Ignore the horrible weather and make like it’s still 30-plus degrees outside – it’s National Rum Day, people! We’ve rounded up some fabulous events and quality menus that you should check out in honour of this totally tropical occasion – although come on, we rarely need an excuse to get exotic with our drinks…
Rum & Reggae party at The Den, Soho
What goes perfectly with rum? We won’t lie, the first answer would be a sun-drenched beach but a close second would be reggae. Which you can enjoy at the Rum & Reggae party hosted at The Den, tucked inside 100 Wardour Street in Soho.
We can’t think of a more perfect combination than rum cocktails flowing, Caribbean-inspired canapés circulating, and a DJ on the decks spinning reggae jams throughout the evening. We’ve got our eyes on the Nuclear Colada, a totally tropical showstopper created using Wray and Nephew, Koko Kanu, pineapple and coconut and served in a whole pineapple. We’re going (coco)nuts just thinking about it.
7pm – midnight | Tickets £10 available on the door and from Design My Night
Entrance includes a welcome drink from a selection of rum cocktails, and canapés for two hours served from 7-9pm.
Limited-edition Tiki-Yaki cocktail menu at Zuma
The Caribbean by way of Japan – that’s one trip we’re keen to take, thanks very much! Head to Zuma and get your paws on the limited-edition tiki menu created in collaboration with Plantation Rum. We’re all about embracing island life with the coconut Koko-Korada, Zuma’s take on the classic Piña Colada. Their version is a tasty mix of Plantation 3 Stars White Rum aged in a yuzu cask, then mixed with coconut milk, sweet pineapple liquor, toasty roasted coconut and Zuma’s signature sesame. Yes, it’s pretty much a dessert you can drink. And no, we are most certainly not complaining!
National Rum Day Rumble with Dead Man’s Fingers Rum at LCC
There’s some rum goings on down Shaftesbury Avenue way, as the fun loving crew at London Cocktail Club are hosting a big night in collaboration with Dead Man’s Fingers Rum. Where better to celebrate than this basement bar, with its old school British Navy style pin-ups and skull and crossbones adorning the walls (not to mention bespoke tattoo artwork created by the awesome Rose Whittaker)? It’s going to be a fist pumping party of the highest order, and there’ll be plenty of the boozy stuff to polish off, so bring your game face and prepare for a night of carnival frivolity with this Cornish spirit.
Book here: londoncocktailclub.co.uk/bookings/
Happy Hour at Tropicana Beach Club
What’s better than a rum cocktail? TWO rum cocktails for the price of one! Get yourself down to Tropicana Beach Club for a hearty dose of tongue-in-cheek fun, straight outta Honolulu. Grab the Miami Vice cocktail (Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, pineapple juice and mango puree), and get shimmying. What’s more, Happy Hour actually lasts all night on Thursdays, so you’ll be feeling the tropical vibes way into the night.
Tropical tipples at Oriole
Oriole already has a sense of the exotic about it: the menu guides visitors through the Old and New World, straight on through to the Orient, and the interior design has a kind of Darwinian-chic collectors vibe to it while palm print wallpaper, ceremonial bowls, treasures and trinkets, and Polynesian masks hanging on the walls give it a glamorous mystique. Get your rum on by ordering The Japanese Yonezawa (Havana Club rum, Genmaicha sake, shochu and a tiger nut infusion with tayberry vinegar). Trust Oriole to step up the tiki game!
Compiled by Rebecca Milford
And if you’re staying at home, get in the spirit of National Rum Day by mixing up a Queen’s Park Swizzle.
Ingredients:
50ml Angostura 7 Year Old Rum
25ml demerara simple syrup
25ml fresh lime juice
12-14 mint leaves
6-8 dashes Angostura Aromatic Bitters
Mint sprig to garnish
Method:
Muddle the mint leaves, lime juice and simple syrup in a Highball glass, then fill it with dry crushed ice. Pour in the rum and swizzle* well until the glass is ice-cold and frosted. Pack it with more crushed ice, top with Angostura Aromatic Bitters and garnish with the mint sprig.
*How to swizzle:
Push your swizzle stick through the crushed ice deep down into the glass. Hold the end firmly between the palm of your hands then roll vigorously back and forth until the outside of the glass takes on a frozen mist.
