Surprise surprise (no I'm not referring to Cilla Black) it's time for another booze review. There's a distinct lack of wines out there to interest me at the moment, so instead I'm venturing into the Premier League of alcohol, spirits.
Now I'm rather partial to the odd drop or two of Bacardi (rather partial to most things some might say, however I do draw the line at Pernod, Ouzo and Methylated Spirits!), but at over £15 for a 1litre bottle, it's not the cheapest of spirits. So whilst browsing the many temptations in the wines and spirits aisles at my local Tesco I stumbled across (and that's before I've even started sampling) Tesco's own label white rum. At £7.87 for a 70cl bottle, or £10.97 for a 1 litre I thought 'lets give this a try'. Naturally I plumped for the 1 litre bottle, well I wouldn't want to run out of supplies without having given it a thorough evaluation, would I?
A BRIEF HISTORY OF (WHITE) RUM
Rum originated in the West Indies, and is distilled from dark, treacly molasses (the by-product of sugar) or sugar cane juice. There are two main types of rum, white and dark. Dark rum maintains it's natural colour, whereas white rum has been filtered through charcoal to produce a clear, virtually colourless spirit. The first white rum, Bacardi, was produced in the Bahamas from an original Cuban recipe, using a yeast strain developed on 1862. Many copies have followed.
Rum has been known as many things throughout the years with exotic names such as eau-de-vie de molasses, kill devil and rumbullion. It was much prized by pirates and bucaneers who rampaged the Caribbean during yesteryear. Whilst we're on the subject of bucaneers;
A little boy was running around the house wearing a skull and crossbones hat, wielding a toy cutlass and making pirate like noises. His mum asked what he was doing, the boy replied "Playing pirates", she then asked where his bucaneers were, to which the boy replied "They're under my bucan hat"...
LOOKS
Tesco White Rum comes in a clear glass bottle with a white metal screw top. It has a pretty basic white label on the front, with the obvious wording, a red and gold ships wheel type design on one side and three gold coins / medals on the other. The coins / medals I believe are in mock deference to a Bacardi label. You're also informed that it contains a whopping 37.5 % abv (alcohol by volume), the same level of alcohol found in Bacardi.
THE TASTE TEST
White rum isn't really a spirit designed for being drunk neat, it's much better mixed or in a cocktail (more of which later). However, in the interests of providing a balanced review I tried it neat.
Poured into a glass Tesco White Rum is crystal clear, 'water' coloured spirit. The smell is pretty hard to define, but it does actually make you gasp as it gets up your nose, there's a very strong smell of alcohol in there, but with an overriding sweetness. I couldn't really linger over the aroma for too long as I could, for example, with a glass of wine. The taste is no better, not only is it extremely sweet, in a medicine type way, but it almost bought tears to my eyes, it's seriously strong. Unlike a vodka or whisky, white rum is not good by itself. So it's time to start adding things to it....
WITH FRIENDS
The classic (and still the best) mixer for white rum is cola, my personal favourite is Coca-Cola. I prefer it in a tall glass with plenty of ice and a slice of lemon or lime. The addition of cola rather bizarrely lessens the sweetness of the base spirit, although this is still a sweet drink, but also very smooth. I'd describe it as a cola with a kick, very easy drinking and wonderfully thirst quenching on a hot day, or a cold one come to think of it. The drink I've just described is the basis of the drink otherwise known as Cuba Libre', which is one part white rum and 2 parts cola poured over ice, with a chunk of lime thrown in.
Tesco White Rum doesn't really go that well with many of the traditional mixers such as lemonade, but does make some fabulous cocktails. Pina Colada is probably the best known, but here's a couple of others;
Cape Codder 3 parts white rum 1 part lime juice 6 parts cranberry juice Serve over plenty of ice.
Daiquiri 5 teaspoons of sugar 3 measures of white rum 1 measure of squeezed lime juice Stacks of ice
HOW DOES IT COMPARE WITH BACARDI?
On the price front it beats Bacardi hands down being some £4 to £5 per litre bottle cheaper. Taste wise though it's just not the same. Mixed with Coca-Cola, it has a slightly artificial, saccharine type sweetness which Bacardi doesn't, well I can taste the difference anyway. When used in cocktails it's a lot harder to tell the difference between the two, and the contest is a lot closer. Personally, for drinking with cola or to give to somebody as a present I'd always choose Bacardi. But for cocktails, parties, BBQ's, or to get merry for less, opt for Tesco White Rum.
THE MORNING AFTER
Although it's largely down to the individual, I tend to find that white rum of any kind very rarely gives me a hangover. This of course could be down to the old adage about the darker the drink, the worse the hangover and vice-versa, but who knows?
AND FINALLY
Probably not a white rum for the connoisseur, but for the price Tesco are asking for it it's not too bad. I've deducted two stars for taste, but awarded one back for price, so four stars overall.
Cheers!
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