Light brown rum has a much less distinctive Smokey molasses taste and is best used for mixing in fruit drinks such as daiquiris. Light brown rum is what you would use in drinks such “rum and coke” or the “Cuba Libre”. Darker rums such as “Meyers” dark rum are the best rums to serve straight over ice but they too can be mixed with coke.
Taste the Difference
Unlike other liquors, such as vodka, the taste differences between cheap and more expensive rums is quite noticeable. However; when it comes to light rum that is to be used in slushy mixed drinks you can get by with a cheaper rum if you choose. However; when it comes to the darker rums you really can taste the difference.
New Flavored Rums
There are newer flavored rums that have began to appear on the market, that are midrange in price and many people are fast developing a taste for. Captain Morgans Spiced Rum is one of the most popular and a lot of people actually prefer it over some of the more expensive rums such as Bacardi and Meyers.
Take the Taste Test
If you want to familiarize yourself with how all of the most popular rums stack up against one another tastewise, you don't have to run out and by bottles of them all. Simply stop in at your local watering hole and ask the bartender on duty if you can have a small sip of their rums in stock in a small shot glass and he or she will be glad to oblige you.
