The FatSteak Club isn’t just about food, a good drink adds so much to a meal. An aperitif to sharpen the appetite, a well-matched wine to lift a dish, or something sweet and sticky with a rich dessert.

In this post we want to share our favourite ways to enjoy rum. This complex spirit, usually made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane, comes in a variety of colours, strengths and flavours. The lighter or white ones are great in cocktails, all the way through to dark rich rums, which need little more than a good glass and some ice.

Use the recipes below as a starting point, vary the spirit, see if it works with your favourite rum, or invest in our recommendations to boost your bottle collection to the level of the header image, provided by Mike!

Dark and not so stormy - Dave B

A very simple but very refreshing way to drink rum. Ideal for hot weather, sipping in the afternoon, or an alternative to a pre-dinner G&T.

• 50ml dark or spiced rum

• 25ml lime juice

• Sprite, 7-Up or lemonade

• Lime wedge

Fill a glass halfway with ice. Tip in the rum and lime juice and mix to chill. Top up with lemonade and squeeze in a wedge of lime.

Rum Negroni - Dave B

The recipe is simple, but the flavour combinations are up to you. Choose your favourite rum, something subtle to let the bitters shine through, or something spicy to bring the rum forward. Here I have swapped the usual Campari for Aperol to sweeten the drink, and played around with the vermouth - Antica Formula is one of my absolute faves!

• 35ml dark rum

• 35ml Aperol

• 35ml Antica Formula vermouth

• Orange peel

Fill a cocktail mixer with ice. Tip in the spirits and stir to chill. Pour into a rocks glass with a large ice cube, garnish with a piece of orange peel, squeezed over the drink to release the oils.

Dirty Camper - Adam

A go-to in the summer, especially when kicking about in a field camping with the family, or without them!
It’s refreshing, doesn’t require any special equipment or skill to make and keeps you going for hours.
Fill a glass with ices and squeeze loads of lime, then add as much rum as tickles your fancy, certainly don’t go less than a double then fill with ginger beer.

Drink, refill, repeat.

• Limes

• Ice

• Dark sugar cane rum (spiced or not)

• Ginger beer

On this occasion, I local shopped it so had to upgrade my ingredients rather than store only which normally suffices.
Normally I wouldn’t be fussed about spiced rum as I lean on the ginger beer to provide the kick.

Rum Old Fashioned - Mike

A very rich way to enjoy rum modelling the balance of an Old Fashioned that works best with this widely available brand. Have it to finish the evening, served in a wing-back leather chair.

• 100 ml Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva XM rum

• 25 ml Pedro Ximenez sherry

• 5 dashs Choclate bitters

Stir over ice. Optional garnish of chocolate flakes.

Daiquiri - Mike

A rum classic! The rum pictured is infused with pineapple bark waste and has a gentle edge of pineapple when drunk neat that is amplified via cocktail alchemy in this recipe. Best served outside on a hot and sticky afternoon with the sun over the yard arm. Tropical.

• 50 ml Plantation Pineapple Stiggin’s Fancy Rum

• 25 ml Fresh squeezed lime juice

• 20 ml Sugar syrup

Shake over ice and strain. Serve with a cocktail umbrella in direct sun.