he told Us “Ingredients such as pineapple, plantain, coconut and chicken will do wonders.”
And since rum is such a versatile spirit, it’s no surprise that it also acts as a great base for more dessert-like drinks such as the Monkey Wrench, which is made with two different types of rum, a banana and chocolate syrup.
No matter what else you put in your rum-based drink, high-quality, fresh ingredients are key. “In order to make a great rum cocktail, it takes a well-made rum like Copalli, fresh ingredients, the proper balance of flavors, great ice and attention to detail, from the glass to the prep and all the way down to the garnish,” Reiner and Duff told Us.
Scroll down for more cocktails that are perfect for National Rum Day!