Rum, with its associations with pirates, reggae, and spring breaks spent on sunny beaches, may not seem to you a winter drink, or a drink for connoisseurs of fine distilled spirits, either. Throughout the sultry islands and Latin America, it’s imbibed as thoughtlessly and casually as water, while in the United States and Europe, it’s generally regarded as a party drinkthe black sheep, the wild child, the summer flingnever thought of in the classy category of, say, aged single-malt scotches.
Not so in the eyes of Frankie Strong, co-owner and bar manager of Casuelita’s Caribbean Café (81 Vine St., 206-770-0155). She stocks over 50 rums in what may be Seattle’s only designated rum bar, a number that may surprise those who thought Bacardi and Malibu were the only ones on the market. Strong knows rum’s a winter tonic if there ever was one.
She spent her two snowed-in days last week playing around with her rum collection, concocting her ideal winter drink menu. The final lineup (all around $5 or $6) includes a rum coffee (starring Bacardi O!her premium imported rums are too good to mix into coffeewith a splash each of Bailey’s Irish Cream and crème de menthe; a rum cocoa (a coffee/hot cocoa mix with Bacardi Cóco, topped with whipped cream); a hot hibiscus tea with lemon and a dark rum such as Myers; and, of course, hot buttered rum.
In its simplest form, rum is distilled from yeast-fermented sugarcane juice or, occasionally, molassesa sugarcane by-productthough purists frown upon it. After distillation, quality, strength, and flavor depend on a few subtle details. Rum gets its golden hue from age or, sometimes, the addition of caramel (in most cases, clear rums have had their color deliberately removed in a chemical process).
Most rum is aged in old oak barrels, like wine. The character of the wood determines subtle nuances in flavor and color. Aged rums are blended before they’re bottled. Rum masters blend light and heavy rums of different ages and mellowness to produce a controlled final product. Some rums are blended with spices, coconut flavor, or oils, but makers of high-end products usually rely on the natural qualities of the rums.
These hand-crafted blends are best enjoyed with a splash of water or a single ice cube, according to aficionados, who wince at the notion of mixing fine rums with cola. Strong has a more lax attitude toward customers who order good rums with Coke. “I think it’s fine,” she says. “It just makes the rum-and-Coke taste that much better!” I admit to being a rum-and-cola fan myself, but next time I try one of her best rums, such as the Venezuelan Pampero Aniversario ron añejo or the seven-year-aged Nicaraguan Flora de Caña Grand Reserve, I’ll be sure to sip it straight.
