Classics

People have been making cocktails for a while now. They’ve pretty well ironed out which proportions & combinations work. Keep your home mixing within some tried & true frameworks and you’ll likely wind up happy with your drink.

How to use this page

If you’re not sure how to use rum in general or our rums in particular, the below will provides an idea of how to slot our products into some approachable classics. We’ll provide our take on the classic recipe, then suggest how each of our rums may or may not fit into it.

Split-Base Cocktails

We like trying split-base recipes when tinkering with non-rum classics, using rum and the original specified base spirit in equal parts. For example, a Manhattan with one ounce rye and one ounce PX Dark Rum retains the whiskey-rooted Manhattan-ness you know while adding a fruity, rummy wrinkle.

Daiquiri

The most classic of classics. The Citizen Kane of cocktails. Originally from Cuba, it was brought to the States by Navy personnel and made its US debut in DC at the Army Navy Club on Farragut Square. How about that.

C&R Rum	Our Thoughts
White Rum	The classic. Crisp & light. You’ll want another.
Mellow Gold	Softer. Vanilla & coconut notes balance lime.
PX Dark	Plush. Rich. Fancy. You get the idea.
Dry Spiced Rum	Herbaceous, spicy. Old drink, new vibe.
Allspice Dram	Try a Silver Lion instead.

recipe

1.5 oz Rum
.75 oz Lime Juice
.75 oz Simple Syrup

Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin and shake with ice.
Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

El Presidente

Another Cuban classic. Boozy but light, firm but fruity. A strange but delicious creature. The rare stirred cocktail that traditionally calls for White Rum. As people who spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about White Rum, we appreciate a cocktail that lets it shine.

C&R Rum	C&R Classics Uses & Notes
White Rum	The original. Light, fruity, sophisticated.
Mellow Gold	Softer, richer, but still appropriately delicate.
PX Dark	Try a rum Manhattan instead.
Dry Spiced Rum	A different drink. Martinez meets El Presidente.
Allspice Dram	Nope.

recipe

1.5 oz Rum
.75 oz Dry Vermouth
.25 oz Orange Curaçao
Scant Barspoon Grenadine

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir. Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with

Old Cuban

A modern classic created by New York bar legend Audrey Saunders. We tip our hat Northward. It’s like a Mojito and a French 75 had a baby more delicious and elegant than either parent. Sometimes genes are weird like that.

C&R Rum	Our Recommendations
White Rum	Light. Austere. Consider a fuller sparkling wine.
Mellow Gold	Vanilla notes show through. Balanced.
PX Dark	On point. Dark fruit underpins minty bubbles.
Dry Spiced Rum	The herbaceousness does French 75 things.
Allspice Dram	Not here.

recipe

1.5 oz. Rum
1 oz. Simple Syrup
3/4 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
2 oz. Champagne
1 mint sprig + 6 leaves

Queens Park Swizzle

Simplicity meets Instagramability. What’s not to like? An early 20th Century creation of Trinidad’s Queens Park Hotel, it’s a versatile rum vehicle. Purists insist you swizzle it with a stick from the Caribbean tree Quararibea turbinate. We’re rarely accused of being purists, so we say: use a bar spoon or whatever else is handy.

C&R Rum	Our Recommendations
White Rum	Refreshing choice. Best bitters color pop.
Mellow Gold	Still light and refreshing, but rounder.
PX Dark	Yes. Rich dark fruit vs. mint & lime = balance.
Dry Spiced Rum	Not classic, but tasty. Complex & layered.
Allspice Dram	Not for this one.

recipe

2 oz. Rum
1 oz. Simple Syrup
1 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1 Sprig Mint Plus ~4 Leaves
4 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Muddle mint leaves with simple syrup in a collins or hurricane glass. Add rum, lime, and crushed ice. Swizzle with a swizzle stick (or whatever) until well chilled. Add more crushed ice to top, dash Angostura bitters over new ice. Garnish with mint sprig.

Lion’s Tail

Perhaps the most famous Allspice Dram cocktail. Citrusy, oaky, richly spiced. This one’s a chameleon that works year round. Sadly for our sales, it only uses a little bit of Dram. So, mercenaries that we are, we must recommend that you try swapping the bourbon for rum. But actually, the rum-based variants taste great.

C&R Rum	Our Thoughts
White Rum	We call it the Silver Lion. Daiq meets LT.
Mellow Gold	Softer than bourbon, a friendly choice.
PX Dark	Yes. Pushes the drink darker & fruitier.
Dry Spiced Rum	Sub for bourbon for a more richly spiced drink.
Allspice Dram	I mean. Duh. Heart of the drink.

recipe

1.5 oz Bourbon (try swapping for rum)
.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
.5 oz Cotton & Reed Allspice Dram
Scant .5 oz Simple Syrup

Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin and shake with ice.
Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Mule / Buck / ___ & Ginger

Lest we be sued, we dare not write the common name for a rum & ginger drink (Google it!), so… the above terms will do. These couldn’t be easier to make. With fresh lime juice and, if you’re feeling fancy, a bit of extra liqueur, you just might impress your easily impressed friends.

C&R Rum	Our Thoughts
White Rum	Eat your heart out, Moscow Mule.
Mellow Gold	Softness balances ginger's bite. Yes.
PX Dark	Only the best for you.
Dry Spiced Rum	Botanical depth + ginger = good.
Allspice Dram	Put .25 oz in any mule/buck.

recipe

1.5 oz. Rum
.25 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
Spicy Ginger Beer (we like Q and Fever Tree)

Combine in a Collins glass with ice, top with ginger beer, stir it up a bit. Garnish with lime wedge or wheel.

R-r-r-reeeemix

We like to throw a touch of liqueur into our ginger drinks. This gets you more depth & complexity, and can give you a nice color pop as well. Our basic formula:

Variations We Like:
Redbeard: White Rum + Campari
Bluebeard: Mellow Gold + Aperol
Blackbeard: PX Dark + Allspice Dram
Barbarossa: Dry Spiced Rum + Cynar

1.5 oz. Rum
.5 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
.25 oz. Liqueur
Spicy Ginger Beer (we like Q and Fever Tree)

Build as specified above.

___ & Tonic

Gin is the more prevalent choice, as it was the preference of the malarial, degenerate British sailors of yore. But, surprise surprise, we prefer rum. As do the less malarial but, in many cases, probably still degenerate American sailors of today.

C&R Rum	Our Thoughts
White Rum	Light, refreshing, bracing summer juice.
Mellow Gold	Soft aromatics balance tonic's firmness. A yes.
PX Dark	You're a fancy boy and won't act otherwise.
Dry Spiced Rum	Ideal. Botanical complexity shines here.
Allspice Dram	Try a Dram Rickey instead.

recipe

1.5 oz. Spirit of Choice
.25 oz. Lime
Tonic Water

You know what to do. Combine in a Collins glass with ice, top with tonic, stir it up a bit. Garnish with lime wedge or wheel.

Negroni

“Negroni?? I thought that was a gin drink?” You’re right, but, also… chill out. It’s a flexible format that’s easy to make and easy to remember. Swap gin for another base spirit. Combine multiple spirits. Swap Campari for another liqueur. Combine multiple liqueurs. Try 1.5 oz spirit, .75 oz. liqueur, .75 oz. vermouth. Riff away, you crazy bastard.

C&R Rum	Our Thoughts
White Rum	Great in a White Negroni.
Mellow Gold	Like a softer rum Boulevardier. Solid.
PX Dark	Swanky. Deep. Delicious.
Dry Spiced Rum	DSR's gin botanicals mean this works great.
Allspice Dram	Sub half or all of the Campari for Dram.

recipe

1 oz. Gin (or… rum?)
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
Orange Peel

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice or into a chilled coupe. Garnish with expressed orange peel.

Make It Rummier

If you like Negronis and you’re looking for a rummier option, try out the Jungle Bird with our PX Dark Rum. It’s a very different drink but is also Campari-heavy. It’s a good deal more tropical than the Negroni on account of all the tropical stuff in it.

JUNGLE BIRD
1.5 oz. PX Dark Rum
.75 oz. Campari
1.5 oz. pineapple juice
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz. Simple Syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin and shake with ice. Strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.

Old Fashioned

As simple as it gets. Easy, breezy, boozy. Used to be you’d make an Old Fashioned with any spirit. These days we think of it as whiskey by default, but really any wood-aged spirit will do. Replace or supplement your go-to whiskey with rum and get a whole new kind of cocktail.

C&R Rum	Our Thoughts
White Rum	Too light. Better boozy option: El Presidente.
Mellow Gold	Try 1 oz. MG, 1 oz. spicy rye.
PX Dark	Sub for whiskey.
Dry Spiced Rum	Try 1 oz. DSR, 1 oz. rye or bourbon.
Allspice Dram	Cheat code: 2 oz. whiskey, .5 oz Dram, ice.

recipe

2 oz. Rum and/or whiskey
Scant .25 oz. Simple Syrup
3 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a rocks or Old Fashioned glass. Stir with ice. Garnish with expressed lemon peel. Only add a bunch of other fruit if no cocktail bartenders are there to yell at you.

Manhattan

It’s among New York City’s top two island boroughs, yes, but did you know Manhattan is also the name of a a cocktail? You probably did. Anyway, it’s a fun one to mess around with and pretty easy to whip up if you keep a couple basics on hand.

C&R Rum	Our Thoughts
White Rum	Too light. Better boozy option: El Presidente.
Mellow Gold	1 oz MG, 1 oz PX or rye
PX Dark	Rich, dark, sexy. Extra dash Ango.
Dry Spiced Rum	Sub 1 oz. for half the whiskey.
Allspice Dram	Sub for .25 oz. of sweet vermouth. Richer.

recipe

2 oz. Whiskey (or rum?)
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
3 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice or into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a fancy cherry.

OUR Ideal recipe

1 oz. Rye (or our Solera Scorpio if you can find a bottle)
1 oz. PX Dark or Mellow Gold
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
3 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice or into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a fancy cherry.