Sunday, June 14, 2009 | Food, Wine, Beer & Spirits, "Behind the Bar", Q&A
SP Tropical heat wave

Cruzan Rum conjures up thoughts of the islands

Courtesy of Cruzan Rum

By Hope S. Philbrick

The fifth-largest and fastest-growing rum brand in the United States, Cruzan Rum has been produced on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1760. To learn more, The Sunday Paper phoned Andrea Bearbower, brand education manager.

Is rum the next big thing in cocktails?

 I think the rum category has grown up a lot in the last few years. There are more opportunities to look at rum in a more serious way. We’ve got sipping rums that don’t always need a really a sweet mix to go with them and work almost like bourbon—our single barrel rum is a whiskey drinker’s rum with qualities of cognac. We’ve seen a renaissance of gin and classic cocktails in general. There’s so much history with rum, it’s one of the oldest spirits, so I think there’s going to be a resurgence of classic rum cocktails. Punches will be very popular; punches are original classic rum cocktails. The official cocktail of Tales of the Cocktail 2009 is The Creole Julep: Created by Maksym Pazuniak of Rambla/Cure, it’s very interesting and uses interesting ingredients including Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum and Clement Creole Shrubb, which has an orange flavor. [Get the recipe at www.talesofthecocktail.com.]

What defines Cruzan Rum?

It is from St. Croix. The brand is run by the Nelthropp family, which has been involved in the sugar and rum industries for eight generations. They use high-test molasses, which is very high-quality molasses made from the first press of extracting sugar from sugar cane.

    The Cruzan Rum portfolio consists of dark rum (aged two to four years) and light rum (aged 14 months to four years), both blends that are aged in American oak barrels previously used in the bourbon industry. Our single-barrel rum, the star of the portfolio and the most award-winning rum in the world, is aged five to 12 years. What gives it the single-barrel process is after rums are blended together, it goes into a single brand-new American oak barrel for six months to a year before bottling. There are also eight flavors, which are all natural and flavored with cane sugar: citrus, vanilla, black cherry, guava, coconut, mango, raspberry and pineapple.

What makes rum a summertime favorite?

There are all sorts of things you can do with rum, a lot of cocktail possibilities. With mojitos, you can cut up fruit and mix and match your own flavor combination. While grilling, you can throw some pineapple on the grill, which can be interesting for cocktails. Very simply, you can mix rum with club soda. Pick a rum flavor and add some simple syrup. Rum is very easy to mix with, and there are so many flavor possibilities you really can’t go wrong. It’s a great thing: You can actually throw a bunch of flavors together, and it actually works. SP

CRUZAN RUM COCKTAILS

Bay Breeze

 
Pour Cruzan Estate Light Rum over ice in a rocks glass. Fill with pineapple juice and cranberry juice. Squeeze a lime wedge over the drink and drop it in.
 

Mango Mojito

 
Muddle mint and mango with simple syrup in a tall glass. Add lime juice, Cruzan Mango Rum and ice. Stir and top with club soda. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Pina Colada Martini

 
Combine the Cruzan Rums together into a mixing glass with ice and add a splash of pineapple juice. Stir and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.