Rum and Coke, or Cuba Libre if you’re ordering in a posh bar, is the latest drink to experience a revival in the UK thanks to an artisan makeover involving exotic flavours and posh mixers.
The craft gin boom, which has been described as a “ginaissance” , has created a frenzy within a multibillion-pound drinks industry eager to identify the next big thing. The answer appears to be flavoured and spiced rum, with sales soaring amid a welter of product launches featuring ingredients ranging from hemp to coffee and orange peel.
Majestic Wine said its rum sales were up 46% this month on a year ago after it revamped its range to include up-and-coming brands such as Scotland’s Dark Matter and Manchester’s Rockstar Spirits. The retailer’s success chimes with industrywide figures. About 10m bottles of flavoured and spiced rum were bought in the UK in the year to June, up 80% on five years ago.
Thomas Hurst, the founder and chief executive Rockstar Spirits, said its rums – which include Pineapple Grenade at £32 a bottle – were the result of a search to create the perfect rum and Coke.
“Just as we have seen with the gin and tonic, there is an appetite for a more upmarket version of rum and Coke. For us that means distilling classic tiki flavours into the spirit so it feels like you are drinking a cocktail without the need to be a mixologist.”
About 35m bottles of rum were consumed in the UK in the 12 months to June, a market worth £1bn, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association. White rum is still the most popular, with just over 13m bottles sold. But the style is falling out of fashion fast, with 300,000 fewer bottles sold than in the previous 12 months. Demand is growing for more expensive flavoured and spiced rums.
The strong growth means companies are piling into the rum business. The private equity-backed beer company BrewDog recently launched Five Hundred Cuts,a spiced rum inspired by the 18th-century botanical illustrator Elizabeth Blackwell. In the autumn the family behind the Hayman’s Gin brand opened what was billed as London’s first new rum blending house for a century.
Just as the arrival of upmarket tonic brands such as Fever-Tree went hand in glove with the gin boom, rum mixers are getting the same treatment. Coca-Cola, for example, has launched the Signature Mixers brand, which comes in “notes”, rather than flavours, such as smoky or woody.
James Stocker, the marketing director of the independent drinks group Halewood, which sells a CBD-infused version of its Dead Man’s Fingers spiced rum, said the spirit’s comeback had been aided by its versatility and rich history.
“Rum can be drunk on its own or in easy-to-make cocktails. Also people are interested in flavours which you can see from the growth of gin over the past five years,” he said. “There is a rum for everyone, whatever your taste, whether it’s flavoured or a dark rum that has spent 10 years ageing in an oak barrel in Barbados.”
