There are few highballs more timeless than the classic rum and cola. It’s simple, easy to make, and utterly refreshing. A great cocktail for any occasion, year-round.
When I make a rum and cola, I use the classic Cuba Libre recipe. That’s two ounces of rum — white, spiced, dark… that’s what we’re here to investigate — four ounces of cola (who are we kidding, we all reach for Coke), and a squeeze of lime juice with the lime wedge set on the rim (or in the glass, depending on how limey you want it). It’s not a difficult recipe and you definitely don’t need to be a seasoned mixologist to prepare this drink. Even if you eyeball it, there’s a pretty good chance it’ll taste good anyway.
The most exciting thing about the rum and Coke is that it can be tweaked to fit any rum drinker’s palate. While the classic rendition is made with white rum, I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to broaden your horizons. To underscore the point, I made eight rum and Cokes featuring myriad rums and put them in a blind taste test. All are easy to find and each is reasonably priced.
Here’s our lineup:
- Goslings Gold Seal
- Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
- Appleton Estate Signature
- Bacardi Superior
- Brugal Añejo
- Flor de Caña 4 Extra Dry
- Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
- Cruzan Aged Light Rum
Time to taste!
Part 1: The Taste
Taste 1:
Tasting Notes:
The nose is filled with aromas of caramel, cinnamon, and ginger. On the palate, I found more notes of cinnamon and ginger, along with toasted vanilla beans, wood char, and light cracked black pepper.
All of these flavors stand up well when combined with cola and citrus.
Taste 2:
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a bit light. After the other cocktail ingredients, I noticed slight vanilla beans and a subtle, indistinguishable fruit flavor. The palate is heavy on ethanol-like alcohol, more vanilla, and maybe some spices. It’s not exciting in any way.
Taste 3:
Tasting Notes:
Complex flavors of brown sugar, vanilla beans, and subtle cinnamon mingle with the citrus and cola on the nose. Drinking it, I found more caramel candy, molasses, vanilla beans, and cloves that worked well with the rest of the cocktail’s ingredients.
Taste 4:
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this rum’s nose — hints of sticky toffee, butterscotch, cinnamon, and oaky wood. Sipping it brought me notes of caramel candy, slight pepper, brown sugar, and more vanilla.
All in all, the most balanced rum on this list.
Taste 5:
Tasting Notes:
In all honesty, the nose is pretty bland. I mostly smelled cola and lime with just a bit of vanilla and some slight woody oak, that’s about it. The flavor was similar with nothing really jumping out to take away from the lime and soda. Maybe a hint of coconut and peppery spice, but not much else.
Taste 6:
Tasting Notes:
Right away, the nose is dominated by spicy cinnamon and cloyingly sweet vanilla that totally detracts from the cola and lime flavors. The palate is overly sweet with hints of cloves, more cinnamon sugar, various other over-the-top spices, and more vanilla.
It’s a little much for a simple cocktail.
Taste 7:
Tasting Notes:
This rum has a unique, memorable nose with hints of toasted coconut, caramel, and vanilla beans that work well with the other ingredients in the cocktail. The palate is highlighted by slight oak, more coconut, brown sugar, and slight spice.
Overall, a great base for this iconic drink.
Taste 8:
Tasting Notes:
This rum’s nose is filled with tropical fruit aromas, butterscotch, vanilla beans, and subtle spices that all pair well with the cocktail’s other ingredients. One sip was enough (but I drank more) to unlock flavors of buttery caramel, vanilla, wood char, and more fruity flavor.
All in all, one of the best mixers of the bunch.
Part 2: The Ranking
Blind taste tests are a lot of fun. This is true when I get to try various forms of alcohol neat. But it’s really fun (and tests my senses more) to blindly nose and taste spirits mixed into highballs. Not only is there no brightly colored, glossy label to impact my choices, but the spirit (in this case rum) is actually mixed with Coke and lime juice — so I’m tasting its interaction with other ingredients.
Keep reading to see how everything turned out.
8) Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum (Taste #6)
ABV: 35%
Average Price: $18
The Rum:
Everyone knows Captain Morgan. The iconic pirate adorned in red that stands with his leg on a barrel in an epic pose. He’s the mascot for the well-known bargain rum brand of the same name. Its Original Spiced Rum is a blend of multiple spiced Caribbean rums. The brand doesn’t disclose the brands they source from, but this expression is known for its spicy, sweet, mixable flavor.
Bottom Line:
If you prefer your rum and Cokes to be ridiculously spicy and sweet, this is your jam. Otherwise, the spicy flavor is a little too dominant for this drink.
7) Cruzan Aged Light Rum (Taste #5)
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $13
The Rum:
This rum, from the US Virgin Islands, is a blend of rums that were aged in American oak barrels for between one and four years. It’s light, dry, and known for its vanilla and caramel flavors that work well as the base for your favorite cocktail.
Bottom Line:
There isn’t much going on with this rum in terms of flavor. If you prefer your cocktail to not taste much like rum, this will be your go-to. Maybe add more rum if you want it to taste stronger.
6) Bacardi Superior White Rum (Taste #2)
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $15
The Rum:
There’s no rum brand more famous than Bacardi and its Superior White Rum is its flagship expression. It’s been made the same way since 1862 and is known for its light, easily mixable, not overly dominant flavor. It’s a great base if you want the other flavors of your cocktail to shine.
Bottom Line:
This rum was definitely made to be used as a mixer as it barely has any taste (other than the burn of alcohol).
5) Goslings Gold Seal Rum (Taste #3)
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $20
The Rum:
Goslings is a well-known rum brand. Back in 2016, it changed its classic Gold Rum with Gold Seal Rum. It’s a blend of rums distilled in column and pot stills that are aged in ex-bourbon barrels. It’s gold in color (hence the name) and has enough flavor to stand up in your favorite cocktails.
Bottom Line:
While subtle, this rum has enough going on in the aroma and flavor department to make it stand up, even when paired with stronger ingredients.
4) Flor de Caña 4 Extra Dry (Taste #7)
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $18
The Rum:
This award-winning rum is not only carbon-neutral and sustainable but it’s aged for four years. While not changing the clear color, this imparts dry, sweet, sugary, and citrus-like flavors that were made to be used as the base for drinks like rum & Coke.
Bottom Line:
Spice, coconut, caramel, vanilla — this rum ticks all the boxes for a great mixer.
3) Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum (Taste #1)
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $20
The Rum:
Name for Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins, an “old school” tattoo pioneer, this 92-proof, bold, spicy, sweet rum has been on the market for awhile now. In that time, it’s gained popularity with bartenders and drinkers alike. It’s cheap, flavorful, and designed for mixing.
Bottom Line:
Sometimes spicier rums can be a little too dominant as a base for a simple cocktail. This one manages not only to shine but make the other flavors stand out even more.
2) Appleton Estate Signature (Taste #8)
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $22
The Rum:
Appleton Estate is a big name in the rum world. While you can grab some of its higher-priced expressions, it’s hard to beat the value-to-flavor ratio of its bargain-priced Signature. A blend of pot and column still rums that are aged for an average of four years, this bottle is perfectly suited for sipping or mixing.
Bottom Line:
This is a very complex rum that is well-suited to be the base of pretty much any rum cocktail you enjoy. It’s sweet, rich, and works well with citrus and cola.
1) Brugal Añejo (Taste #4)
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $20
The Rum:
This rum from the Dominican Republic is made by blending rums that were aged in ex-bourbon barrels. The result is a sublimely rich, mellow, caramel, and vanilla-driven rum that is ideal for sipping or as the base for any number of rum-centric cocktails.
This cocktail is the perfect fit — simple enough to let the rum shine!
Bottom Line:
Not too spicy, not too sweet, this rum has pronounced, rich, smooth flavors that make it the perfect base for a rum & Coke.
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